Community Resilience

Building the connections that help Porirua weather any storm.

Community Resilience Kaupapa Group

The Community Resilience Kaupapa Group brings providers, iwi, and community leaders together to build resilience to adverse weather events through better connected communities.
If you care about improving community resilience and connection and want to be part of the solution, we’d love you to join us.

Join Here
Community is Climate Resilience: Lessons from Cyclone Gabrielle & the Auckland Anniversary Floods

After Cyclone Gabrielle, communities came together and mobilised incredible responses to support one another. This research spoke to hundreds of community responders to find out their learnings; what worked, what didn't, and what changes they want to see made to better support community responders.
This report presents findings and a series of recommendations for building future resilience.

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Community Resilience in Papakura

The Papakura Community Resilience Network (CRN) is a community-led initiative working to ensure Papakura, Drury, and Takaanini areas are prepared for disasters by fostering strong local connections, increasing awareness, and providing essential resources.

From neighbourhood workshops to community gardens, repair cafés and local projects, this mahi shows how being able to lean on each other is our first line of community climate action.

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Why Resilience Matters

Resilience is the ability of whānau and communities to anticipate, respond to, and recover from challenges and disruptions. Whether the hazard is a flood, cyclone, earthquake, pandemic, infrastructure failure, or economic shock, resilient communities are better able to withstand impacts and recover more quickly.

Incident management is guided by the 4 Rs framework: Risk Reduction, Readiness, Response, and Recovery. Building resilience requires ongoing action across all four stages, from reducing risks before incidents occur, to supporting long-term recovery and regeneration afterwards.

Regardless of the type of incident, people who know their neighbours and have trusted relationships are more likely to receive help, share information, identify vulnerable whānau, and support one another when challenges arise. Community connectedness is the invisible fabric that helps hold communities together during times of disruption, uncertainty, and change.

One of the biggest issues our communities currently face is the impact from adverse weather events in the face of our changing climate. Over the last decade, emergency events in the Wellington region have increased by 330% and while across the country declared states of emergency have nearly quadrupled.

Wellington Region Risk Landscape. Source: Wellington Region CDEM Group Strategy 2025–2035

The ability to prepare for, respond to and recover from storms, floods, cyclones and other severe weather underpins every aspect of life: housing, health, infrastructure, education, employment, and social connections. Without resilience and proper preparedness, people are more likely to experience displacement, disruption, stress and lasting mental health effects.

We are focusing on building resilience to adverse weather events through better connected communities.

Evidence That Tells a Story

In early 2023, Aotearoa experienced two major weather disasters that demonstrated the increasing impacts of extreme weather events and the importance of community connectedness.

The Auckland Anniversary Weekend Floods brought 200–300 mm of rain in a short period, overwhelming stormwater systems and causing extensive flooding across Auckland. The event triggered numerous landslides, resulted in four deaths, displaced around 2,500 people, and left 357 homes unsafe to occupy.

Just weeks later, Cyclone Gabrielle caused widespread devastation across the North Island. Eleven people lost their lives and approximately 11,000 people were displaced, making it the largest internal displacement event in Aotearoa since 2020. Hundreds of roads and more than 100 bridges were damaged, isolating many communities for extended periods. More than 225,000 homes lost electricity, with some households without power for over ten days, and hundreds of homes were rendered uninhabitable.

These events highlighted the growing risks associated with extreme weather, and findings from subsequent reviews reinforce that strong community resilience, preparedness, and local connections are critical to reducing impacts and supporting recovery.

Findings from ‘Community is Climate Resilience’

“Community responders undertook a wide range of activities during and after the North Island Severe Weather Events, including evacuations, welfare checks, food and essential goods distribution, clean-up and silt removal, temporary accommodation support, and long-term recovery assistance. Marae were consistently highlighted as crucial to the response, valued for their inclusivity, cultural grounding, logistical capacity, and ability to meet diverse needs. Their role underscored the importance of Māori leadership in disaster resilience.”

“Strong, enduring social networks were a key enabler. Trust-based relationships within communities facilitated information sharing and collective action. By taking a people centred approach that prioritised unconditional support, community responses became a focal point for the outpouring of kindness from the wider community, and provided a space where people could come together for more than just material support. Participants consistently emphasised the value of flexible, people-centred approaches that characterised the community response. Unlike more rigid institutional processes, community responses were able to adapt quickly, prioritise dignity and care, and respond holistically to real-time needs on the ground.”

Findings from the Review of Reviews: 2023 North Island Severe Weather Events

“Community resilience was better in communities with strong connections and relationships between community members and leaders, marae, businesses, other community collectives, local authorities and emergency services and prepositioned resources. This included where households were prepared – some with alternative communication channels and power sources.”

Findings from the West Auckland Emergency Response Study

“In the west there is “a long-term culture of working together” as well as “incredible connections and high levels of trust between organisations, communities and individuals” that have been cultivated for many years. There is also deep experience in community development, disaster response and recovery, and working with large groups in communal settings such as marae and churches. Locals understand and value “collectivism” and organisations are prepared to work together, to their strengths, “beyond their own kaupapa”, “with respect for the tikanga”, and “for the greater good”. This was visible among some officials too.”

“In the West, people tend to appreciate the experience of ‘community’ - where staff and locals are willing and know how to “band together”. Some of the work that contributes to the experience of community in the west is “the foresight” of those who helped embed collective ways of working and who built facilities, community organisations and programmes such as op shops and foodbanks. Having established physical spaces, existing well-run operations of all kinds and a culture of working together helped set the scene for an effective response in the west by locals for locals”.”

What We Are Doing

We are focusing on building resilience to adverse weather events in Porirua through better connected communities. By bringing together organisations working across the community and emergency management, we support shared learning and more effective collective responses to the needs of whānau.

Our Approach: Kaupapa Groups through the Porirua Community Leaders’ Forum

Porirua Community Leaders’ Forum (PCLF) exists to foster relationships, strengthen local connections, and create a shared space for community-led action and learning. It brings together Porirua’s diverse leaders across iwi, community, Pacific, migrant, business, education, and social sectors to identify shared priorities and coordinate collective impact for our city.

As part of this model, kaupapa groups are established to move ideas into tangible action. Each group focuses on a specific area of community priority such as kai, housing etc.

The Community Resilience Kaupapa Group is a collective space to tackle barriers to access and shape practical solutions for our whānau focused on strengthening community connectedness and tackling adverse weather events.

If you would like to be part of the solution, we’d love you to join us.

Join Here