title: Natural disaster arrhythmia and action sports: The case of the Christchurch earthquake

authors: Thorpe, Holly Aysha

subjects: action sports

abstract: Taking inspiration from French sociologist and philosopher Henri Lefebvre’s theory of ‘rhythmanalysis’, the author advocates new ways of thinking about the impact of natural disaster on the bodies and everyday mobilities of those who continue to live in disrupted spaces. Drawing upon interviews conducted with residents living in Christchurch, New Zealand, before, during and after the devastating February 2011 earthquake, she explains how this ‘arrhythmic’ experience forced many to rethink the importance of sport and physical activity in their everyday lives, and for their affective connections to space, place, family and community. She describes how some committed action sport participants adopted highly creative practices in order to continue their participation in sports such as surfing, skateboarding, mountain biking and climbing. In so doing, the familiar rhythms of recreational sport helped some cope with the many stresses of daily life during the long process of recovery, and contributed to the rebuilding of personal and collective identities, affective relationships with place, and a sense of belonging in post-disaster geographies.

text: Natural disaster arrhythmia and action sports: The case of the Christchurch earthquake Taking inspiration from French sociologist and philosopher Henri Lefebvre’s theory of ‘rhythmanalysis’, the author advocates new ways of thinking about the impact of natural disaster on the bodies and everyday mobilities of those who continue to live in disrupted spaces. Drawing upon interviews conducted with residents living in Christchurch, New Zealand, before, during and after the devastating February 2011 earthquake, she explains how this ‘arrhythmic’ experience forced many to rethink the importance of sport and physical activity in their everyday lives, and for their affective connections to space, place, family and community. She describes how some committed action sport participants adopted highly creative practices in order to continue their participation in sports such as surfing, skateboarding, mountain biking and climbing. In so doing, the familiar rhythms of recreational sport helped some cope with the many stresses of daily life during the long process of recovery, and contributed to the rebuilding of personal and collective identities, affective relationships with place, and a sense of belonging in post-disaster geographies.

year: 2013

title: Applying resilient rating systems for predicting continued operability of hospitals after earthquakes

authors: Boston, Megan

abstract: Immediately after a major earthquake, critical facilities need to remain operational, continuously providing healthcare services. Continued operability is dependent on the physical performance of healthcare facilities during the earthquake. Several earthquake resilience-rating systems provide a translation of technical building evaluation data into quick summaries of expected building performance and resilience. These ratings provide an approximation of the intended building performance in relation to safety, repair time, and repair cost. However, the translations between engineering assessments and rating systems is inconsistent, with the same technical inputs producing different resilience estimations. The lack of standardization across rating systems can cause confusion for accurately predicted building outcomes. Further, the level of recovery detail is broad with timeframes measured in weeks, months, or even years. While this may be sufficient for many facilities, it is insufficient for others. For example, critical facilities require estimates of building functionality within minutes, hours, and days of the event to support emergency operations. However, current rating systems and engineering evaluation methods lack the proper resolution to provide this level of detail, making the current rating systems inadequate for emergency planners and may provide communities with a false sense of general preparedness. This paper examines the effectiveness of various resilience-rating systems to predict the overall functionality in a hospital after an earthquake and the issues in converting building performance evaluations into resilience ratings. Further, it presents an additional methodology for addressing resolution gaps in estimating building functionality immediately after the event.

text: Applying resilient rating systems for predicting continued operability of hospitals after earthquakes Immediately after a major earthquake, critical facilities need to remain operational, continuously providing healthcare services. Continued operability is dependent on the physical performance of healthcare facilities during the earthquake. Several earthquake resilience-rating systems provide a translation of technical building evaluation data into quick summaries of expected building performance and resilience. These ratings provide an approximation of the intended building performance in relation to safety, repair time, and repair cost. However, the translations between engineering assessments and rating systems is inconsistent, with the same technical inputs producing different resilience estimations. The lack of standardization across rating systems can cause confusion for accurately predicted building outcomes. Further, the level of recovery detail is broad with timeframes measured in weeks, months, or even years. While this may be sufficient for many facilities, it is insufficient for others. For example, critical facilities require estimates of building functionality within minutes, hours, and days of the event to support emergency operations. However, current rating systems and engineering evaluation methods lack the proper resolution to provide this level of detail, making the current rating systems inadequate for emergency planners and may provide communities with a false sense of general preparedness. This paper examines the effectiveness of various resilience-rating systems to predict the overall functionality in a hospital after an earthquake and the issues in converting building performance evaluations into resilience ratings. Further, it presents an additional methodology for addressing resolution gaps in estimating building functionality immediately after the event.

year: 2018

title: Bilingual Education in Aotearoa/New Zealand

authors: Hill, Richard Kenneth

subjects: Maori medium

abstract: Bilingual education in the context of New Zealand is now over 30 years old. The two largest linguistic minority groups involved in this type of education – the Indigenous Māori and Pasifika peoples of Samoan, Tongan, Cook Islands and Niuean and Tokelauan backgrounds – have made many gains but have struggled in a national context where minority languages have low status. Māori bilingual programs are well established and have made a significant contribution towards reducing Māori language shift that in the 1970s looked to be beyond regeneration. Pasifika bilingual education by contrast is not widely available and not well resourced by the New Zealand government. Both forms continue to need support and a renewed focus at local and national levels.

This chapter provides an overview of past development of Māori and Pasifika bilingual education and present progress. For Māori, the issues relate primarily to how to boost language regeneration, particularly between the generations. Gaining greater support for immersion programs and further strengthening bilingual education pedagogies, particularly relating to achieving biliteracy objectives, are key. In the context of Pasifika, extending government and local support would not only safeguard the languages but has the potential to counteract long-established patterns of low Pasifika student achievement in mainstream/English-medium schooling contexts. Finally, the future of both forms of bilingual education can be safeguarded if they are encompassed within a national languages policy that ensures minority language development in the predominantly English monolingual national context of New Zealand.

text: Bilingual Education in Aotearoa/New Zealand Bilingual education in the context of New Zealand is now over 30 years old. The two largest linguistic minority groups involved in this type of education – the Indigenous Māori and Pasifika peoples of Samoan, Tongan, Cook Islands and Niuean and Tokelauan backgrounds – have made many gains but have struggled in a national context where minority languages have low status. Māori bilingual programs are well established and have made a significant contribution towards reducing Māori language shift that in the 1970s looked to be beyond regeneration. Pasifika bilingual education by contrast is not widely available and not well resourced by the New Zealand government. Both forms continue to need support and a renewed focus at local and national levels.

This chapter provides an overview of past development of Māori and Pasifika bilingual education and present progress. For Māori, the issues relate primarily to how to boost language regeneration, particularly between the generations. Gaining greater support for immersion programs and further strengthening bilingual education pedagogies, particularly relating to achieving biliteracy objectives, are key. In the context of Pasifika, extending government and local support would not only safeguard the languages but has the potential to counteract long-established patterns of low Pasifika student achievement in mainstream/English-medium schooling contexts. Finally, the future of both forms of bilingual education can be safeguarded if they are encompassed within a national languages policy that ensures minority language development in the predominantly English monolingual national context of New Zealand.

year: 2017