FACING THE UNTHINKABLE: RESILIENCY RESOURCES FOR A RISKIER WORLD

FACING THE UNTHINKABLE: FACING THE UNTHINKABLE: RESILIENCY RESOURCES RESILIENCY RESOURCES FOR A RISKIER WORLD FOR A RISKIER WORLD

AIDR Manager of Knowledge Development, Katelyn Samson.

By April Shepherd, Editor, Council Magazine As all levels of government find themselves facing the foreboding fear of future climate chaos, pandemics and other unprecedented events, so preparation for what is to come is crucial. Australians have already seen the devastation natural hazards and unforeseen disasters can inflict, which is why the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience (AIDR) is working to provide the resources councils and communities need to face the unthinkable.

Preparation for disaster in a post-COVID-19 world is the subject on every governments’ mind, with climate change manifesting in a plethora of ways around the globe and climate emergencies becoming commonplace.

Natural hazards and recent unprecedented events have made emergency management all the more prevalent, and for public safety especially, it is vital that emergency personnel, and councils, be ready and equipped to respond swiftly and effectively.

Preparation is key for councils, which do a lot of work on the ground to prepare and protect their communities from disaster, and often after these events need to pivot quickly into relief and recovery roles with limited resources for preparation.

HELPING COMMUNITIES PREPARE

AIDR is a federally-funded resource with the goal of building and providing evidence-based guidance, information and collaboration that can be accessed by everyone, especially local governments, to aid decision-making before, during and after disasters.

AIDR also offers an extensive Handbook Collection on a variety of topics from community engagement to recovery, and holds events, conferences and webinars to create a national standard and conversation surrounding emergencies.

It also runs a Volunteer Leadership Program (VLP), which places volunteers from local governments, community organisations, not-for-profits and disaster relief organisations within the emergency management sector to promote collaboration between multiple sectors.

AIDR Manager of Knowledge Development, Katelyn Samson, said, “AIDR recognises that each community is unique, and that the consequences of a disaster will vary depending on the strengths and vulnerabilities of the community it impacts.

“For this reason, AIDR is committed to developing and curating a broad range of knowledge products and networks that can be tailored and applied across Australia.”

THE LONG AND SHORT-TERM EFFECTS OF DISASTER

AIDR creates a plethora of resources for Australia’s different natural hazards and disasters to prepare for the unique long and short-term effects that accompany them.

“Disasters affect communities in many ways, including disruption to normal routines, physical harm and social disruption,” Ms Samson said.

“This includes temporary and sometimes permanent damage to community networks, including disruptions to dayto-day routines, temporary or permanent displacement from homes, local areas and communities, and damage to critical infrastructure and the natural environment.

“Everyone in the community is affected by the consequences of a disaster, even if their home or property was not directly impacted.”

Ms Samson said that recovery, much like disaster, takes many forms.

“We know that recovery is complex and always takes a long time. People recover at their own pace, and everyone’s recovery journey is different.”

Ms Samson also said communities recover quicker if they are influencing and shaping their own recovery, which means that locals, community sector organisations and councils have a large role to play.

AIDR is also developing a Recovery Exercise Toolkit in partnership with the Australian Government National Recovery and Resilience Agency, which describes the central role of local government in supporting communities as critical.

“The Recovery Exercise Toolkit describes engaged and effective councils as the closest level of government to the community, responsible for providing a broad range of services to the community all of the time, not just after disasters,” Ms Samson said.

“Councils have strong local knowledge and networks, and will continue to work to support the community after other recovery services are concluded.”

The Recovery Exercise Toolkit acknowledges that councils supporting communities in their recovery journeys can be fraught with challenges and resource intensive, but are more effective when local government takes a proactive role.

“Ultimately, councils working in partnership with local agencies across all sectors leads to better recovery,” Ms Samson said.

LIVING IN A NEW ERA OF DISASTER

Following recent turbulent years, AIDR’s resources have evolved and adapted as new threats emerge. “The 2019-20 ‘Black Summer’ bushfires, followed closely by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the recent and extensive flooding experienced this year, has shown us that we are in a new era of more frequent and compounding hazards,” Ms Samson said. AIDR Manager of Knowledge Development, Katelyn Samson.

“AIDR’s products and services are informed by knowledge and research, so our advice changes as the evidence base evolves.”

Ms Samson said that AIDR knowledge products and services are routinely updated to “meet the challenges that we face today, and in the future”.

Ms Samson explained that the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements was established due to the bushfires of 2019–20 and that the AIDR works with the commission to create recommendations in collaboration with the Federal Government, fire and emergency services, and other stakeholders.

“These recommendations guide our efforts to build resilience and reduce risk across Australia. AIDR also aligns its efforts to the implementation of the National Disaster Risk Reduction Framework and the United Nations’ Sendai Framework,” Ms Samson said.

NETWORKING RECOVERY: WEBINARS AND EVENTS

Ms Samson said that, in 2020, AIDR recognised that a considerable amount of council staff were engaged in recovery roles following the 2019–20 bushfires, with varying levels of experience in managing recovery efforts.

To support this new recovery workforce, AIDR developed the Recovery Matters webinar series, a freely available collection of 15 webinars exploring key factors of recovery from experts across Australia.

The webinars provide insight and commentary from academics around the country, featuring discussion of domestic violence in disaster situations and recovery, Indigenous Australian and LGBTIQA+ experiences, and youth voices following disaster trauma and loss of safety.

AIDR’s most recent event, the Australian Disaster Resilience Conference, shared ideas and innovations in disaster risk reduction and resilience, held on the 24–25 August – engaging with speakers and delegates focused on contemporary disaster resilience practice and research.

The two-day event embraced the theme: ‘Resilience in a riskier world: adapting and transforming for the future’.

THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES TO DISASTER RESILIENCE

As with many issues that span across multiple facets of government and various industries, one of the biggest hindrances to natural hazard and disaster resilience is a lack of collaboration.

Ms Samson said that supporting disaster resilience is a collective responsibility shared by every sector of society, but is a responsibility that is often not equally shared.

“While individuals and communities have their roles to play, they do not control many of the levers needed to reduce some disaster risks,” Ms Samson said.

“Governments and industry in particular must take coordinated action to reduce disaster risks within their control, to limit adverse impacts on communities.

“More than ever, limiting the impact of disasters now and in the future requires a coordinated effort across, and within, many areas – including land use planning, infrastructure, emergency management, social policy, agriculture, education, health, community development, energy and the environment.”

THE KEY STEPS FOR DISASTER PREPARATION

With so much that can go wrong, it may seem daunting for councils to know where to begin when it comes to disaster preparation.

Ms Samson said that a good first step in the journey is “taking stock of the strengths and vulnerabilities in your community”.

“Think about the existing capabilities you can draw upon in times of emergency and start building strong relationships to leverage these.”

For instance, utilising community networks, leaders and resources that can bring residents together to promote disaster preparedness and run events to boost awareness in the community.

“Also take time to explore where your capability or knowledge gaps are, and make plans to address your vulnerabilities. Are there hard-to-reach locations or community groups in your local government area? Think about how you will manage these now, before disaster strikes,” Ms Samson said.

AIDR offers many resources for those looking to strengthen their resilience, including the AIDR Knowledge Hub; an extensive open-source platform that supports and informs planning, policy, decision-making, and includes the Australian Journal of Emergency Management and many handbooks relevant to councils, such as Community Engagement for Disaster Resilience, Land Use Planning For Disaster Resilient Communities and Public Information and Warnings.

There are many aspects for local governments to consider in order to build resilience, with Ms Samson stating that, while climate and disasters bring consequences for the safety and wellbeing of communities “our resilience is determined by the decisions we make and the things we value”.