Abstract
To capture the ‘resilience’ value of the connection between ordinary community activities and disaster planning, we adopted the socio-technical approach, an organisational communications model. Social elements incorporate people, goals and tasks. Technical elements include equipment, technology and formal structures such as processes, contracts and plans. We contributed to the development of the Resilient Villages pilot project, and we asked: What can applying a socio-technical approach to disaster resilience constructively add to the way community disaster resilience is currently conceptualised? A small, isolated, and disaster-prone region in NSW, Australia, was the focus of this empirical three-year project. Following case study methodology, various data were collected, including media reports, local stakeholder interviews, surveys and observation notes, in addition to attending and participating in various community events. Following major fires, a flood and two landslips during the study period of 2023 to 2025, a rich pool of data was collected and thematically analysed. Results demonstrate that community activities such as makers markets and community expos, which may not immediately appear to contribute to local disaster resilience, are actually essential to the building of the kinds of connections and collaborations required for effective disaster management. In this paper we offer a short vignette to demonstrate that the success of disaster preparation and recovery efforts in rural and regional locations lies in resourcing these communities to deliver their own local programs and projects. Additionally, we also outline the usefulness of the socio-technical model when applied to case study research for an extended community engagement project.
Presenters
Valerie InghamAssociate Professor in Emergency Management, Australian Graduate School of Policing & Security, Charles Sturt University, New South Wales, Australia Lucia Wuersch
Lecturer in Human Resource Management, School of Business, Charles Sturt University, New South Wales, Australia
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
LOCAL, COMMUNITY, RESILIENCE, DISASTER
