Te ara o Tawhaki – What matters most to people in an emergency

The Te ara o Tawhaki is a three-year project that aims to better understand resilience of local communities through community-led indicators. This shall allow both practitioners and local communities to work together towards increasing emergency preparedness and enhance welfare during response and recovery. This project attempts to increase trust between local people and practitioners and ultimately contribute to strengthening community resilience. The project directly aligns with the National Disaster Resilience Strategy (MCDEM, 2019) and has a unique alignment with Māori values as it places people at the heart of emergencies and the resilience building process. Furthermore, the Hawke’s Bay CDEM Group Plan and Community Resilience Strategy identify that communities can build resilience through sharing knowledge, cohesion and ongoing cooperation. The project aims to enhance the ability of CDEM groups to measure resilience at the local level. One of the outcomes of the project is the replication the proposed approach and tools at the national level.