Natural Hazards and Resilience Platform Te Pae Tūroa

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Natural Hazards and Resilience Platform Te Pae Tūroa

Resilience to Nature’s Challenges is hosted by Te Pū Ao GNS Science and is supported by 13 partner research organisations.

The Natural Hazards and Resilience Platform is a collaborative research programme with a mission to accelerate Aotearoa New Zealand’s resilience to natural hazards. The mission of Kia manawaroa - Ngā Ākina o Te Ao Tūroa | Resilience to Nature’s Challenges National Science Challenge is to accelerate Aotearoa New Zealand’s resilience to natural hazards. We are carrying out exciting new research to d

eepen our understanding of natural hazards such as earthquakes and tsunami, volcanoes, coastal hazards, severe weather, and wildfires. We're also bringing scientists, economists, mātauranga Māori experts and engineers together with users of our research to create new tools to build our collective resilience. We are working with hapū and iwi in case study communities and interweaving mātauranga Māori with western hazard science to enrich our research and deepen its relevance for Aotearoa New Zealand. Our Phase 2 research results will be delivered by mid-2024.

14/06/2026

It's about time we introduced our wonderful Platform Leadership Team!

First up, Julia Becker. Julia leads our Living with Risk theme, which places people at the heart of disaster risk reduction ❤️

Julia is a Professor and Deputy Director Research at the Joint Centre for Disaster Research at Massey University. She specialises in researching individual and community preparedness, community resilience, land-use planning for natural hazards, and hazard-event warnings.

She worked extensively in Canterbury during the Canterbury earthquakes, and following the Kaikōura earthquake. As well as working closely with the National Emergency Management Agency and regional Emergency Management groups, she has worked in Australia, USA, Japan and the wider Pacific on social issues of hazards and disasters.

Julia also co-led the Resilience, Policy & Governance programme in the Resilience to Nature's Challenges National Science Challenge.

That's all very impressive, but there's more! Julia was also recently conferred the Fellowship of the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering for “outstanding contributions to the integration of social science and earthquake engineering in Aotearoa New Zealand.” 👏

We're stoked to have a leader of Julia's calibre on our leadership team!

03/06/2026

"Ultimately, the latest weather disasters leave us with a simple conclusion: if New Zealanders want things to stay the same as much as they can in a warming world – to protect safety, wellbeing and prosperity – then things will have to change."

If you didn't catch this excellent opinion piece when it came out, we recommend you check it out!

Writing in The Conversation Australia + NZ, our Platform Leadership Team (with expertise spanning engineering, planning, physical hazard science, mātauranga Māori and social science) recently put their brilliant minds together to develop four lessons we need to take from recent weather disasters.

Read at the link in comments ⬇️

Photo credit: Earth Sciences New Zealand / Luke McPake

01/06/2026

Did you get our latest newsletter?

In this issue we share a new suite of projects researching the October 2025 Severe Wind event, provide a progress update on research design activities, and celebrate recent successes in our community.

Link in comments, check it out! ⬇️

21/05/2026

Remember the big wind event in October 2025? It involved Red Severe Wind Warnings in Wellington, Marlborough, Canterbury, and coastal Southland, with severe gales also battering Otago.

Researchers from Massey University - Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa and Earth Sciences New Zealand are studying the warning communications related to this event, and would love to know what you experienced.

If you were in the affected areas, the team would really appreciate it if you could answer this 7-10 minute survey to let them know about your experience and your thoughts on weather warnings. Your input will help improve future warning communications. Participation is anonymous.

The survey is open until Wednesday 27 May.

Survey link in comments ⬇️

18/05/2026

Rangitoto Island is a special place to Aucklanders, a familiar shape on the skyline. But the volcano holds many secrets that scientists are just beginning to build a picture of.

Scientists from the University of Auckland - Waipapa Taumata Rau and Earth Sciences New Zealand have been sampling naturally occurring gas that has been detected on the island, to determine whether it might be volcanic in origin. They can analyse these samples in the laboratory to understand their chemical ‘signature’.

We recently visited the team as they carried out their fieldwork, to find out about this interesting research and why it matters.

The work is led by the DEtermining VOlcanic Risk in Auckland-DEVORA programme and is funded through one of our ‘fast-start’ grants. It is part of wider research to gain a deeper understanding about Auckland's volcanic risk and ultimately help keep Aucklanders safe.

If the gas is determined to be volcanic, it does not increase volcanic risk for Aucklanders or suggest an eruption is imminent. Such a result could help improve how Auckland’s volcanoes are monitored. If the gas isn’t volcanic, the data will provide a good baseline for researchers to know what 'normal' soil CO2 emissions are in Auckland, so that we can perhaps more easily detect gas signals from magma making its way to the surface in the future.

Special thanks to the Natural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake, Auckland Council, Ngai Tai ki Tamaki, Te Kawerau ā Maki, and the Department of Conservation.

14/05/2026

Our ingoa Māori (te reo Māori name), Te Pae Tūroa, evokes the image of a mountain — steadfast, enduring, and deeply rooted in the whenua. It is a symbol of resilience that transcends time, standing firm through shifting skies, turbulent seasons, and generations of change.

This concept speaks to a platform of strength where people, place, and knowledge remain anchored, even as the world around them transforms. It honours the enduring nature of the relationship between people and whenua, and the wisdom the comes from weaving together knowledge systems.

Te Pae Tūroa is a call to stand grounded, to endure with dignity, and to carry forward the legacy of those who stood before us.

This ingoa was provided to us by Jack Potaka (Ngāti Hauiti). Ngā mihi nui ❤️

11/05/2026

It’s official…we’re in our Platform era.

From today, this page is home to the Natural Hazards and Resilience Platform Te Pae Tūroa.

Ko wai mātou? Who are we? The Resilience Platform is a collaborative research programme with a mission to enhance Aotearoa New Zealand’s resilience to natural hazards.

We’re mobilising scientists, resources, organisations and communities from around the country to collectively innovate to address this challenge.

We build on the achievements of the Resilience to Nature’s Challenges National Science Challenge Ngā Ākina o Te Ao Tūroa, and we’re bringing in new research talent, new technologies and new partnerships to further our reach and impact.

Later this week we’ll share the meaning of our te reo name, Te Pae Tūroa, and the story behind our new branding.

We look forward to going on this journey with you!

05/05/2026

Things have been quiet on this page since the National Science Challenges wrapped in 2024. But something new is coming 👀

From Monday 11 May, this page will be repurposed for the Natural Hazards and Resilience Platform.

✨ New name. New look ✨ But the same mission...to enhance Aotearoa New Zealand’s resilience to natural hazards.

More than ever, we need collaborative research that brings people together to develop new knowledge and tools to strengthen our communities, homes and infrastructure.

Stay following to learn more about the Platform, and how you can get involved...

20/12/2024

While our National Science Challenge officially wrapped up a few months ago, the directorate team has continued to work on a few final outputs we’d like to share with you all.

It’s also an opportunity to say a huge thank you to our community of researchers, collaborators and research users. We have achieved a lot over the decade of mahi – from the numerous examples of our research having an impact through policy and practice, to the relationships, ways of working, and capability development that has been so central to our success 🤝

In our final newsletter (linked below) you can find a treasure trove of useful outputs, from new policy briefs to our Challenge Lifetime Summary, which seeks to showcase some of our key highlights alongside our reflections on the decade of mahi🌿

The Challenge directorate has been busy supporting the establishment phase of the new Natural Hazards and Resilience Platform. The Platform will build on the foundation of the Resilience Challenge, and continue to foster collaborative research in support of the resilience mission.

Please stay following us here, as we will be repurposing Resilience Challenge social media channels for the Platform next year.

Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou – thanks to you all for your mahi and your support ❤️

We hope you all have a relaxing and restorative summer break ☀️

Read the final Resilience Challenge newsletter ➡️ https://mailchi.mp/5c6a262ee381/the-final-wrap

Find out more about the Resilience Platform ➡️ https://www.resilienceplatform.nz/

Sign up to receive Resilience Platform news ➡️ http://eepurl.com/iZ56F-/

GNS Science University of Otago University of Canterbury University of Auckland - Waipapa Taumata Rau NIWA New Zealand Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington The University of Waikato Lincoln University BRANZ WSP in New Zealand Scion

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Website

http://www.resilienceplatform.nz/

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