Mobilizing citizens for reducing disaster risks : a study of communication practices aimed at encouraging civic participation and collective action in disaster preparedness 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, New Zealand
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Date
2024-12-30
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Massey University
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© The Author
Abstract
Community-based disaster risk reduction (DRR) approaches provide an effective means of reducing the impacts of extreme events caused by natural hazards. Such approaches involve engaging with ‘at-risk’ communities in the pre-disaster stage and supporting them to reduce their risks through preparedness actions. These preparedness actions operate both at an individual level such as having emergency kits and personal preparedness items and at a community level such as developing community response plans and establishing community response groups through collective community actions.
While individual preparedness actions are well-documented in New Zealand (NZ), there is limited research examining collective actions in DRR and their facilitators. This is a critical gap as many disaster risks cannot be substantially reduced by individual efforts alone and require collective community wide efforts. Moreover, central to involving community in DRR is communication. While a strong knowledge base on communication for individual preparedness actions exist, there is a lack of clarity on how communication can promote people’s participation and collective actions in DRR. This research, therefore, aims to achieve two key objectives: first, to understand collective actions in DRR in NZ, exploring their forms, enablers, barriers, and outcomes; and second, to examine how communication can be leveraged to support and enhance these collective actions.
An exploratory sequential mixed methods approach was adopted. For qualitative data, a multi-case study was conducted. The findings were derived through thematic and cross-case analysis of 35 interviews with emergency management officials and community members, observation notes of community events and field visits and review of communication materials and documents. Quantitative data included 80 survey responses from volunteers and community members participating in collective actions for DRR.
The findings provide important insights on collective community actions in DRR and the role of communication in supporting them. Firstly, the study outlines three forms of people’s participation in DRR: volunteering with New Zealand Response Teams, participation in local community emergency response teams, and involvement through existing community groups like resident associations or sports clubs. Key factors triggering participation include heightened hazard awareness and initiation by emergency management agencies. Trusted local facilitators, community dialogue, and institutional support sustain collective actions, while challenges like low community interest and bureaucratic barriers hinder them. The findings highlight that civic participation in DRR in New Zealand is response-centric and lacks a proactive approach towards preventing risk creation and mitigating local hazards.
Secondly, using a communication ecology perspective and drawing on the Communication Infrastructure Theory, the research explores the communication processes, actors, and resources that foster or hinder collective participation in DRR. The data reveals that civil defence emergency management agencies, different government organizations, non-governmental and community-based agencies, and local people serve as key communicating actors. Community centres, schools, and public libraries are critical resources within the community communication network serving as hubs for community involvement where residents participate in emergency management activities, engage in dialogue, and collaborate to address disaster risks. Relationship building activities, awareness events, advertisements and community conversations play an important role in the communication process. Contextual factors such as safety and accessibility of the social infrastructure, presence of skilled facilitators, existing community organizations with networks and relationships and supporting institutional and resourcing mechanisms also influence civic participation and collective action in DRR.
Thirdly, the research finds that communication approaches to promote civic participation in DRR heavily rely on two-way conversations between emergency managers, community members and other stakeholders. These conversations flow through narratives conveying disaster risks and preparedness messages, rather than factual argumentation. Four key themes were identified in the narratives - connection and care (encouraging people to care for their communities and build support networks), everyday heroes (highlighting the value of simple actions in emergencies), collective efficacy (emphasizing the ability of community members to work together toward DRR goals), and collective responsibility (underscoring the shared duty to address local risks). While the narratives are generally helpful in promoting community agency and fostering social capital, some narratives, particularly the collective responsibility narrative, was found to be problematic which creates confusion and frustration.
Lastly, the findings highlight the growing role of social media in supporting collective DRR actions at the community level. They demonstrate how social media helps in maintaining conversations on preparedness in regular discourse and serves as a communication platform for communities of practice in preparedness. Neighbourhood based social media pages are valuable to promote civic participation in DRR and are most widely used compared to other Web 2.0 based applications.
The thesis makes an important contribution to the academic and practical understanding of collective actions in DRR and the role of communication in facilitating them. It provides an overview of forms and facilitators of collective actions in NZ, addressing a gap in existing literature. Additionally, the findings advance communication research on disaster and community resilience by adopting the relational network perspective which is an emerging area of research. The findings offer an evidence base for policy and programme development, particularly for advancing NZ’s National Disaster Resilience Strategy (2019). By advancing the existing knowledge base, this thesis is expected to support meaningful civic participation and collective action, empowering communities to reduce disaster risks and improve their resilience.
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Keywords
community engagement, collective action, community participation, disaster preparedness, disaster risk reduction, relational communication, communication infrastruture theory, narratives