Dissertation
Local knowledge, communities and disaster management – a case study from southeast Queensland
University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Doctor of Philosophy, University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
2021
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25907/00090
Abstract
The aim of this research is to understand how a rural community accesses and uses local knowledge to manage and progress through a disaster event. It considers how a community’s interpretation, understanding and experience of flood events in the environment in which they live contribute to the management of disasters. To obtain this information, qualitative research methods were used, comprising participant observation, semi-structured and unstructured interviews, and analysis of historical records, using a case study of Mundubbera in southeast Queensland. Mundubbera experienced a major flood event in December 2010 and again in January 2013, the first major floods in the area since 1942.
In Mundubbera, the knowledge derived and kept alive by people living in the community, together with their connection to place, proved pivotal in designing and directing the management of the flood events considered in this research. It was experiential knowledge, created over time, that provided the community with the ability to respond to the flood events which left them isolated from surrounding towns and receiving little external support. The scientific mapping available during the 2013 flood event was limited to the immediate township and was constrained by the assumptions used in the modelling. The local knowledge used by the community was different to the mapping and projections derived from this scientific knowledge and was at the core of the disaster management response. Local knowledge is unique to each community and changes over time, yet it contributes to local place-identities. Residents rely on their existing networks and experiences to provide resources and support each other when they are isolated from surrounding townships.
Details
- Title
- Local knowledge, communities and disaster management – a case study from southeast Queensland
- Authors
- Madeleine Page
- Contributors
- Jennifer Carter Professor of Geography (Supervisor) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Law and Society
- Awarding institution
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
- Degree awarded
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Publisher
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
- DOI
- 10.25907/00090
- Organisation Unit
- Indigenous and Transcultural Research Centre; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Science, Technology and Engineering; School of Law and Society; Sustainability Research Cluster
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99575108902621
- Output Type
- Dissertation
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