@conference {bnh-2939,
	title = {Opportunities and challenges of citizen-led recovery in post-disaster settings},
	booktitle = {AFAC16},
	year = {2016},
	month = {08/2016},
	publisher = {Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC},
	organization = {Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC},
	address = {Brisbane},
	abstract = {<p>The rise of resilience thinking has seen a significant shift in responsibility for risk.\&nbsp;Citizens are now expected to take greater responsibility for managing their own risks\&nbsp;and are afforded more opportunities for participating in risk management\&nbsp;processes. This shift is driven by recognition of the considerable knowledge and\&nbsp;agency that exist among citizens, but also the diminished role of the state in service\&nbsp;provision. This paper considers the complexities of a citizen-led, place-based\&nbsp;recovery project initiated following the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in southeastern\&nbsp;Australia. This innovative project aimed to provide practical assistance to\&nbsp;people whose homes were destroyed by bushfire to enable them to begin the\&nbsp;rebuilding process. A key strength of the project was that it was initiated and\&nbsp;implemented by local people to meet specific local needs. As members of the\&nbsp;affected community, project participants were able to draw on local knowledge,\&nbsp;networks and resources to achieve their goals, and were highly responsive to\&nbsp;changing local conditions. However, participants experienced significant difficulties\&nbsp;in their interactions with official agencies and entanglements with bureaucratic\&nbsp;processes and procedures. As local people, the strain of assisting affected people to\&nbsp;rebuild and recover was also considerable. These findings reinforce the need to\&nbsp;better assist and support community members who choose to participate in\&nbsp;emergency and disaster management but are unfamiliar with bureaucratic\&nbsp;processes and procedures, or the challenges of the post-disaster phase. It is also\&nbsp;necessary to consider how to simplify processes and procedures to maximise\&nbsp;community participation. Failure to do so may encourage people to circumvent\&nbsp;formal processes, for better or worse.</p>},
	author = {J Whittaker}
}
