Governance and resilience: A case of re-development after a bushfire disaster

- Structures for governance of re-building efforts impact ability to 'build back better.'
- Structures for governance of re-building efforts impact community resilience.
- This includes the balance between the urgency to re-build and the need of space.
- This includes the role of formal and informal decision-makers.

The case study on the re-building program of the Victoria bushfire disaster of 7th Feb 2009 provides insights on the relationship between governance structures in post-disaster re-development and the goal of building sustainable and resilient communities. The paper links 'governance' to 'resilience' using Stage VI of Turner's 1976 model as a theoretical lens. A qualitative research strategy was utilized to elicit descriptive qualitative responses from which research goals were addressed. The findings show that the design of governance structures for re-building after a disaster impacts the ability to secure resilience. Also, several resilience aspects seem to be impacted by governance issues relating to: the balance between urgency vs. need of space; the role of formal and informal stakeholders; the social-psychological dimension in information sharing as well as entrepreneurial opportunities in rebuilding, and economic sustainability.