It seems that major earthquakes, tornadoes, volcanoes, tsunami, droughts, floods, snows and fires have characterized the last few years.
What do all these natural disasters mean for businesses and the environment?
In the short term, we rightly focus on rescue and the alleviation of suffering. In the medium term we focus on getting businesses up and running. We also see growing focus on environmental restoration as part of a sustainable recovery - a much longer term process, but one we need to build in from the start. I believe it offers a path to a more viable future for people, communities, businesses and the environment.
We've heard the debate about river, delta and coastal restoration to help New Orleans recover from its devastating floods and enjoy a higher level of future security. Similarly, a vigorous debate about the nature of reconstruction is emerging in Christchurch, New Zealand, as the region continues to experience an unusual sequence of powerful and destructive aftershocks. Pervading the discussion of big issues of demolition, relocation and restoration is a growing theme of eco-city principles to inform how we go about these major activities.
Christchurch City Council has for many years taken a value-based approach to managing its waterways - I loved going there because right in the middle of the CBD, I could look into the Avon River and see trout in there, just doing their thing! No longer, alas - the tremors have disturbed the river's gradient and it is full of sediment and causing flooding as it adjusts its flowpath. But the Council's wonderful Waterways and Wetlands Guideline will continue to inform the management and restoration of this and other water bodies in this beautiful city.
This morning on the radio I heard an interview with Evan Smith, a resident of Richmond in Christchurch, a 5,000-strong community in a red zone, where repair won't be permitted. He was saying that the people there would like to move together as a community, noting that there might be economies of scale where for example, a group of people could form a trust and all build together. What a tribute to the power of community!
Why not inform such new developments with the best of eco-principles, starting with water-sensitive development layout that also accommodates passive solar design for sustainable houses and restoration of wild and scenic places for children, adults and flora and fauna? Energy, water and sewer services have been badly hit in the ongoing aftershocks, so what about providing for decentralized (on-site) water and energy solutions, possibly also on a group management basis? This and other ideas would help build the capacity of the many professions and specialized trades involved in new developments, and possibly even lay the foundations for future viable businesses.
In this way, I believe it is possible that post-disaster community and ecosystem reconstruction provides an impetus for us to follow the path to the restoration economy. In his wonderful book, Storm Cunningham explains how the restoration economy is large and growing, but very under-recognized, and spells out his formula for a comprehensive economic stimulus - how to plan and fund the renewal of natural and built assets to efficiently and reliably generate socio-economic revitalization.
Working out how to do this may not be easy - but online gaming (remember the old Sim City?) can be successfully adapted to model many diverse and sometimes conflicting visions. Bob Frame is advertising an online game on the future of Christchurch - Magnetic South - this Friday and Saturday (assuming, as he says, that the terra stays reasonably firma). You can register here and find a video and instructions on how to play, plus an accompanying blog. If you use Twitter then you could use: Join #MagneticSouth 24/25 Jun to explore and shape an attractive long-term future for Christchurch.
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