Where has the year gone! With the end of 2025 fast approaching, we wanted to share some of the year’s highlights below.
From the ResOrgs team, we wish everyone a safe, relaxing, and restful holiday period. For those working through, we appreciate this and hope you can find some time for yourself.
Thank you to our clients, funders, collaborators, and supporters for your continued support during 2025. We look forward to working with you again in 2026!
Meri Kirihimete me te Hape Nū la! - Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
NEW RESEARCH
Public willingness to pay for seismic risk mitigation
How much are New Zealanders willing to pay to earthquake-strengthen buildings?
In our MBIE-commissioned project for the government’s seismic policy review, we surveyed over 2,000 New Zealanders about their willingness to increase their tax contributions to reduce seismic risk in buildings.
Our findings show that most are willing to contribute toward strengthening, but their willingness depends on the type of building.
Understanding seismic risk mitigation behaviours among building owners
Why do some people remediate their seismically vulnerable buildings, while others don’t? We undertook an MBIE-commissioned project for the government’s seismic policy review”
Our findings show that seismic remediation is broadly driven by two factors: real estate market influences and building owners' reliance on insurance and third-party finance.
Highlighting the critical role of security in operational resilience
In today's interconnected world, security can no longer operate in isolation. We're proud to have supported ASIS International in examining the critical role of security in operational resilience.
Read how security professionals can evolve from protective gatekeepers to strategic resilience enablers, connecting threats to business impact in ways other functions simply cannot.
COMING IN 2026
- What were the impacts of insurance claim settlement and repair processes on homeowner wellbeing and housing quality following recent extreme weather events? Keep an eye out later in 2026 for our NHC and BRANZ co-funded work in this space!
- What role did individual and community factors play in homeowners’ experiences from the 2016 Kaikōura/Hurunui insurance claim settlement and repair process? We’ll be releasing our findings in early 2026.
- How can we communicate seismic risk so end-users can make informed decisions about building improvements? We’ll be releasing our BRANZ-funded report exploring the information needs of building owners and stakeholders.
- We’ll be working alongside our key RRANZ partners to deliver and develop a range of new courses to build emergency management capability across Aotearoa.
- Building resilience doesn’t have to be hard. Keep an eye out for our refreshed resilience booklets.
NEW RESOURCE
Eliciting community perspectives on risk tolerance
Whether you make risk management decisions at a local, regional, or national level, the Let’s Talk About Risk team’s new guidance provides practical tips for designing an engagement approach that allows community voices to inform agency decision-making.
It includes three detailed case studies and tailored advice for both elected officials and communities.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS THIS YEAR
Empowering organisations to be ready for anything
This year we’ve zigzagged across Aotearoa, supporting a mix of clients who all share one thing in common: a commitment to being prepared for whatever disruption might come their way. We’ve loved helping organisations build their business continuity arrangements and resilience – including councils, key infrastructure providers, fast-moving consumer goods and primary producers.
While every organisation is unique, they all share the same goal - to be ready for whatever comes next. If your team needs support preparing for anything, we’d love to have a chat in 2026!
Building emergency management capability
Together with our partners, we are proud to have delivered training across multiple subject areas – CIMS Intelligence, Planning, Operations, Safety, Logistics, Welfare, PIM and Recovery, Managing in a Coordination centre, Leading in Response and Recovery and Leading in Crisis.
Across 22 courses, we have worked with approximately 330 awesome folk who will be working hard to coordinate responses in emergencies. If you’re one of the lucky ones enjoying a Christmas break, please spare a thought for those working or on call, ready to respond.
Adapting to a changed climate
In October, two of our team presented at the United Nations Adaptation Futures conference in Christchurch.
Tracy discussed practical experiences in local-level adaptation planning in the Buller region.
Cara presented key findings from the Let's Talk About Risk Tolerance project, showcasing the guidance we've developed to help agencies navigate community conversations about acceptable risk.
It was exciting to have the conference hosted right here in Christchurch.
Our key takeaways from the event:
- Indigenous people have been adapting for generations, and we need to utilise this knowledge.
- Youth voices are a powerful call to action.
- There are a lot of amazing projects and people working on these issues, but actual action is still too far away.
