Fostering civic participation and collective actions for disaster risk reduction: Insights from Aotearoa New Zealand case studies

Abstract

This paper explores how community members collaborate with emergency management organizations in the pre-disaster stage and engage in collective actions for reducing disaster risks in their communities. Utilizing four qualitative case studies from New Zealand, we examined how local groups interested in reducing community level disaster risks form, the nature of their collective actions and collaboration with emergency management organizations, their facilitators and barriers and the outcomes of the processes. The findings suggest that people's involvement, collaboration, and collective action in the pre-disaster stage entails participating in programmes administered by emergency management organizations through diverse community groups, informal emergency response teams, and specialized volunteer groups. The two primary goals are to have a group of people ready to provide immediate support in an event by maintaining community response teams and making prior arrangements that support people to spontaneously volunteer in an emergency, through community emergency hub approach. These groups engage in tasks such as creating community response plans, maintaining resources, and fostering communication and social capital. The factors facilitating these efforts include hazard awareness, community conversations, institutional support and active DRR organizations, clear objectives, skilled facilitators, and ensuring community solutions are supported. However, currently, community involvement in the pre-disaster stage is narrowly focused on improving response outcomes, lacking a broader perspective of addressing developmental and environmental issues that create risks. They are also rooted in the idea of a solidaristic community and rely on social capital. We discuss the implications of the current practices and the way forward.