Reconceptualising 'community' to identify place-based disaster management needs in Tasmania

In Australia, the National Strategy for Disaster Resilience mandates that emergency management authorities use effective community engagement to develop trust and respect with community members to provide effective, inclusive disaster management practices. Using these principles, researchers from the University of Tasmania reconceptualised the term 'community' as a 'community of practice' and facilitated a multidisciplinary workshop giving authorities, managers, planners and responders a forum to meet and collaborate to identify strengths, collective capacities and needs. The workshop was attended by 48 stakeholders dealing with emergencies and identified more than 30 research and 20 training needs as well as potential funding opportunities. The workshop also identified a fertile area for research and training given the critical mass of interested academics with experience and expertise in natural hazards fields. Attendees identified the latent potential for interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral collaboration and tapped into potential resources that address disaster management needs. This process has the potential to produce similar results nationally by enabling place-based disaster research to be identified by those who need it most.