Volume 28, Number 1
Contents - Volume 28, Number 1
Special Issue: A tribute to Professor Douglas paton
Published December 2024
Volume 28, Number 1 (complete issue)
Contents page - Volume 28, Number 1
Editorial
“To Leave Something (meaningful) Behind”: Honouring the Late Professor Douglas Paton and his comprehensive meaningful DRR legacy
Petra T. Buergelt, David M. Johnston, Julia S. Becker, Li-ju Jang, Chris Gregg, Fantina Tedim & John Violanti
Research Papers
Transformative approaches to disaster risk reduction: Social, societal, and environmental contributions to post-disaster capacity building
Douglas Paton, Petra T. Buergelt, Julia S. Becker, Emma E. H. Doyle, Li-ju Jang, David M. Johnston & Fantina Tedim
Keywords: Disaster risk reduction; readiness; preparedness; capacity building; Community Engagement Theory; transformative learning
Abstract:
This paper discusses whether Community Engagement Theory (CET) could be augmented in ways that afford opportunities to develop a framework for understanding how emergent change and transformative learning can occur in disaster response and recovery settings. The foundation for doing so derives from appreciating that CET describes process theory that comprises variables representing adaptive capacities. That is, the presence of these capacities enables people to adapt to any set of circumstances, particularly when people are called upon to make decisions and to act during conditions of uncertainty. This approach builds on the potential for variables such as community participation, collective efficacy, and empowerment to provide a social context for people to formulate and enact strategies to support their recovery and to be able to do so when interacting with government, non-government, and business entities. However, based on a critical comparative analysis of relevant research into post-disaster emergent and transformational shifts in community capacity, it is argued that the above variables need to be augmented. The paper discusses the rationale for including factors such as community leadership, governance, place attachment, and city identity in an augmented conceptual transdisciplinary transformative learning Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) model. The function of this model is consistent with the Sendai Framework for DRR Priority 4, Building Back Better goal.
The development and use of Community Engagement Theory to inform readiness interventions for natural hazard events
Douglas Paton, Julia S. Becker, David M. Johnston, Petra T. Buergelt, Fantina Tedim & Li-ju Jang
Keywords: Community Engagement Theory, readiness, preparedness, natural hazards, cross-cultural, crosshazard
Abstract:
Readiness or preparedness can help reduce the risk posed by future hazard events and allow for effective post-event response and recovery. Given the importance of readiness, a key question is, “How can readiness be facilitated?”. Community Engagement Theory (CET), developed from over 20 years of research in and across several countries, can contribute to offering answers to this question. The theory suggests that if people believe their personal actions can mitigate risk (outcome expectancy), then they are more likely to engage with others to collectively identify and formulate their risk management needs and strategies (community participation and collective efficacy). The CET continues by proposing that if people perceive their needs as having been met through their relationship with civic agencies (empowerment), they are more likely to trust those agencies and the information they provide and use their information to make readiness decisions. The CET began its development in the city of Auckland in Aotearoa New Zealand and has been tested across diverse hazards with multi-cultural populations, in culturally diverse countries, and in both pre- and postdisaster contexts. Cross-cultural analyses suggest that CET constitutes a universal theory for understanding how to develop readiness irrespective of the hazard or country under consideration. Given its universality, the theory can be used to guide readiness interventions, with the proviso that these are adapted to allow for the specificities of different localities and cultural settings. This paper documents the work undertaken to create, refine, and apply the CET in national and international contexts and discusses its utility in developing natural hazard readiness, with a specific Aotearoa New Zealand focus.
Where’s the community in community resilience? A post-earthquake study in Kaikōura, Aotearoa New Zealand
Ashley M. Rudkevitch, Suzanne A. Vallance & Emma J. Stewart
Keywords: Community, resilience, disaster, collective, earthquake
Abstract:
Theories about what communities are have been constantly evolving in response to considerations about the complex and multi-faceted processes that shape them. While this has led to conceptual refinement in some areas of research, debates about the nature of community are often overlooked when the term is paired with other concepts such as resilience. In such pairings, more discussion is evident over the meaning of resilience than the nature of community. Studies that focus on the resilience of a community risk neglecting the complex dynamics that shape them and, as a consequence, tend to underestimate how these processes influence resilience. Framed by Paton’s (2006) model of adaptive capacity, in this paper we argue that a more nuanced understanding of community which acknowledges the web of formal and informal relationships is required. These relationships give rise to “collectives” which, in turn, are integral to a community’s resilience because they bridge the gap between the individual and “the” community. This paper uses qualitative methods to examine collectives in Kaikōura, Aotearoa New Zealand following a Mw7.8 earthquake to further our understanding of what is meant by community in community resilience. By examining the meso/collective level, rather than the micro/individual or macro/community level of community, a more nuanced understanding of community resilience emerges.
Wildfire communication from municipalities to communities in Portugal: An exploratory analysis
Fernando Correia, Vittorio Leone, Michael Coughlan, Douglas Paton, Petra T. Buergelt & Fantina Tedim
Keywords: Risk communication, emergency communication, post-fire communication, Portugal, wildfire
Abstract:
Enhancing preparedness that enables people and communities to effectively anticipate, respond to, and recover from the impacts of a wildfire requires interactive communication. The purpose of this research is to understand how municipalities are communicating with communities regarding wildfires. Municipalities represent the lowest level of governance in Portugal and their responsibility for wildfire risk communication is fixed by law. In addition, this paper evaluates the influence of experience with extreme wildfires on communication processes. An online questionnaire was sent to 275 Portugal mainland municipalities (the official number of municipalities is 278, but three municipalities were not considered because they are entirely urban areas without wildland). One hundred and one municipalities participated in the survey (37% response rate). The survey identified the predominant use of one-way communication, lack of continuity of communication activities, and lack of purpose and content of the awareness-raising activities. The main difficulty municipalities encountered was the lack of interest from several target groups, which was mainly due to them continuing to use ineffective communication and not engaging citizens in the process. Considering the contact between municipalities and their citizens, a more interactive role in the wildfire communication process by using two-way communication exchanges is advocated to enhance preparedness and avoid casualties and losses.
Truck drivers are also lay rescuers: A scoping review
Katrina Andrews, Chiara Paganini & David Sweeney
Keywords: Truck driver, lay rescuer, PTSD, scoping review
Abstract:
A recent comprehensive investigation by Comcare (2021) has elucidated the real and severe mental health problems suffered by truck drivers on Australian roads, reporting that 36.7% of all Australian truck drivers experience moderate to severe psychological complaints, including suicidality. Reasons for such poor mental health included unrealistic demands, lack of respect, and compromised support systems. The current paper, however, argues that a largely hidden but common role of “lay rescuer” is also a significant contributing factor to the mental health decline in truck drivers in Australia. Unfortunately, the prevalence, impact, and best practice intervention strategies for this occurrence is unknown in the literature. This paper therefore aimed to highlight this hidden role of truck drivers with a qualitative scoping review of both published and grey literature, on what is already known generally about the effects of being a lay rescuer on the untrained bystander. Nine relevant papers were found, reviewed, and summarised. Conclusions drawn were that bystanders who become lay rescuers commonly experience symptoms similar to post traumatic stress disorder, and largely do not receive any formal mental health interventions to help cope with the resultant symptoms, weeks or months after the incident. This represents initial evidence that the lay rescuer role for Australian truck drivers may also contribute to their poor mental health. Interventions and organisational policy changes should ensure truck drivers who are also lay rescuers receive the care they need. Research limitations and future recommendations are discussed.
Appendix
Publications, conferences, and grants: Douglas Paton PhD.
Douglas Paton et al.
Abstract
This publication list documents Douglas' impressive contribution to the field of disaster risk reduction. Please see the Editorial of this Special Issue for the story of his life and career.
All papers are protected under the Creative Commons attribution as per our copyright notice.