Indigenous people see the balance in natural events

When it comes to nature and the natural world, Indigenous people have a much different world view than the rest of the modern world. This comes out at times when the news media reports on natural disasters that Indigenous people refer to as natural disturbances.

It’s overkill to call a natural event a disaster when it has been occurring since the world began.

A good example is all the hoopla about the eruption of the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii…

Disasters and Social Resilience: A bioecological approach

The hazards policy landscape influences and contributes to resilience, but it only works if it is relevant and socially acceptable. It may seem to be a framework of safety across government, society and community, but it only contributes to the resilience of individuals and households if it has been translated into their lives and is accepted by people. Policy is driven by social values and governance. Values are extremely diverse; for example, materialistic, spiritual, religious, social control, independence vs individualism, self-sufficiency, dependency, social hierarchy and acceptance or rejection of science and technology. Internationally there is a pervasive influence of liberal, Western, technologically driven values, which emphasise and place…