Resilience in Action: Building Communities That Can Take It
Tracks
Monarch Room
| Tuesday, July 15, 2025 |
| 2:15 PM - 2:35 PM |
Overview
Dana MacDiarmid, New Zealand National Emergency Management Agency
Details
Key Presentation Learnings:
1. Balancing Local Needs and National Priorities: Adapting resilience strategies to fit local contexts while aligning with national frameworks and policies.
2. The Importance of Community Engagement: Actively involving local communities in the co-development of resilience plans based on their unique experiences and challenges.
3. Building Strategic Partnerships: Fostering long-term collaborations between governments, local leaders, and communities to ensure sustained and adaptable resilience efforts.
Speaker
Ms Dana MacDiarmid
Team Leader, Social & Community Resilience
New Zealand National Emergency Management Agency
Resilience in Action: Building Communities That Can Take It
Abstract
Building social community resilience should be a strategic priority for all countries, particularly in our region that has and will continue to experience significant disasters and crises.
This presentation will explore the strategic challenges of fostering resilience in diverse communities, focusing on the Indo Pacific region, including New Zealand. Drawing from personal experience, this session will share lessons learned in adapting strategies to varied cultural, political, and social contexts, emphasising the need for flexibility in resilience-building efforts.
In regions like the Indo Pacific, where cultural diversity, economic disparity, and vulnerability to climate change create complex environments, resilience strategies must be adaptable. What works in one community may not be suitable for another, making it essential to design solutions that can be adjusted based on local needs and evolving circumstances.
A key challenge I’ve encountered is aligning strategies with both local realities and national priorities. For example, in New Zealand, resilience initiatives are often driven by government policy but require deep community engagement for success. In other parts of the Indo Pacific, where government systems and local needs differ, strategies must balance national frameworks with local implementation.
This session will cover the following strategic considerations:
• Local Adaptation vs. National Priorities: Considerations for community resilience that balance meeting local needs and challenges with sometimes competing governance and central government priorities.
• Collaboration and Community Engagement: The role of local communities and stakeholders in co-developing resilience plans that are grounded in their lived experiences.
• Building Strategic Partnerships: The importance of fostering long-term collaborations between governments, local leaders, and communities to ensure sustained resilience.
Attendees will gain insights into the strategic approaches needed to develop adaptable social resilience programs, drawn from real-world examples in the Indo Pacific region and New Zealand.
This presentation will explore the strategic challenges of fostering resilience in diverse communities, focusing on the Indo Pacific region, including New Zealand. Drawing from personal experience, this session will share lessons learned in adapting strategies to varied cultural, political, and social contexts, emphasising the need for flexibility in resilience-building efforts.
In regions like the Indo Pacific, where cultural diversity, economic disparity, and vulnerability to climate change create complex environments, resilience strategies must be adaptable. What works in one community may not be suitable for another, making it essential to design solutions that can be adjusted based on local needs and evolving circumstances.
A key challenge I’ve encountered is aligning strategies with both local realities and national priorities. For example, in New Zealand, resilience initiatives are often driven by government policy but require deep community engagement for success. In other parts of the Indo Pacific, where government systems and local needs differ, strategies must balance national frameworks with local implementation.
This session will cover the following strategic considerations:
• Local Adaptation vs. National Priorities: Considerations for community resilience that balance meeting local needs and challenges with sometimes competing governance and central government priorities.
• Collaboration and Community Engagement: The role of local communities and stakeholders in co-developing resilience plans that are grounded in their lived experiences.
• Building Strategic Partnerships: The importance of fostering long-term collaborations between governments, local leaders, and communities to ensure sustained resilience.
Attendees will gain insights into the strategic approaches needed to develop adaptable social resilience programs, drawn from real-world examples in the Indo Pacific region and New Zealand.
Biography
Dana is an experienced leader in emergency management and international disaster risk reduction. Currently serving as a Team Leader, Social and Community Resilience at New Zealand's National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Dana has significant experience providing high-level strategic advice to senior leaders including the Minister for Emergency Management and Recovery.
With a diverse background Dana has worked on projects ranging from disaster preparedness in the Pacific and capacity building in Timor-Leste to chairing the New Zealand Volunteer Service Abroad Council. Dana has a strong history of leadership in emergency welfare, governance, and community resilience.
