Aboriginal Disaster Resilience Planning
Aboriginal Disaster Resilience Team

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND

DISCUSSION

Building disaster resilience across all phases of a disaster from
planning, response to recovery is the cornerstone of effective
emergency management. The process of building resilient
communities requires the community to work together to identify
community capacity, and to foster a collaborative environment.
Planning for resilience is enhanced when local communities are
empowered to be actively involved in the planning process and
when broader structures and regulations contribute to, and
support, resilience efforts.

Experience with the RDRP highlighted that trained facilitation
enhances the community’s ability to move through the process and
develop a meaningful disaster resilience plan. The Validation and
Implementation Study (2013), part of the Building Resilience and
Rural Health System Capability for Pre-Disaster Planning and
Preparedness (CTRI 07-0135 RD), found that “communities lack
capacity and funding to develop plans. With funding towards
education and capacity building communities will be able to use
the tools in an efficient and timely manner…“ This was echoed in
further work (Building Resilient Communities Workshop Report:
DRDC-RDDC-2014-C131) where communities stated that while
much of the information communities need to participate in
Disaster Resilience planning is available, many communities lack
the expertise to know what information to get, how to obtain it, and
how to use it. These factors leave communities in the position of
requiring external expertise in order to engage in disaster
resilience planning. Many smaller communities lack the expertise
to effectively participate in planning processes without a trained
facilitator.

The purpose of the Aboriginal Disaster Resilience Planning
(ADRP) project was develop a tool to provide First Nation, Metis,
and Inuit communities with a planning framework to support
resilience and emergency management planning. The project
included development of the ADRP website, a facilitation package,
and facilitator training, as well as a “Train the Trainer/Facilitator”
process to engage Canadian Aboriginal communities.

METHODS
The 2014/2015 phase of the ADRP project developed the webbased framework and tools to support emergency management
planning within Canadian Aboriginal communities. The project
involved adapting the existing Rural Disaster Resilience Planning
(RDRP) framework and website. The process involved
consultation with Aboriginal consultants from across Canada to
incorporate Aboriginal contexts, culture, and community needs.
The second phase of the project (2015/2016) involved training a
group of “Core Faculty” to be familiar with the tool. The Core
Faculty conducted a pilot workshop with an Aboriginal community
in Chilliwack. Once modifications and adjustments were made to
the material, the group conducted a series of regional Train-theTrainer workshops across Canada.

RESULTS
The project addressed the goals and objectives outlined with the
successful completion of four workshops across Canada. The
core faculty presented the tool and provided materials to
approximate 30 people, who will be able to champion the ARDP
process within their communities.

The ADRP web-based framework allows communities to help
identify and assess their resilience through the use of three tools:
• Hazard Risk Analysis
• Aboriginal Resilience Index
• Hazard Resilience Index
The process involves communities working through four key steps:
• Step One: Getting Started
• Step Two: Resilience Assessment
• Step Three: Building the Resilience Plan
• Step Four: Plan Implementation
The tools and steps were developed to enhance organizational allhazards response planning. These training curricula, tools, and
web-assisted networks will provide Aboriginal communities in
Canada with fully operational protocols and resources to anticipate
and mitigate risks.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This project was supported by Indigenous and Northern Affairs
Canada, and conducted by Justice Institute of British Columbia.

JUSTICE INSTITUTE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA