Emergency management summer institute

This five day workshop/lecture series provides a vast range of presentations across emergency management planning, developing effective all hazard warning systems, evacuation and welfare, a day hazard scape field trip in Wellington and the role of public education, community engagement and public participation.

1. Emergency management planning

This course will explore the range of emergency management planning processes and discuss issues that need to be addressed at a CDEM Group, community and organisational level. It will introduce the fundamental emergency management concepts, how these are applied in New Zealand and examine a number of recent events, such as 2004 North Island floods, 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, 2005 Hurricane Katrina, 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquake and other examples.

2. Developing effective all-hazard warning systems

This course will examine issues around improving the public’s response to warning systems for weather, flooding, tsunami and other hazards. It will explore international examples of effective end-to-end warning systems and discuss research into the effectiveness of these systems. It will discuss existing training approaches among emergency response agencies and ways to improve these by developing and implementing new technologies and training methods. The course will also address the role of communities in developing and maintaining effective systems.

3. Evacuation planning and welfare

This course will explore the range of issues around evacuation planning and welfare provision. It will examine evacuee behaviour (warning and evacuation compliance, route choice, visual clues) and the elements of effective evacuation planning (design requirements, the evacuation process, public information). Welfare issues are examined through a series of case studies, looking at evacuation and recovery centres (design, registration issues, and psycho-social support) and the provision of support for longer-term community recovery.

4. Classroom in the Coach

During this day we will undertake a field excursion to explore many aspects of emergency management planning, land-use planning and options for mitigation in the Wellington and Hutt Valley. We will visit tsunami hazard zones, discuss tsunami warnings, explore the Wellington Fault, look at land-use planning for earthquakes, tsunami, landslides and flooding, examine community-based preparedness activities and visit the Wellington and Hutt Valley Emergency Operations Centres.

5. The role of public education, community engagement and public participation in building resilient communities

Drawing on recent research in New Zealand, Australia and internationally, this course will provide an evidence-based framework for understanding the role of public education (including schools), community engagement and public participation in building resilient communities. Case studies will examine both New Zealand and overseas examples of public education and community engagement initiatives and discuss monitoring and evaluation strategies.