2024 Annual Meeting – Day Two
September 5, 2024
Day Three of the QuakeCoRE 2024 Annual Meeting in Ahuriri Napier
QuakeCoRE Student Chapter Executive and Directors Breakfast
On Thursday morning, the Directors met with the leaders of the Te Hiranga Rū QuakeCoRE Student Chapters and their mentors. Over breakfast the group discussed what was important to ensure the success of the student chapters and agreed that they must be of value to the student members. Each of the five Chapters (Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin) shared ideas for future events and agreed that a successful Chapter is one that students want to be a part of. The Directors recognised the importance of the Student Chapters and in particular their Executive Teams and noted that the leadership roles within the chapters would provide valuable experiences outside the academic component of their PhDs. The QuakeCoRE Student Chapters welcome students from across the disaster, risk and resilience research disciplines, not only those that receive direct funding from Te Hiranga Rū QuakeCoRE. For more information or to be added to the mailing list for chapter activities please contact [email protected].
tePlenary: Buried Infrastructure in Seismically Active Regions: Beyond Business as Usual
Chair:
- Roger Fairclough (Neo Leaf Global)
Speakers:
- Rachel Davidson (University of Delaware)
- Hugh Blake-Mason (Waugh Infrastructure Management)
- Nicci Wood (Water New Zealand)
The speakers took the audience on a roller coaster of highs and lows. Rachel Davidson entertained with examples of household-level adaptations made in response to infrastructure disruptions such as people burning furniture to keep warm or melting snow to make sure they got their morning coffee. She urged listeners to consider that these ingenious solutions are not isolated practices – they’re actually part of a well-defined phenomenon having a big effect after any disaster.
Nicci Wood painted a sobering picture of water networks in Aotearoa New Zealand – that the haphazard history of water supply in New Zealand has led us to the confusing current situation in which 68 councils are doing their own thing, there is no “business as usual”, and the system is under stress. Without significant changes to planning and investment, water supply will become more expensive and more unreliable.
Hugh Blake-Manson tried to restore some positivity to the room by drawing attention to the estimated 850,000 New Zealanders who have their own pipes, tanks, and pumps for water supply. But given there’s a big gap in knowledge about the state of those buried assets and the quality of water coming from them, the picture didn’t get much rosier.
The panellists agreed that there is a way forward and the holistic approach of te Ao Māori will need to be a crucial part of any restructure. In the meantime, Roger encouraged the audience to think about how prepared they are as individuals and what they could do to improve the resilience of their water supply.
Panel Discussion: The Future of Earthquake Insurance in the Shaky Isles
Chair:
- Ilan Noy (Victoria University of Wellington)
Presenters:
- Jo Horrocks (Natural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake)
- Sean Fullan (Insurance Council of New Zealand)
- Charlotte Brown (Resilient Organisations)
- Sally Owen (Te Rarawa ki Hokianga, Ngāpuhi)
Panellists discussed the issues Aotearoa New Zealand faces given it's current level of risk exposure and our current public and private insurance landscape.
The consensus amongst panellists was that a significant step change is required to firstly and ultimately reduce the exposure to risk by not building in hazard-prone areas and that we protect communities already in high-risk areas; secondly, to have more tools in our toolbox to support recovery outcomes; and finally to tackle the inequity that Māori are currently facing in this complex risk and insurance landscape.
Jo highlighted that "Insurers are not the bad guys. They are like the canary in the mine - they're just reflecting the history of losses and the future risks we're facing." She believes there's too much effort going into trying to find insurance products and reinsurance and not enough effort going into addressing the root cause. Insurance is like a band aid. We need to focus on reducing risk.
Charlotte identified that even complex systems like this offer many leverage points for change. Some of the levers discussed were:
- "Shutting the door on future risk" by fixing the Resource Management Act (RMA) so that it supported local decision makers to curb development in high risk areas
- Nuanced land use planning that first prioritises most at risk communities that are least able to tackle their own recovery
- Raising the capacity of the sector through te Ao Māori, including insurance companies conducting their business in te reo Māori, and Marae communities having full agency in identifying where is best for them to retreat to.
Poster Showcase Session 2
Congratulations to the presenters in our final Poster Showcase Session. Presenters masterfully explained their research in under 60 seconds. In today's session we heard from:
- Chris de la Torre (University of Canterbury)
- Andrew Ridden-Harper (University of Canterbury)
- Liam Pledger (University Of Canterbury)
- Yuanyuan Wei (University of Auckland)
- Vensel Margraff (University of Auckland)
- Kianoush Rostami (Massey University)
- Cansu Inal Kaynar (Victoria University of Wellington)
- S.R. Uma (GNS Science)
- Yuan Liu (University of Auckland)
- Danuka Ravishan (Massey University)
Poster Session
With the most posters we've ever displayed at an Annual Meeting attendees made great use of our final Poster Session for the 2024 Annual Meeting sharing and connecting research.
The full 2024 Annual Meeting Poster Abstract Booklet (PDF) is available for download here.
Plenary Session: Design, Planning and Public Education to Support Tsunami Risk Reduction in Aotearoa New Zealand
Chairs:
- Graham Leonard (GNS Science)
- David Johnston (Massey University)
Speakers:
- Colin Whittaker (University of Auckland)
- Hinemoa Kātene (Māori Emergency Management Whanganui-a-Tara / Te Tau Ihu)
- Brian Terbush (Washington State Emergency Management Division)
No session on tsunami in Ahuriri Napier would be complete without first acknowledging the closest potential tsunami-maker beneath our feet - the mighty Hikurangi Subduction Zone.
Graham was quick to demonstrate the many advances in tsunami risk reduction in Aotearoa New Zealand since we met in Ahuriri Napier this time last year.
Colin stepped us through tsunami inundation to impacts, discussing everything from tsunami initiation and propagation; different types of inundation modelling; where inundation meets different types of infrastructure; through to impacts on structures, utility poles and culverts. He presented a range of opportunities and a positive outlook for tsunami risk reduction
Hinemoa implored researchers to understand exactly who is impacted by the research they're undertaking to ensure complete, flexible and deep engagement with the full contingent of stakeholders. Hinemoa shared examples of a great project with GNS Science where researchers came into the community and asked "what would you like to see in the research?" Hinemoa highlighted the positive impacts this one question and subsequent engagement has had on their community.
Brian Terbush was not able to attend in person, so we saw a virtual presentation from him. Brian introduced us to the Washington State context of tsunami risk reduction and the almost 25 year collaboration with the Joint Centre for Disaster Research at Massey University that has been labelled the 'Fellowship of the Ring of Fire.' Brian shared examples of projects that benefited from this collaboration, including a recent trip by a Ngāti Porou delegation to see the Shoalwater Bay Tribe’s “Auntie Lee” Tsunami Vertical Evacuation Tower in Tokeland.
As a founding member of the 'Fellowship of the Ring of Fire' David Johnston was able to field questions from the audience on behalf of Brian in our final Speaker Q&A session of the Annual Meeting.
Awards
QuakeCoRE's Director Brendon Bradley conferred the following, much coveted awards:
Lightning Talks
- Lightning Talk Judges' Choice Winner: Nathan Brutsch (University of Waikato)
- Lightning Talk Judges' Choice Runner-Up: Caroline Rowe (University of Otago)
- Lightning Talk Audience Choice Winner: Chanthujan Chandrakumar (Massey University)
Student Poster Competition
- Poster Competition Judges' Choice Winner: Brandy Alger (University of Canterbury)
- Poster Competition Judges' Choice Runner-Up: Yuni Azhari (University of Auckland)
- Poster Competition Audience Choice Winner: Caroline Rowe (University of Otago)
Closing Session
As this marked Brendon Bradley's final Annual Meeting as Director of Te Hiranga Rū QuakeCoRE, he took the opportunity to briefly reflect on the CoRE's inception approximately 10 years ago and shared key insights since then, especially noting all the people that had made it possible. Brendon also expressed his support for Santiago Pujol as the incoming Director for QuakeCoRE, commencing in January 2025, and expressed anticipation for the innovative and transformative potential he brings to shaping any future programmes.
And so, with the formalities concluded, the QuakeCoRE 2024 Annual Meeting drew to a close.
We thank Mana Ahuriri for hosting us here in this beautiful setting, and to all attendees for their generous engagement with all sessions of the Annual Meeting.
We look forward to seeing you all together again for the 2025 Annual Meeting in Ōtepoti Dunedin from 2-4 September 2025.
Day One of the 2024 Annual Meeting
