Forecasting for a Fractured Land: A Case Study of the Communication and Use of Aftershock Forecasts from the 2016 Mw 7.8 Kaikōura Earthquake in Aotearoa New Zealand

2020 ◽  
Vol 91 (6) ◽  
pp. 3343-3357
Author(s):  
Julia S. Becker ◽  
Sally H. Potter ◽  
Sara K. McBride ◽  
Emma E. H. Doyle ◽  
Matthew C. Gerstenberger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Land Use Planning ◽  
Earthquake Hazard ◽  
The Public ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Future Earthquake ◽  
Hazard And Risk ◽  
Additional Support ◽  
Kaikoura Earthquake

Abstract Operational earthquake forecasts (OEFs) are represented as time-dependent probabilities of future earthquake hazard and risk. These probabilities can be presented in a variety of formats, including tables, maps, and text-based scenarios. In countries such as Aotearoa New Zealand, the U.S., and Japan, OEFs have been released by scientific organizations to agencies and the public, with the intent of providing information about future earthquake hazard and risk, so that people can use this information to inform their decisions and activities. Despite questions being raised about the utility of OEF for decision-making, past earthquake events have shown that agencies and the public have indeed made use of such forecasts. Responses have included making decisions about safe access into buildings, cordoning, demolition safety, timing of infrastructure repair and rebuild, insurance, postearthquake building standards, postevent land-use planning, and public communication about aftershocks. To add to this body of knowledge, we undertook a survey to investigate how agencies and GNS Science staff used OEFs that were communicated following the Mw 7.8 2016 Kaikōura earthquake in Aotearoa New Zealand. We found that agencies utilized OEFs in many of the ways listed previously, and we document individual employee’s actions taken in their home-life context. Challenges remain, however, regarding the interpretation of probabilistic information and applying this to practical decision-making. We suggest that science agencies cannot expect nontechnical users to understand and utilize forecasts without additional support. This might include developing a diversity of audience-relevant OEF information for communication purposes, alongside advice on how such information could be utilized.

scholarly journals Kiwis and COVID-19: The Aotearoa New Zealand Response to the Global Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Henrickson
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
The Public ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Late Exposure ◽  
Additional Support ◽  
The Impact ◽  
National Purpose

This fast-moving global COVID-19 pandemic caught many nations unprepared and has exposed numerous flaws in global health, public health, and economic and social welfare infrastructures. It may seem premature to write about responses, but there are lessons to be learned from the response of Aotearoa New Zealand. Although its geopolitical situation as an island nation meant that it had late exposure to COVID-19, NZ has been commended because it closed its borders (to non-nationals); lockdown; traced; tested contacts; told people to pick a ‘bubble’ (immediate and usual family or household) and stay within that bubble; and promoted clear public messages. Government assistance was available for employers to retain staff, and additional support was provided for businesses and individuals. A strong and empathetic prime minister communicated regularly with the public and developed a sense of common national purpose. However, COVID-19 still exposed the impact of social inequalities. Implications for the next steps of recovery are considered in the paper.

scholarly journals Free and Frank Advice and the Official Information Act

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Kibblewhite ◽  
Peter Boshier
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Government Agency ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
The Public ◽  
Good Government ◽  
Work Programme ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Right ◽  
Official Information

Concern exists that New Zealand hasn’t struck the right balance between two potentially competing principles of good government: officials should provide free and frank advice to ministers, and the public should have opportunities to participate in decision making and hold the government to account. Steps we have taken to address this include: strengthening constitutional underpinnings for free and frank advice (Cabinet Manual changes and issuing expectations for officials); a work programme to improve government agency practice in relation to the Official Information Act; and the Office of the Ombudsman reducing uncertainty about when advice can be withheld by issuing new principles-based guidance and providing more advisory services.

scholarly journals The incorporation of Māori environmental values as part of the Ruamāhanga Whaitua Implementation Programme in the Wellington Region, Aotearoa New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Bryn Cal Hickson Rowden
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Environmental Decision Making ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Management Processes ◽  
Local Government Level ◽  
Implementation Programme

<p>In recent years, there has been significant efforts to create frameworks in which Māori values are incorporated as part of environmental management processes in Aotearoa New Zealand(Forster, 2014; Harmsworth et al., 2016). This research explores the factors that influence the incorporation of Māori values at the local government level, and what barriers Māori values face to being incorporated in environmental management. This research focused on a case study of the Ruamāhanga Whaitua Committe Implementation Programme process in the Wellington region. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect information on the opinions of members of the Ruamāhanga Whaitua Committee. The interviews were analysed using a critical theory approach. The research found that there was a clear discrepancy between the values and behaviours expressed by some non-Māori members of the Committee. The result of such a discrepancy was that Māori values were not sufficiently part of environmental decision making. Such a discrepancy was a result of the political structures of the Regional Council’s Whaitua Implementation Programme process. The majority of the decision-making power was found to be situated ‘higher’ up in the organisation, outside of the Committee. Overall this research found that there are important opportunities to make sure iwi values are not only included, but form the basis of decisions.</p>

Intelligent Careers of Pacific Island Leaders

2005 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Polly Parker
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Leadership Development ◽  
Minority Population ◽  
Pacific Island ◽  
Cultural Issues ◽  
Dominant Culture ◽  
The Public ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Leadership Behaviour

AbstractPacific peoples hold a unique place as an ethnic community within Aotearoa-New Zealand. The largest immigrant minority population in New Zealand brings a different culture to that of the dominant Pakeha (European). One implication is the need for acculturation into New Zealand society. Leadership, when characterised here as a process through which Pacific elders model the “Pacific way” to guide their youth, is critical to manage the tension between maintaining traditional ways and integrating into a dominant culture different from the people's own. This paper reports an empirical study conducted with Pacific professionals working in the public sector of New Zealand. Recognised for their potential to influence Pacific peoples, the participants were sponsored by the ministries of Health and Pacific Island Affairs to attend a three-day leadership development course that included a careers component. The scarcely researched links among leadership, careers and social cultural issues are explored. Intelligent career theory is introduced and the processes associated with eliciting subjective and inter-subjective career data are explained The results reflect the interdependence of motivation, skills and knowledge, and relationships, which together strongly influence the career and leadership behaviour of Pacific peoples to enhance the outcomes for Pacific peoples in New Zealand. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

scholarly journals Co-Management in Theory and Practice: Co-Managing the Waipaˉ River

2021 ◽  
pp. 325-357
Author(s):  
Meg Parsons ◽  
Karen Fisher ◽  
Roa Petra Crease
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Environmental Justice ◽  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
River Catchment ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Equitable Sharing ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Formal Recognition

AbstractIn Aotearoa New Zealand, co-management initiatives are increasingly commonplace and are intended to improve sustainable management of environments as well as foster more equitable sharing of power between the settler-state and Indigenous Māori iwi (tribes). In this chapter we examine one such co-management arrangement that recognises and includes Ngāti Maniapoto iwi in decision-making about their ancestral river (the upper section of the Waipā River Catchment) and whether the implementation of initiative translated into tangible benefits for the iwi. Our research findings highlight how co-management agreement is perceived as overwhelming positive by both government and Ngāti Maniapoto representatives. However iwi note that they still face substantive barriers to achieving environmental justice (including the lack of formal recognition of their authority and power, and limited resourcing).

scholarly journals Key Criteria for Information Quality in the Use of Online Social Media for Emergency Management in New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Gunilla Elleholm Jensen
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Media ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Emergency Management ◽  
Information Quality ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
The Public ◽  
Online Social Media

<p>Knowledge and information give people the power to make decisions and to act; they are the key to the success of real-time decision making. Social media can be valuable in emergencies where information can be shared to save lives and minimise the human and social impact. Fostering information quality is important in order to validate the information collected for decision making. With the empowerment of the general public and the abundance of information on social media, information quality becomes central to achieving an effective and efficient outcome in emergency response and saving lives. A gap exists in the research in the area of information quality in the use of online social media for emergency management in New Zealand. The research question for this study is: What are the key criteria for fostering information quality in the use of online social media for emergency management in New Zealand? How are they achieved? The data collection method employed was in-depth interviews of members of emergency management organisations in New Zealand. The interviews were followed by participant check. Previous research has identified accuracy, consistency and relevancy as the most frequently acknowledged criteria for information quality. This study found that the three key criteria for information quality in the use of online social media for emergency management in New Zealand are: Using verified and validated information; Using timely information; Building and using networks. There were two conflicts between the criteria: The need to dispel rumours or get time critical information out to the public can be in conflict with making sure that information is verified and trustworthy. The other conflict lies in the desire to control communication on social media, which hinders sharing of information and engagement with the public. It was found that the key criteria for information quality can be achieved by engaging with followers, so that their shared information can be included in the EOCs standard verification processes, and at the same time letting the followers know what the time frame is for new information releases.</p>

scholarly journals Prison Education in Aotearoa New Zealand: From Justice to Corrections

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nesta Devine
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Informal Education ◽  
Prison Education ◽  
Policy Discourse ◽  
Criminal Behaviour ◽  
Prison Inmates ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
The Public ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand

This article considers the changes in policy discourse relating to education in prisons, in the New Zealand context, in the period between the 1950s and the early 21st century. The earlier belief in education as a means to rehabilitation has been replaced by a narrow focus on programmes specifically intended to change the criminal behaviour for which the prisoner has been sentenced. But even these programmes are hard to get into, and available only to selected prison inmates after they have served two thirds of their sentences. Informal education, including physical education and vocational education, have been severely retrenched, as have all forms of work and activity. In this paper I argue that this situation is a logical outcome of the neoliberal construction of education as a private rather than a social or public good, of the reconceptualisation of the public service as an agency of its principal, the party or parties in power. The depersonalising of the inmates of prisons as “prisoners” serves to justify this situation at the same time as it validates the “freedom” of those who conform to social and legal expectations.

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