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
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Date
2018
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Massey University
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Abstract
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.
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Keywords
Emergency communication systems, Hazard mitigation, Planning, Risk communication, Citizen participation, Tsunamis, Safety measures, New Zealand, Gisborne, Case studies, Ngati Porou (New Zealand people), Folklore, Mātauranga, Pūrākau, Tāngata, Tuhinga whakapae, Māori Masters Thesis