From a socio-ecological systems perspective, resilience is dynamic, multi-dimensional and multi-scale. This study provides evidence of the relationship between different types of resilience ...(psychological, employee and organizational resilience) affecting the recovery of tourism organizations after the Canterbury earthquakes in 2010/2011. A survey of tourism business owners and employees (managers) was undertaken five years after the February 2011 earthquakes. Results show significant and positive relationships between psychological and employee resilience. Further, employee resilience contributes to both life satisfaction of tourism business operators and organizational resilience. Life satisfaction of business owners and managers contributes to organizational resilience. Implications for the well-being of tourism business owners and managers, and ways of strengthening both psychological and organizational resilience are suggested.
This paper makes the case for natural disaster emergency planning to be incorporated into sustainable tourism strategies, using seismic risk scenario planning as a technique, and the Southern Alps of ...the South island of New Zealand as an example. The Alpine Fault is a 450-km-long geological structure running the length of the Southern Alps in New Zealand. Paleoseismic evidence suggests that a significant earthquake of magnitude (M) ∼ 7.8-8.0 is overdue. Coincident with this area of high seismic potential is a growing tourism industry, capitalising on the region's international reputation for nature-based tourism experiences. The scenario planning approach uses an isoseismal modelling methodology to describe a range of specific vulnerabilities in the tourism sector and highlight the physical outcomes and consequences for tourism-related infrastructure, transport, food supply, rescue, and survival likely to result from a future M8 earthquake on the Alpine Fault. Interviews with hazard management agencies investigated how tourism is considered in the context of current hazard management policies, and the urgent need to bring industry policies into partnership with other planning agencies and policies. Risk management is shown to be essential to address the triple bottom line of sustainable tourism management.
Increasingly, post-earthquake cordons (PECs) have been used to support response and recovery activities around the world. However, thus far, the empirical analysis of cordons has not considered the ...overarching feasibility of their use. This research aims to fill this gap through a case study of Kathmandu Valley following the 2015 Gorkha earthquake in Nepal. It draws on a broader study that has investigated various aspects of cordons in New Zealand and Italy. In total, 13 interviews were conducted in the Nepali language with relevant experts of varying backgrounds and expertise such as academics, disaster management officers, policymakers, municipality representatives, and practitioners (INGO). The interviews were semi-structured and conducted through purposive and snowball sampling. The data was translated, transcribed, and then coded into NVivo software which was then analyzed inductively through an iterative thematic process. The findings of this research demonstrate the importance of context in understanding PECs and their implications on disaster response and recovery. For cordons to be feasible, many factors such as resource challenges (physical, economic, and human) and provisions for temporary housing, welfare, access to essential services, security, and availability of alternative transportation routes are essential. In addition, legislative frameworks, trust in government institutions, and cultural nuances need to be taken into consideration if PECs are to be feasible as a disaster response and recovery strategy.
Post-earthquake cordons have been used after seismic events around the world. However, there is limited understanding of cordons and how contextual information such as geography, sociocultural ...characteristics, economy, and institutional and governance structures affects decisions and operational procedures, including aspects related to spatial and temporal attributes of cordon establishment. This research aims to fill the gap in cordon knowledge through a qualitative comparative case study of two cities: Christchurch, New Zealand (Mw 6.2 earthquake, February 2011) and L’Aquila, Italy (Mw 6.3 earthquake, 2009). Both cities suffered comprehensive damage to their city centers and had cordons established for extended periods of time. Data collection was done through purposive and snowball sampling whereby 23 key informants were interviewed in total. Research participants held expert knowledge in their roles and responsibilities, that is, council members, emergency managers, politicians, business/insurance representatives, academics, and police. Results illustrate that cordons were primarily established to ensure safety of people and to maintain security. The extent and duration of the cordons were affected by the recovery approaches taken in respective cities, that is, in Christchurch demolition was widely undertaken which supported recovery and allowed for faster removal of cordons. In contrast, authorities in L’Aquila placed high value on heritage buildings which led to recovery strategy based on preserving and restoring most of the buildings which extended the duration of cordon. Extended cordons have many similarities but evolve overtime. This evolution of cordons is affected by site-specific needs; thus, cordons should be understood and planned based on contextual realities.
Resilience is increasingly used to inform natural hazard risk management. From global to national to local levels of governance and decision making, resilience concepts are becoming institutionalized ...and operationalized in both public and private domains. However, as these ideas have shifted from their origins in ecology and been adopted by other disciplines, policy makers, and practitioners, key insights from the initial ecological conceptualization have been left behind. The resulting gap between resilience as originally theorized and its current implementation gives rise to several interconnected challenges: (i) loss of nuance in the meaning of the concept due to rapid adoption, which leads to: (ii) an inability to adequately account for normative or qualitative aspects of social theory, and: (iii) the problem of measurement. Key factors associated with resilience are intangible (difficult to objectively measure) and public bureaucracies are reliant upon objective measurement, i.e., targets and indicators, to operationalize policies. Multi-capital frameworks have been advanced as a potential solution to the problem of measurement in the literature. In this paper, we critically analyze how the concepts of social and human capital can be used to address these challenges and account for intangible sources of value. Drawing on a case study of complex multi-hazards in rural Aotearoa-New Zealand (NZ), as well as the NZ government's Living Standards Framework (a multi-capital framework) we highlight the importance of addressing these challenges to adequately realize the benefits of resilience and identify the successes and limitations of this approach. Results provide insight into the interlinked nature of the challenges and the importance of reconciling resilience theory and praxis. Findings also demonstrate the potential ways in which a combination of resilience thinking and multi-capital frameworks can add value to decision-making structures within public bureaucracies, the private sector, and academia.
Cordons provide a useful, but challenging risk-management tool for protecting public safety in a post-earthquake environment. There is limited literature on the purpose, complexities, and societal ...implications of post-earthquake cordons. Using evidence primarily from the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, and observations from the 2009 L’Aquila earthquake, this exploratory study identifies and highlights the various avenues of consideration involved in cordon establishment. This study shows that a cordon brings about complex challenges, pertaining to housing, law, economy, social welfare, governance, civil liberties, and health. We find that cordons can support both short-term and long-term recovery processes. Three themes emerge: (1) the tensions between minimizing risk for public health and safety and constraining the rights of the public and private parties; (2) the roles, rights, and relationships between government and private sectors; and (3) the balancing of short-term benefits of cordons against longer term impacts to the wider post-earthquake community. This exploratory study of the challenges, complexities and consequences associated with cordons over short, medium, and long terms may inform cordon-related decisions and improve outcomes for communities following an earthquake.
Designing effective policy for public hazard risk communication and preparedness education requires the development of qualitative, participatory, and place-based research methodologies. Traditional ...research approaches alone cannot fully reveal the situated contexts of different communities that inform understandings of and responses to a range of natural hazard risks. In this paper, we present a review of a novel research methodology, Photovoice, and its potential to engage communities as researchers and co-producers of knowledge. Through auto-photography, researcher-participants document issues affecting their lives and through critical reflexive group dialogue they unveil the underlying causes of issues and develop pathways to enact change. This review outlines the method's theoretical origins, practical application, and prior contributions across disciplines and in hazard research. We then present an Aotearoa New Zealand based pilot study that applies the methodology in a natural hazard context. Research participants took photographs to represent how they perceived the risk of earthquakes and how they prepared for such hazards in their local environments. Participants then engaged in critical reflexive dialogue to reveal the meanings embedded within their photographs, the barriers to preparedness, and opportunities to enact change. The paper reflects on the results of the pilot study, providing insights into the use of the Photovoice methodology in future earthquake and wider hazard research. We argue that Photovoice is an effective methodology for research informing public hazard risk communication and preparedness education due to its ability to reveal place-based insights including risk perceptions, barriers to preparedness, and opportunities to build community capacity and resilience.
•Methodological review of Photovoice.•Place-based, participatory, action research methodologies.•Public education, awareness, and preparedness in hazard risk.•Earthquake risk awareness and preparedness.•Aotearoa New Zealand earthquake risk preparedness.
This article examines tourism business disaster planning in areas at risk from low-frequency/high-consequence natural disasters. It presents empirical findings from a tourism business survey in the ...Southern Alps of New Zealand, an area with high seismic risk that supports a tourism industry comprising many micro-sized, owner-operated businesses. The Alpine Fault is a 450 km geological structure running the length of the Southern Alps, and is considered overdue for a M7.8-8.0 earthquake. A survey of tourism business operators revealed generally poor levels of perceived preparedness and actual planning for a future earthquake disaster, particularly amongst micro-sized businesses. The presence or absence of business resilience 'tools' was investigated, all of which are more common in businesses with higher incomes. The article draws on tourism disaster planning and business resilience literature to outline an alternative approach to disaster planning for small tourism-reliant communities. It describes community-based efforts to prepare in two remote Southern Alps townships, lending support to the concept of collective, community-led disaster planning.
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