The Taiwanese Search and Rescue team being farewelled at the Christchurch International Airport after helping out with the emergency response to the Canterbury Earthquake.
An article from Army News, March 2011 titled, "Sappers Show Their Expertise in a City Under Siege".
A photograph of cracks in Gayhurst Road near the intersection with Glenarm Terrace. Liquefaction can be seen on the street, and there is a road cone on a crack in the footpath.
Mayor Bob Parker speaking to members of the ships' company from HMNZS Canterbury, HMNZS Otago and HMNZS Pukaki.
Jules Lee, Coordinator of the Lyttelton Time Bank, talking to a member of the New Zealand Navy on London Street in Lyttelton.
A photograph of emergency management personnel eating dinner in the restaurant of the Christchurch Art Gallery. The Art Gallery was used as the temporary headquarters for Civil Defence after the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
A photograph of USAR codes spray-painted on the footpath in front of The Burrito Company on Armagh Street. Glass from a broken window is scattered across the footpath.
This research is a creative exploration of transmedia’s ability to offer up a model of distribution and audience engagement for political documentary. Transmedia, as is well known, is a fluid concept. It is not restricted to the activities of the entertainment industry and its principles also reverberate in the practice of political and activist documentary projects. This practice-led research draws on data derived from the production and circulation of Obrero, an independent transmedia documentary. The project explores the conditions and context of the Filipino rebuild workers who migrated to Christchurch, New Zealand after the earthquake in 2011. Obrero began as a film festival documentary that co-exists with two other new media iterations, each reaching its respective target audience: a web documentary, and a Facebook-native documentary. This study argues that relocating the documentary across new media spaces not only expands the narrative but also extends the fieldwork and investigation, forms like-minded publics, and affords the creation of an organised hub of information for researchers, academics and the general public. Treating documentary as research can represent a novel pathway to knowledge generation and the present case study, overall, provides an innovative model for future scholarship.
A video of the keynote presentation by Sir John Holmes, during the first plenary of the 2016 People in Disasters Conference. Holmes is the former United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, the current Director of Ditchley Foundation, and the chair of the Board of the International Rescue Committee in the UK. The presentation is titled, "The Politics of Humanity: Reflections on international aid in disasters".The abstract for this presentation reads as follows: As United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinate from 2007-2010, Sir John Holmes was heavily involved in the coordination of air provision to countries struck by natural and man-made disasters, raising the necessary funds, and the elaboration of humanitarian policy. The international humanitarian system is fragmented and struggling to cope with rising demands from both conflicts such as that in Syria, and the growing effects of climate change. Sir John will talk about what humanitarian aid can and cannot achieve, the frustrations of getting aid through when access may be difficult or denied, and the need to ensure that assistance encompasses protection of civilians and efforts to get them back on their feet, as well as the delivery of essential short term items such as food, water, medical care and shelter. He will discuss the challenges involved in trying to make the different agencies - UN United Nations, non-government organisations and the International Red Cross/Crescent movement - work together effectively. He will reveal some of the problems in dealing with donor and recipient governments who often have their own political and security agendas, and may be little interested in the necessary neutrality and independence of humanitarian aid. He will illustrate these points by practical examples of political and other dilemmas from aid provision in natural disasters such as Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar in 2009, and the Haiti earthquake of 2010, and in conflict situations such as Darfur, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka in the past, and Syria today. He will also draw conclusions and make recommendations about how humanitarian aid might work better, and why politicians and others need to understand more clearly the impartial space required by humanitarian agencies to operate properly.
On February 22, 2011, Christchurch-based journalists were jolted out of their normal work routine by a large 6.3 magnitude earthquake that killed 185 people, wrecked the city and forced reporters to reappraise their journalism. This study considers how the earthquake affected journalists’ relationship to the community, their use of sources and news selection. A theory of collective trauma is used to explain the changes that journalists made to their reporting practice. Specifically, Christchurch journalists had a greater identification and attachment to their audience post-earthquake. Journalists viewed themselves as part of the earthquake story, which prompted them to view sources differently, use those sources differently and see advocacy as a keystone of their news work after the disaster. This study adds to a growing scholarship about journalists and trauma, but focuses on what the event meant for local reporters’ choice of sources and news selection rather than measuring rates of psychological distress.
This thesis examines how 18 University of Canterbury students based in Christchurch experienced housing insecurity during the three years after a series of major earthquakes from late 2010 and throughout 2011. I adopted a qualitative exploratory approach to gather students’ accounts and examine their experiences which were analysed using constructivist grounded theory methods. Three core categories were identified from the data: mobility, recreating security, and loss. Mobility included the effects of relocation and dislocation, as well as how the students searched for stability. Recreating security required a renewed sense of belonging and also addressed the need to feel physically safe. Lastly, loss included the loss of material possessions and also the loss of voice and political representation. The theory that emerged from these findings is that the extent to which students were able to control their mobility largely explained their experiences of housing insecurity. When students experienced a loss of control over their mobility they effectively addressed this by being resourceful and drawing on existing forms of capital. This resourcefulness generated a new form of capital, here called security capital, which represents a conceptual contribution to existing debates on students’ experiences of homelessness in a disaster context.
A copy of an open letter written by Hugo Kristinsson during his campaign for Christchurch Mayor in the 2013 Christchurch Local Body Elections. In the letter, Kristinsson expresses his concerns with the land-zoning decisions made by CERA.
A photograph of a group of tents set up in Latimer Square next to the USAID tent. The tents were used as temporary accommodation for emergency management personnel after the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
A poster created by Empowered Christchurch to advertise their submission to the CERA Draft Transition Recovery Plan on social media.The poster reads, "Submission, CERA Draft Transition Recovery Plan. Future Insurability. In an article in the New Zealand Herald of 5 November 2014, the CEO of IAG refers to cooperation with the NZ Government on a strategic intent in 2011 to avoid depopulation of Christchurch. Now that the ICNZ has signalled its intention to withdraw from high-risk areas and the CCC also plans to redefine the boundaries of the city so as to exclude properties below the Mean High Water Springs. We ask whether a 'recovery' involves abandoning people once the insurance and bank sectors have managed a retreat? We need a city that is driven by the people that live in it, and enabled by a bureaucracy that accepts and mitigates risks, rather than transferring them to the most vulnerable of its residents".
An image from a Navy Today April 2011 article titled, "Feeding the Multitudes". The image is of CPOCH Perrin Newland head chief of the HMNZS Canterbury which moored in Lyttelton after the 22 February 2011 earthquake, supplying meals to the Lyttelton community.
Damage to Christchurch city following the 22 February earthquake 2011. A crack in the road where the asphalt has lifted, possibly due to liquefaction. Cones have been placed along the crack to warn drivers of the irregular surface.
Damage to Christchurch city following the 22 February earthquake 2011. The side of the road has slumped due to liquefaction during the earthquake. A cone can just be seen, warning drivers of the irregular surface.
An image from a Navy Today April 2011 article titled, "Earthquake!". The image is of a Unimog truck disembarking from the HMNZS Canterbury via a side ramp in the early evening of 22 February 2011. The truck was draped in camouflage netting in preparation for a planned field exercise. The exercise was cancelled due to the earthquake.
A photograph of the earthquake damage to the Loyal Benevolent Lodge on Canon Street. Bricks at the top of the façade have crumbled and fallen to the ground, bringing the awning with them. Large cracks can be seen in the remaining brick wall.
A photograph of the earthquake damage to a house on Bealey Avenue. The outer wall of the house has crumbled, and the bricks have fallen onto the footpath in front. In the background, the bathroom has been exposed, and a window is lying in the bath tub.
A photograph of the Cranmer Courts on the corner of Kilmore and Montreal Streets. Chimneys and fallen stones have been placed on the ground in front. A hole left by the falling chimney is visible in the roof.
An image from a Navy Today April 2011 article titled, "Cordon Patrols in Lyttelton". In the image, members of the New Zealand Navy are speaking to a cyclist outside a cordon on London Street in Lyttelton.
A video about the New Zealand Army testing the quality of water across Christchurch. After the 4 September 2010 earthquake, the NZ Army developed ties with the Canterbury District Health Board. This relationship continued after the 22 February 2011 earthquake with the NZ Army taking on the role of examining Christchurch's water quality.
A photograph of the earthquake damage to a building on Oxford Terrace. The wall to the right has collapsed, the concrete blocks spilling onto the footpath in front. USAR codes have been spray-painted on the ground at the entrance of the building.
A photograph looking south down Colombo Street towards the earthquake-damaged ChristChurch Cathedral. A crane is sitting on the road in front of the Cathedral. In the background is a pile of rubble from the partially-demolished tower.
A photograph of an earthquake-damaged house on Gloucester Street. The bottom storey of the house has shifted and is now on a noticeable lean. USAR codes have been spray-painted on the front of the building and a red sticker has been placed on one of the windows.
A photograph of the earthquake damage to a building on Lichfield Street. Masonry from the top section of the building has broken away and spilled onto the footpath below. A red sticker has been placed on the door, indicating that the building is unsafe to enter. USAR codes have been spray-painted on the column and window to the right.
A photograph of the rubble from the demolished Domo furniture store on Tuam Street. In the background is the earthquake-damaged McKenzie & Willis store. The closest wall of the building has collapsed, exposing the inside of the building. Scaffolding has been constructed on the top floor in order to brace the ceiling. Shipping containers have been placed on the street in front of the building.
A photograph of the earthquake damage to the Cranmer Courts on the corner of Montreal and Kilmore Streets. One of the gables of the section of the building on the corner has crumbled. Ties have been placed around all of the gables as bracing.
A photograph of the tops of the buildings on the corner of Armagh and Colombo Streets. The photograph was taken out a window of the PricewaterhouseCoopers Building. A crane is parked on the intersection of Armagh and Colombo Streets in the background.