Resilient Communities Tools Available On-line
Based on research findings, the Resilient Communities team has developed five practical tools for older people, communities and organisations to assess the risks and have a better recovery. Launched at the Final Summit in Marlborough, September 2014 the tools are now available to download for free from the tools page.
“It is a cheaper solution to stay in your own home,” says Dr Bridge. Good modifications improve safety and performance and help older people feel able to manage. It follows on that a resilient home and homeowner will cope better in extreme events.”
Photos from the Final Summit
Some photos of our Summit presenters in action at the Final Summit.
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Marlborough Mayor Alistair Sowman opened the summit.
“This research is an important piece of work to help councils and community agencies with their planning and create good, practical collaboration.”
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Dr Rob Wiener heads a coalition of community housing orgainsations in California that provide affordable housing. He focused on community housing developments designed to withstand severe natural events including floods, fire and earthquake. “Doing better in bad times comes down to diligent, intentional pre-planning, collaboration between designers and emergency services, and making sure residents know what to do and where to go in an emergency.”
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Sydney based Dr Catherine Bridge is a strong advocate of retrofitting houses to improve accessibility and resilience. She spoke about rebuilding homes after the Sri Lankan tsunami and the struggle to re-establish traditional accessible features in new homes. She concluded that accessible features improve safety and performance and help older people feel able to manage. “It follows on that a resilient home and homeowner will cope better in extreme events.”
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Russell Montgomery was the Incident Controller for the 2013 Seddon earthquake. He said that older people are often more resilient than younger people, but everyone feels reassured if they have someone knock on their door to see if they are OK. Russell spoke of the importance of unified teamwork and of providing an immediate response with all resources available. “It’s better to do more than less.”
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Dr Sue Carswell reported on the experience of rest homes and retirement villages after the February 2011 earthquake in Christchurch. Practical issues included having up-to-date contacts for family members and supplies of medications. “Clear and calm communication about what is happening is a priority. Residents also valued being in a community and looking after each other.”
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Bev James, Public Policy & Research, presented the Flood Experience Tool, an interactive tool which assists organizations develop responsive policies and plans to help older people affected by floods and other adverse natural events. “Older people have knowledge, skills, resources and life experience that they can contribute to recovery.”
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Kay Saville-Smith, CRESA, summarized the main research findings and presented the Sites for Resilient Homes Selection Tool. She emphasized the importance of researchers, practitioners and residents working together to build resilience in their communities. Kay also highlighted the importance of making our homes more resilient. “Resilient homes are homes that protect, minimize damage, and minimize the costs and time in recovery and repair”.
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Nick Marston, BRANZ, presented the Home and Heavy Weather Resilience Tool and the Materials for Resilient Houses Tool.
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Final Summit A Success
Marlborough Mayor, Alistair Sowman welcomes attendees to the Final Summit
A successful final summit was held at Grovetown Blenheim on 29 September 2014. The programme featured:
- Two international housing experts on resilience, housing and older people:
- Dr Catherine Bridge – Director of the Home Modification Information Clearing House Project and Associate Professor, Faculty of Built Environment, University of New South Wales, Sydney.
- Dr Rob Wiener – Executive director, California Coalition for Rural Housing and lecturer in housing policy at the University of California, Davis.
- Presentations on the Seddon earthquake and older people’s experiences of the Canterbury earthquakes:
- Russell Montgomery, Blenheim, involved with civil defence and neighbourhood support
- Dr Sue Carswell, Christchurch, an independent researcher who has conducted research on the aged care sector response to the Canterbury earthquakes.
- Release of the tools developed in the programme:
- Homes and Heavy Weather Resilience Tool
- Materials for Resilient Houses Tool
- Sites for Resilient Homes Tool
- Flood Experience Tool
- Research-based Guidelines: Learning from Older People’s Flood Experiences
You can access these tools through the links on the home page.
Final Research Summit – Registrations now open
A final summit for the research programme in being held in Grovetown, Blenheim on Monday 29 September from 9am to 3:30pm.
Full invitation details and a copy of the preliminary programme can be accessed from the following link:
final-invite-
For more information or to register to attend please contact
Ruth Fraser on ruth@cresa.co.nz or freephone 0508 427372.
Summit Presentations Now Available on the Publications Page
Special thanks to the guest speakers at the Summit, Sue Roaf (Professor of Architectural Engineering, Herriot Watt University Edinburgh), Sally Priest (Flood Hazard Research Centre, Middlesex University) and John Lucas (Insurance Council of New Zealand).
Presentations are now available to download from the publications page.
Resilient Communities Research Summit Thursday 15 May 2014
See attached flyer for more information on the international speakers at the Summit in May.
The Summit is free to attend.
If you have any questions or to RSVP please feel free to contact us
ruth@cresa.co.nz
or freephone on 0508 427 372
summit-flyer
Resilient Communities Research Summit Thursday 15 May 2014
See attached flyer for more information on the international speakers at the Summit in May. The Summit is free to attend. If you have any questions or to RSVP please feel free to contact us ruth@cresa.co.nz or freephone on 0508 427 372 summit flyer
Save the date – Wellington Summit
Keep an eye out for our first findings Summit to be held in Wellington on the 15th of May 2014.
This will feature Professor Sue Roaf, School of the Built Environment, Herriot Watt University, Edinburgh and Dr Sally Priest, Flood Hazards Centre, Middlesex University, London, as well as presentations of findings to date from the Resilient Communities research team.
More information on the Summit will be available later in March. If you would like to be sent more information about the Summit as it is available or to be included on the invitation list please contact Ruth Fraser ruth@cresa.co.nz
February Newsletter
See our February newsletter – now available for download on the publications page – for an update on what has been happening in the Resilient Communities programme over the last wee while.
Presentations Uploaded
Powerpoint presentations of research progress and findings to-date presented at the National Reference Group meeting this month are now available to download from the publications page.
