It's time to engage.
​
​
​
​
He waka eke noa
​
A canoe which we are all in with no exception
Clarity amid confusion
When a disaster happens, readiness is everything. Having systems and process ready to go is vital. Knowing who to shoulder tap for the right guidance, advice and expertise is a life-saver. And being able to be quick off the mark, in a measured and proven manner, is the objective.
​
But if you wait until you need to act, it’s already too late to be truly effective. It has to start now.
​
Our world is a volatile place. We can’t predict what will happen next,
but we know something will.
How prepared are we, not just for that event (whatever it is) but for the
aftermath with all its complexities and myriad of challenges?
Collaboration and co-operation are
essential. Sharing of information and expertise is imperative.
How can you get people working together and drawing on the
experience that already exists in dealing with these issues?
You need a network, framework and a system that can swing into action and take things up a level when the situation demands it.
"It's time to engage...
you can't wait for a disaster to happen to be ready to react, and we can't lose the expertise and knowledge that past events have taught us..."
What we learn from disaster shouldn’t stop here, with us...
It would be a shame if the major events that we face don’t provide lessons we can take forward with us.
Yet, too often, the expertise gained is lost as people disperse and things move on, returning, in course, to a new type of business as usual.
Everything is put behind us as we rush onwards to re-establish systems and processes. But is that gained experience all for naught?
How rebuild becomes resource
How do you harness the knowledge, skills and understanding that come from a significant event?
The answer is through the right connections, structure and systems.
Turning widespread collective experience into a useable resource is a challenge, but ultimately so worthwhile.
That’s where ENGAGE offers a pragmatic, workable solution.
"It would be criminal to go through a multi-billion dollar disaster without
learning from it..."
Dr. Robert Finch, Director,
University of Canterbury Quake Centre
To start from scratch and reinvent the wheel when the next big thing happens and you’re in the middle of a new disaster is just sheer crazy.
Following the series of Christchurch earthquakes, the devastation of Kaikoura, flooding in Edgecombe and other challenges that we have had to deal with - there is a massive amount of first-hand experience that shouldn’t be let go to waste.
That’s especially true when you consider the very real threats of seismic activity, volcanos. cyclones, tsunamis or other major weather events.
When a disaster or other major, unexpected event occurs, it's important to be able to appraise jointly, rebuild quickly, recover earlier...
If you are:
• Government
• Governor
• Operations
• Owner
• User
• Taxpayer
• Community
And you want to see:
• Who’s who
• What’s where
• What’s needing done
• What sequence
• Design & construction docs
• What’s being done /is done
• Who’s paying for what, when
• Formal and informal records
• Helicopter views
• Detailed information
ENGAGE gives you the information system and processes to enable all this.
​
So, how does ENGAGE work?
In the event of a disaster, ENGAGE applies its
experience and expertise to:
​
Make available information platforms, systems and blueprints and the expertise needed to form the foundation of an effective rebuild process.
​
Support central government and the local community to create an appropriate rebuild entity to meet the unique challenges of an individual disaster. Includes coordinating funding, high level oversight, and putting in place a management team to run the rebuild.
​
Provide instant accurate data to those who need it, to ensure the right decisions about the right priorities are made at the right time.
Extrapolated out to a wider context, the benefits are significant:
-
The country takes a best practice, evidence based approach to disaster response that is always-ready, and able to scale up fast.
-
The faster response and rebuild teams get to work effectively, the faster the community can recover.
-
Agreed funding models remove uncertainty and delays.
-
Better use is made of people, resources and money, in both planning for, and responding to the rebuild stage of disasters.
-
At a local level, the response can be faster and more effective. Decisions can be made that make better sense, with the input of experienced
-
individuals and tools. A new culture can be evolved to help local teams work more collaboratively and effectively.
-
The nation’s asset owners and those impacted are engaged, involved, and informed about what is happening and why, and given accurate information to explain what is being prioritised and why. Assets are better understood and documented, providing a rich source of information presently absent but needed, in an every-day context.
-
Having the design, construction and building industries engaged and involved generates confidence, raises standards, and results in best value outcomes.
-
A planned, informed transfer process gives certainty and clear timelines.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
Collaboration and co-operation are essential to progress.
Silo thinking and behaviours are a worst case scenario for everyone.
The tools to do what needs to be done:
Developing a nationwide collaboration of individuals and organisations with a working interest in recovery... made up of the wide range of groups including government, regional and local government, the construction industry, NGOs, professional groups, community organisations and others.
On a day-to-day basis, the network would help transmit and maintain the knowledge that has been gained from events both here and abroad. It would encourage approaches to event management that help response teams work better together and more closely with others, encourage an approach that is grounded in evidence and access to reliable data, and that brings together all in our expanded definition of infrastructure.
Critically, the network maintains a group of people with the expertise to implement a best-practice approach and the tools that are needed for a faster, more cost effective response and recovery.
First you need the people.
Theory is no substitute for on=the-ground experience
and first-hand knowledge.
We have an extensive network at our disposal that can come together as needed to apply their skills and implement a best-practice response.
The Framework for Action
– a set of evidence based, tried and tested procedures,
methods and standards that shape, drive and create a high-performing enterprise,
that continues to evolve, as New Zealand’s disaster
response capabilities and
learnings grow.
The Framework is designed
to be an off-the-shelf package that can be customised for
individual disasters and
communities, to help ensure good outcomes.
The System for Action
– a cloud based, always-live core information network and
a proven, complete, business and information management solution and resources, to bring the framework to life.
Despite their differences, natural disasters give rise to many of the same issues,
Readiness is an issue for now, not when.
We don’t know what to prepare for, but we do know how.
Earthquake. Flood. Volcano.
Cyclone. Fire. Landslide. Tsunami.
The list of potential threats to our so-called ‘normal’ way of life is not short. And although each is unique, there are considerations that every disaster has in common. Yet even after event after event, how much more prepared are we really? Are we ready for what’s next?
Meanwhile, the resource is there, the first hand knowledge exists, the practical experience has been earnt the hard way - should all that just be put to one side and forgotten?
The middle of a disaster is no time to reinvent the wheel.
There needs to be a balance between personal experience and proven systems, a cross reference between the theory and the actual, a way forward that’s based on where we’ve already been.
ENGAGE offers that opportunity.
You can engage with a wealth of both individual and institutional knowledge, take advantage of processes and systems that have been proven in real world situations
--- and know that there are ways to benefit from people and organisations working together, even under the most stressful
conditions.
NATURAL
ECONOMIC
BUILT
We are talking about the right mix of human understanding, some of the latest technology, and disaster-tested systems working in conjunction to provide an invaluable resource.
But you don’t need some significant event to trigger everything. You can start operating now, establishing links between organisations that might need to work together when trouble strikes, set up the protocols and
proceedures to be prepared, and make the connections that can work effectively when you need them. And all of this has immediate benefits too, enhancing the current ‘business as usual’ environment, while planning for any eventuality. Now’s the time to engage.
A plan of action needs to take into account so much more than what you can see the damage to be.
It’s not just about repair, infrastructure and the built environment, but also our communities...
SOCIAL
A real time, real world solution to potential crisis management issues.
Born from first hand experience, utilising innovative thinking and harnessing the power of technology and information sharing to create
solutions that can have incredibly positive impacts.
Titiro whakamuri
Kokiri whakamua
Look back and reflect
so you can move forward