Facilitating successful community-led recovery after disasters

On September the 4th 2010, and February 22nd 2011, the Canterbury region of New Zealand was shaken by massive earthquakes. This chapter, set broadly within the civil defence and emergency management literature, addresses issues around community participation, social capital, and resilience that arose as a result of these events. Whilst there is a very strong consensus in the literature about the need to involve communities/civil society in recovery processes, there is a paucity of research dedicated to understanding the myriad factors that facilitate or hinder this. This chapter contributes to a better appreciation of these factors by firstly interrogating the assumption that recovery agencies and officials are both willing and able to engage communities who are themselves willing and able to be engaged in accordance with recovery best practice. Secondly, this chapter outlines research with three community groups in order to illustrate some of the difficulties associated with becoming a community during the disaster recovery phase. Based on this research which provided three case studies, the third objective of this chapter is to provide some insights into practical strategies that emerging communities (and recovery authorities) may use to strengthen people’s ability to ‘participate’ in the recovery process