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    Disaster risk reduction considerations for big bodied people in Aotearoa New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Emergency Management at Massey University, Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2022) Gray, Lesley
    Big bodied people have been left behind in disasters and are conspicuously absent in disaster risk reduction planning, policies and practices. This exploratory study addresses the needs and considerations of big bodied people relating to disaster risk reduction. Aotearoa New Zealand is well suited as the setting for this study with the experience of a wide range of natural hazards and recent, significant disasters, and importantly in relation to body size demographics, having very high population levels of body mass. There is a dearth of research on this topic. Descriptive qualitative methodology was applied, framed by a pragmatic worldview in order to build knowledge from the perspectives and experiences of 55 emergency managers and 17 people identifying as big bodied. These were explored through an online survey and semi-structured interviews. Descriptive and reflexive thematic analysis of the data were undertaken. The research findings, presented in three publications, highlight the complexities of disaster risk reduction for big bodied people and emergency managers. A number of assumptions and expectations were identified that may explain why there has been scant, if any, consideration of the needs of BBP in a disaster particular to size, shape and weight. The study outcomes support the prospect of ‘triple jeopardy’ for big bodied people through the intersection of discrimination, stigma and bias alongside social determinants of health and disaster vulnerability factors. Importantly, this study amplifies the voices of big bodied people, so often excluded, silenced or invisible in research. To meet the United Nation's Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 requirement for ‘all-of-society engagement and partnership’, the conceptualisation of vulnerability must be widened to include size, shape and weight. Further empirical research and strong advocacy are required to ensure that big bodied people and emergency managers are well supported in preparedness planning and to ensure the needs of big bodied people are included in national and international in future disaster planning, policies and practices.
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    How risk informs natural hazard management : a study of the interface between risk modelling for tsunami inundation and local government policies and procedures : a thesis presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Emergency Management, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2021) Crawford, Miles
    The impact of natural hazards on society and the environment continues to increase, resulting in intolerable and unsustainable financial and social costs. The traditional approach of responding to the hazard once it has occurred is no longer acceptable because it hasn’t always raised awareness of the hazard or allowed communities to pre-emptively take action to protect themselves and their property. It is now more important than ever for governments and communities to proactively understand and prepare for natural hazard risks before hazards occur, so that our vulnerability and exposure to them is reduced when they occur. The costs-benefits of following a proactive approach, rather than a reactive approach are clear, bringing about a change in the way natural hazards are managed, as exemplified by the risk management focus of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015). Despite considerable research and effort in this area, natural hazard risk management struggles to be applied at global, national, and local scales. This illustrates a need to better understand how natural hazard risk is perceived and understood, and how it influences the development of policy frameworks for natural hazard management. In particular, questions remain regarding how risk modelling influences perception of natural hazard risk and application of risk reduction measures at the community level. This research explores how risk informs natural hazard management in Aotearoa New Zealand’s local government. It focusses on how the RiskScape risk modelling tool is used to communicate natural hazard risk for influencing risk awareness and the perceptions of practitioners. It specifically focusses on a tsunami hazard generated in the Hikurangi Subduction Margin as tsunami is Aotearoa New Zealand’s least likely but most significant natural hazard risk. However due to its infrequent occurrence, tsunami is perceived as less risky than other hazards. Focus group sessions and semi-structured qualitative interviews were held with natural hazard risk practitioners within local government, primarily across the Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay, and Wellington regions of Aotearoa New Zealand. The focus groups and interviews explored practitioners’ perceptions on the value of risk modelling tools, particularly ‘RiskScape', for communicating risk and influencing policy development, as well as their thoughts and opinions on natural hazard risk management policy development in general, and with a specific focus on tsunami. These results were then corroborated through document analysis of risk-based tsunami policy and procedure for the regions studied. This research found that while practitioners understand the value of risk modelling for communicating tsunami risk for developing risk awareness and influencing perceptions, RiskScape is not employed widely within local government to achieve risk-based policy and practice. This is partly attributed to trust in risk modelling outputs as well as developmental problems with the RiskScape software. However, the larger part is due to challenges for natural hazard risk management within local government. Local Government’s challenges include lack of guidance, mandate, and collaboration for hazard management; limited risk leadership, understanding and awareness; lack of funding, capacity, and capability; and unavailability of quality data. Underlying each of these challenges are more fundamental challenges relating to the disconnect of the ‘science-policy-practice’ interface, and the interrelated complexity of the challenges which limit the effectiveness of solutions. Along with the limited use of risk modelling, risk-based policy and procedure for tsunami remains scarce. Of the 58 national and local policy documents analysed as part of this research, only three contain specific tsunami risk-based policy. This research proposes the use of ‘systems thinking’ to better understand this complex system of challenges as a whole. This approach can identify intervention points, which can interrupt the system’s dynamics and better apply natural hazard risk management in local government. The science-policy-practice interface is identified as an intervention point; however, tensions for collaboration across this interface limit its effectiveness. A formalised structure, which is mandated by integrative research frameworks, is recommended for how collaboration across the science-policy-practice interface can be improved. An improved science-policy-practice interface would enable the application of further recommendations for overcoming challenges for local government natural hazard risk management. These include developing awareness of natural hazard risk and the cognitive biases that influence risk perceptions; improved understanding of the value in using established risk management approaches; and greater capacity and capability for collecting, managing, and using natural hazard risk data. The outcome would enable bottom-up, co-development of risk modelling, which is trusted and used within local government to better develop risk-based policy and procedure. Through greater use of risk modelling in local government, tsunami risk can be better communicated, and risk-based tsunami policy and procedure can be better achieved. This will reduce tsunami-related losses and enable greater community resilience.
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    Modelling earthquake hazard preparedness during recovery in Nepal : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Emergency Management at Massey University, School of Psychology, Wellington, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2018) Adhikari, Mina
    Preparedness is a vital component of disaster risk reduction (DRR), but more often communities fail to prepare for disasters adequately. Theory-based approaches have found prominence for helping to identify the factors that drive preparedness behaviour of the population. However, there has been a limited empirical validation of these theories of preparedness in post-disaster recovery contexts. Further, their application has been mostly limited to culturally individualistic and developed countries, and there is a great need for their application in the setting of developing countries where disaster impacts are often most severe. This study, therefore, aimed to investigate the preparedness of a population in a post-disaster recovery scenario in a developing country. A mixed method research design with a household questionnaire survey (n=306) followed by a follow-up qualitative study driven by semi-structured interviews (n=11) was adopted to conduct this study. The outcomes of the study include 1) development of a conceptual model predicting earthquake hazard preparedness after reviewing the existing theories and models applied in the setting of natural hazards; 2) empirical validation of the proposed conceptual model predictions by analysing quantitative data collected through household survey conducted in two villages in Dhading district, of central Nepal; 3) identification of factors and processes underlying people’s decisions related to recovery efforts and preparedness to future events in a post-disaster context derived by developing a hierarchical value map from the qualitative interview data. The quantitative findings from the survey data justify the capability of the proposed model to assess the interaction of individual, community and institutional factors to predict household’s intentions to prepare in a post-disaster recovery scenario. Furthermore, the qualitative findings support the quantitative findings and provide evidence for the influence of socio-cultural values of Nepalese society on household preparedness decision-making during post-disaster recovery. The qualitative findings also provide evidence of additional predictors those need to be considered in future modelling of preparedness. Further, the qualitative findings show that people’s preparedness decisions and recovery efforts are influenced by personal beliefs, community efforts, and community and institutional collaborations during the post-disaster recovery period. Understanding of population preparedness in a post-disaster recovery is limited in both developed and developing countries. Thus this research makes a significant contribution to the body of knowledge on population preparedness in the post-disaster context in a developing country. The findings further contribute to any future study on developing theoretical foundations for the preparedness of populations in both developed and developing countries. The application of the outcomes of this study is evident as it is already cited for its theoretical, and methodological rigour.
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    Niho taniwha : communicating tsunami risk : a site-specific case study for Tūranganui-a-Kiwa; an exegesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Design at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2018) Repia, Harmony
    For some people living in Tūranganui-a-Kiwa, tsunami are recognised as a natural hazard that could threaten the entire East Cape region at any time. However for most, an ethnographic study of local residents reveals high levels of complacency within the Gisborne urban community when it comes to being aware and prepared for tsunami risk. A recent study by Dhellemmes, Leonard & Johnston (2016) was conducted along the East Coast of the North Island of Aotearoa to explore the changes of tsunami awareness and preparedness between 2003–2015. Results from this study revealed coastal communities including Tūranga had low levels of tsunami awareness and high expectations of receiving a formal warning before evacuation (Dhellemmes, et al. 2016). As a result Geological and Nuclear Sciences (GNS) with the Joint Centre for Disaster Research (JCDR) have identified that the population needs to respond with urgency to natural warning signs (one being an earthquake) rather than assuming an official warning will come through formal Civil Defence channels. There is also a need to raise tsunami awareness by understanding what influences tsunami preparedness in communities. The tangata whenua of Tūranganui-a-Kiwa hold various bodies of knowledge that can contribute to our society and future risk management. Māori oral traditions are often mapped to the whenua and anchored in our genealogies, which King, Goff & Skipper (2007) explains enables the transfer of knowledge down through the generations. The method of acknowledging the contextual location of Tūranga is crucial in understanding the community’s need to raise tsunami awareness for their own iwi, hapū and whanau. This process proposes that by allowing the community to share responsibility for their response to an unfolding crisis, it opens up new opportunities to raise awareness. This design-led research explores how Human-Centred-Design (HCD) methodology underpinned by Mātauranga Māori principles can contribute new ways of designing novel tsunami communications for Tūranganui-a-Kiwa. This project intends to create a site-specific work based on an extensive community-based design.