Natural Hazards and Resilience Platform
As a country exposed to significant natural hazards and a changing climate, Aotearoa New Zealand needs resilience research that brings together experts, organisations and communities.
Collaborative, user-focused research can support solutions that really make an impact, boosting the resilience of our communities and infrastructure.
About the platform
The Natural Hazards and Resilience Platform (the platform) is a new collaborative natural hazards resilience research programme, funded by Government in the 2024 Budget.
Like the Resilience to Nature’s Challenges National Science Challenge(external link) (RNC) (2014-2024), the platform will be mission-led, multi-disciplinary and multi-organisational.
The platform is funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) through the Strategic Science Investment Fund and will be hosted by GNS Science.
Platform purpose
The purpose of the platform is to enhance New Zealand’s resilience to natural hazards. It will deliver science across the 4 Rs (reduction, readiness, response, recovery) to underpin New Zealand’s Disaster Resilience Strategy, and support science capability important for New Zealand’s resilience and emergency management.
The platform will have a strong focus on working with research users, such as the infrastructure, insurance and other industry sectors, central and local government, and iwi/Māori.
As well as delivering research, the platform will provide science capability during emergencies, and fulfil a coordination function for the science response during natural hazard events.
Background
The platform builds on a substantial history of collaborative and multi-disciplinary natural hazards resilience research undertaken as part of RNC (2014–2024) and the Natural Hazards Research Platform (2009–2019).
The platform aims to secure, and build on, the national research strength and depth established under these research efforts, while balancing this with a future-focused research strategy matched to national priorities.
What’s next?
In late 2024 / early 2025 we are holding a series of engagement workshops with key research users, and the natural hazards research community. These are being held in-person in major centres, with some online opportunities. This engagement process will guide the development of a Platform Outcomes Framework, and the Platform Plan (research plan) which will be delivered to MBIE by the end of March 2025.
Status
Current
Duration
2024 – 2030
Programme leadership
Richard Smith, Director – Platform Establishment Phase
Funder
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE)
The Natural Hazards and Resilience Platform is engaging with research users and researchers to co-develop the Platform Plan.
