I am now a few months into the role as Chief Science Officer for Natural Hazards Research Australia, based out of the Sydney node. While I’ve been on a steep learning curve, it’s brought into sharp focus for me the depth and breadth of natural hazards management and operational experience and research knowledge that Australia has. In bringing our community of interest together to tackle the ‘big issues’, we have a wonderful opportunity to develop a future-oriented natural hazards capability and resilience agenda.
The Natural Hazards Research Forum in October brought our community together and I had many wide-ranging discussions with colleagues about where we’ve come from and where we need to go, including many suggestions and research ideas for effective translation to practice.
The Forum sessions highlighted existing tensions between our current situation and the future we want, which must be resolved if we are to develop innovative, useful and used research solutions for Australia’s natural hazard challenges.
What the Forum really underscored for me is that we need a resilience sector focused on effective understanding of complex systems; responsive, flexible, collaborative and contextualised community-based approaches; and theories and approaches to trans-disciplinary, translational and transformative solutions.
Issues that I think will shape the next 12 months of the Centre’s research operations include the role and effectiveness of early warning systems, compounding disaster impacts on our communities (housing, health, insurance coverage and costs etc.), appreciating and applying First Nations knowledge and understanding of County to enhance our resilience to natural hazards, and the impact and influence of natural hazards research outcomes on government policy and processes.
There is much to be done and I am looking forward to working with our sector to help shape our future scientific direction.