5th International Disaster and Risk Conference IDRC 2014 Integrative Risk Management - The role of science, technology & practice 24-28 August 2014 in Davos, Switzerland

1. The negative impact of media and
socio-political influence on disaster
5th International Disaster and Risk Conference IDRC 2014
‘Integrative Risk Management - The role of science, technology & practice‘ • 24-28 August 2014 • Davos • Switzerland
www.grforum.org
reconstruction and resilience
Dr Helen GIGGINS, Dr Jason Von MEDING,
Dr Thayaparan GAJENDRAN, Dr Jamie MACKEE,
Dr Graham BREWER
The University of Newcastle, Australia

2. 5th International Disaster and Risk Conference IDRC 2014
‘Integrative Risk Management - The role of science, technology & practice‘ • 24-28 August 2014 • Davos • Switzerland
www.grforum.org
Building Back Better
• The construction sector has an important role to play in
Climate Change Adaption (CCA) and Disaster Risk Reduction
(DDR)
• Post-disaster reconstruction can be seen as a great
opportunity to improve resilience into the future
- particularly in relation to community infrastructure and
residential housing
- strong planning policy is key, as is political will for change
• However, these ideals often fail to be achieved in the cold
light of day

3. Lack of Community Education and Engagement
• In time of great crisis communities will expect their political leaders
5th International Disaster and Risk Conference IDRC 2014
‘Integrative Risk Management - The role of science, technology & practice‘ • 24-28 August 2014 • Davos • Switzerland
www.grforum.org
to act decisively and help return 'normality' to their world
• This can be in direct conflict with the prevailing idea of 'building
back better'
- does not allow for the 'reorganization' phase of the adaptive cycle
• We argue that the relationship between the community, media and
politicians can lead to poor post-disaster reconstruction decisions
• They seek decisive and speedy responses from their politicians

4. 5th International Disaster and Risk Conference IDRC 2014
‘Integrative Risk Management - The role of science, technology & practice‘ • 24-28 August 2014 • Davos • Switzerland
www.grforum.org
Victorian ‘Black Saturday’ Fires - 2009

5. 5th International Disaster and Risk Conference IDRC 2014
‘Integrative Risk Management - The role of science, technology & practice‘ • 24-28 August 2014 • Davos • Switzerland
www.grforum.org
Victorian ‘Black Saturday’ Fires - 2009

6. 5th International Disaster and Risk Conference IDRC 2014
‘Integrative Risk Management - The role of science, technology & practice‘ • 24-28 August 2014 • Davos • Switzerland
www.grforum.org
Victorian ‘Black Saturday’ Fires - 2009

7. 5th International Disaster and Risk Conference IDRC 2014
‘Integrative Risk Management - The role of science, technology & practice‘ • 24-28 August 2014 • Davos • Switzerland
www.grforum.org
Victorian ‘Black Saturday’ Fires - 2009
• The combined area burnt by the Murrindindi and Kilmore East
fires was 168,542 hectares
• 106 of the 173 deaths occurred in the Murrindindi local
government area
• Small rural shire with around 42,000 inhabitants
• Two of the worst impacted towns, Marysville & Kinglake are
situated there
• The impact on the communities in this area was
unprecedented in Australia

8. 5th International Disaster and Risk Conference IDRC 2014
‘Integrative Risk Management - The role of science, technology & practice‘ • 24-28 August 2014 • Davos • Switzerland
www.grforum.org
Kinglake after the Fire

9. 5th International Disaster and Risk Conference IDRC 2014
‘Integrative Risk Management - The role of science, technology & practice‘ • 24-28 August 2014 • Davos • Switzerland
www.grforum.org
Media Coverage
• The media coverage in the
days after the event was
unrelenting and sometimes
unethical

10. 5th International Disaster and Risk Conference IDRC 2014
‘Integrative Risk Management - The role of science, technology & practice‘ • 24-28 August 2014 • Davos • Switzerland
www.grforum.org
Political Reaction
Transcript from 7.30 Report, ABC TV 17/02/2009

11. 5th International Disaster and Risk Conference IDRC 2014
‘Integrative Risk Management - The role of science, technology & practice‘ • 24-28 August 2014 • Davos • Switzerland
www.grforum.org
Impact of Poor Political Decisions
• Schools rebuilt in areas with already declining communities
• Community infrastructure built without proper consultation
with local authorities
• Not enough consideration given to the ongoing maintenance
costs
– Local shire council almost sent bankrupt

12. 5th International Disaster and Risk Conference IDRC 2014
‘Integrative Risk Management - The role of science, technology & practice‘ • 24-28 August 2014 • Davos • Switzerland
www.grforum.org
Conclusions
• Community agenda need to come before political agendas
• Policy needs to be created with enough distance from a
disaster
• All levels of government need to work together to ensure that
public policy aligns
• We need to educate the public about the value of a more
resilient built environment

13. Added value for the Post 2015 Framework for
5th International Disaster and Risk Conference IDRC 2014
‘Integrative Risk Management - The role of science, technology & practice‘ • 24-28 August 2014 • Davos • Switzerland
www.grforum.org
Disaster Risk Reduction
• How did your work support the implementation of the Hyogo
Framework for Action:
– Sought to understand what influenced poor DRR outcomes in the wake of
the Black Saturday Bushfires (2009).
– Advocated for the development of DRR policy incorporated into the
reconstruction phase.
• From your perspective what are the main gaps, needs and further
steps to be addressed in the Post 2015 Framework for Disaster Risk
Reduction in
– Research: Improved cross-disciplinary approach. Less focus of defining the
problem, and more focus on trying to actively solve the issues.
– Education & Training: Not enough science and technology incorporated
into the current education programs.
– Implementation & Practice: A global approach required, with an eye to
local implementation. There needs to be political will for change.
– Policy: A need to move away from a ‘silo’ approach to policy development.

14. Thank You - Helen.Giggins@newcastle.edu.au
5th International Disaster and Risk Conference IDRC 2014
‘Integrative Risk Management - The role of science, technology & practice‘ • 24-28 August 2014 • Davos • Switzerland
www.grforum.org