Community can be a formidable force, capable of achieving the seemingly impossible.
Researchers from UQ’s Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences and the Institute for Social Science Research are working collaboratively to capture the essence of community resilience following a crisis or disaster.
Dr Peter Walters from UQ's School of Social Science is leading the project, which draws on case studies of localities affected by the Queensland floods of 2011 and a follow-up survey of Queensland households.
“This project aims to identify and evaluate the local and institutional resources that contribute to community resilience after a crisis or disaster,” Dr Walters said.
The research will consider formal and informal sources of crisis support central to people’s ability to cope and recover.
This information will be gathered from local associations and community leaders, as well as formal institutional resources provided by local, state and federal agencies, with a focus on community organisations and state-funded community development workers.
“Insights developed from this research will provide policy-makers with clear guidance for the appropriate allocation of resources in the future, and improved resources for predicting community resilience,” Dr Walters said.
This research was inspired by a desire on the part of the investigators to explore what sort of resources are subjectively important in a crisis such as the Queensland floods of 2011.
These resources could be informal neighbourhood help, assistance from family and friends, local community groups and volunteers, or help from emergency services and local and state authorities.
Attributes of selflessness, togetherness and humility were experienced by many during the Queensland floods, and a Brisbane resident recalls the sense of true community spirit they witnessed after this disaster occurred.
“The water had only just receded, yet just as fast as it disappeared, the thousand strong ‘mud-army’ arrived," the resident said.
"These people had no single name, for individuality was irrelevant, these were Brisbane folk.
“I looked around a living room where I was shovelling mud – it was four inches thick on the floor.
"I didn’t know the owner of this house – in fact I didn’t know any of the 20 people cleaning this shell of a home, yet they were all there to support one another.”
The fieldwork is ongoing, but Dr Walters said the researchers have some very interesting early indications that there were a wide variety of experiences of the flood in Queensland.
“Location and community embeddedness are very important factors in recovery and 18 months on, the flood is still a very real and emotive event for those affected," Dr Walters said.
“On the applied level, we hope to be able to provide local and state governments with a better awareness about how to deploy scarce resources before, during and after a crisis, and importantly, which of those resources will be most valued by residents.
“Theoretically, we aim to provide a better understanding of how we relate to each other living in a late-modern affluent country with relatively strong institutional support during times of need.
"In other words… how relevant is local community?”
Dr Walters said this study had been a very rewarding project, involving both experienced UQ researchers and Dr Wendy Madsen from CQUniversity who brings a regional focus to the project.
“I would hope that with further funding we can continue to build on this research, and over time create a model that works to assist people – not just in Queensland but the rest of the country also – to cope better and have access to improved resources during a crisis,” Dr Walters said.
Media: Dr Peter Walters (School of Social Science), email p.walters@uq.edu.au , phone 336 52759 or Helen Burdon (Marketing and Communications, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences), email h.burdon@uq.edu.au, phone 3346 9279.
September 17 to 21 is Research Week 2012 at UQ, one of Australia's premier learning and research institutions. For more information visit: www.uq.edu.au/research-week
