The New Zealand Resilience Index
Measuring resilience helps make an abstract concept visible. Once resilience is visible, we can do something about it. As noted in the National Disaster Resilience Strategy (NDRS), “Holding ourselves to account is paramount,” and part of this accountability is systematically measuring and monitoring progress (NDRS 2018, p.30). The Trajectories Toolbox team has worked alongside the development of the NDRS to create a composite indicator of resilience that conceptually aligns with the multi-capital approach laid out in the strategy.
The New Zealand Resilience Index (NZRI) includes resilience concepts measured across six capitals (social, economic, built environment, natural resilience, cultural resilience, and governance) that all contribute to the resilience of our country. The NZRI will help decision-makers stay on track as we find ways to build disaster resilience in our communities, environments, and economies.
Project overview
Funded by MBIE through the National Science Challenges, Resilience to Nature’s Challenges seeks to enhance New Zealand’s resilience to natural hazards. As part of this, the Trajectories Toolbox programme focused on identifying barriers and opportunities to progress the vision of a more resilient New Zealand. Additionally, the project developed tools to enhance decision makers’ and practitioners’ abilities to better understand where to prioritise their effort.
Four core projects were undertaken as part of the Trajectories Toolbox research programme. These were:
- The Kickstart 2 Measurement (K2M) tool: This heuristic tool has been designed to facilitate structured conversations about resilience and guide the creation of robust resilience measurement approaches.
- The DIVE Platform: The Data Integration and Visualisation EnMasse (DIVE) platform, a metadata repository and federated data system, designed to facilitate transdisciplinary and cross-institutional data sharing and collaboration.
- The New Zealand Resilience Index (NZRI): THE NZRI project developed both a current assessment of New Zealand’s national resilience and a method for assessment national and regional resilience in the future. The NZRI includes a range of indicators of resilience across a multi-capital model, linking indicators to data sources and identifying gaps for the ongoing development of the New Zealand Resilience Index. The NZRI allows us to benchmark resilience, monitor progress, and evaluate the efficacy of resilience interventions.
- Resilience Warrant of Fitness: Building on the NZRI, the Warrant of Fitness project assessed the resilience of a community and explored the addition of local datasets to improve understanding of resilience. This project explored how to integrate local resilience assessment into local and regional strategic priorities to maximise impact.
Key contact
Ellie Kay
Research Consultant
Resilient Organisations Ltd
ellie.kay@resorgs.org.nz
Project team
Ellie Kay
Research Consultant
Resilient Organisations Ltd
Charlotte Brown
Principal Consultant
Resilient Organisations Ltd
Joanne Stevenson
Principal Consultant
Resilient Organisations Ltd
John Vargo
Executive Director
Resilient Organisations Ltd
Vivienne Ivory
WSP Opus
Chris Bowie
WPS Opus
Our funders
We are grateful for our funders who support our research and have contributed to this project.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment (MBIE) funds the Resilience to Nature’s Challenges - National Science Challenges.
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Project outputs
Stevenson, J. R., Kay, E., Bowie, C., Ivory, V., Vargo, J. J. (2019). The Resilience Warrant of Fitness Research Programme: Towards a method for applying the New Zealand Resilience Index in a regional context. Resilience to Nature’s Challenges report.
Stevenson, J. R., Kay, E., Bowie, C., Ivory, V. (2019). The Resilience Indicators Bank and the New Zealand Resilience Index. Resilience to Nature’s Challenges report.
Fraser, B., Stevenson, J. R., Kay, E. (2019). Managing information and data for a more resilient New Zealand. Resilience to Nature’s Challenges report.
Stevenson, J. R., Kay, E., Bowie, C., Ivory, V., & Vargo, J. (2018). The Data Challenges of Monitoring Resilience. In K. Stock & D. Bunker (Eds.), Proceedings of the Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management Asia Pacific 2018 Conference Innovating for Resilience 5 – 7 November, Wellington, New Zealand (pp. 153–165).
Kay, E., Stevenson, J. R., & Bowie, C. (2018). Weighting indicators of resilience: Expert opinions on the New Zealand Resilience Index. Results Bulletin 2018-12. Resilient Organisations.
Stevenson, J. R., Kay, E., & Vargo, J. (2018). Practice update: Building a data integration and visualisation platform for resilience research in New Zealand. Australasian journal of disaster and trauma studies, 22(1), 21-26.
Stevenson, J.R., & Vargo, J., (2016) Data Integration and VisualisationEnMasse (DIVE) Platform Report: Programme Update September 2016. Resilient Organisations/QuakeCoRE Research Report.
Stevenson, J.R., Vargo, J., & Brown, C. (2016) Data Integration and Visualisation: Prototyping the QuakeCoRE Data Platform for Diverse Needs. Resilient Organisations/QuakeCoRE Research Report.
Stevenson, J.R., Vargo, J, Walsh, L. J. (2017) Resilience & Data in New Zealand: The Data Integration and Visualisation En Masse (DIVE) Platform 2016 Summary. Resilient Organisations/QuakeCoRE Research Report.
Stevenson, J.R. & Vargo, J. (2016) What Gets Measured Gets Done: Resilience Benchmarking and Monitoring. 2016 International Conference on Building Resilience. Auckland, New Zealand
Ivory, V. C., Stevenson, J. (2017). From contesting to conversing about resilience: Talking about its meaning, measurement and goals.
This report describes the Kickstart 2 Measurement (K2M) decision tool to aid the resilience research community to have good conversations and make decisions about what, how and why resilience gets measured.
Stevenson, J.R., & Schindler, M. (Producers). (2017 June). "Metadata Overview" .
Stevenson, J.R., & Schindler, M. (Producers). (2017 June). "Metadata: Where Do I Start" .
Stevenson, J.R., Vargo, J., Ivory, V., & Bowie, C. (June 2017) RNC Science Story: Trajectories Toolbox. Resilience to Nature's Challenges.
Vargo, J., (July 2017) Keeping Count: A Panel on Disaster Risk Reduction Measurement, The Boulder Natural Hazards Workshop, Boulder Colorado.