Mayor opens quake symposium
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Mayor Lianne Dalziel has opened a two-day earthquake symposium with a strong message that New Zealand must learn from the mistakes made in Christchurch.
The Mayor speaking at the opening of the earthquake symposium.
“Learning the lessons from our experience and ensuring that they are embedded into nationwide planning for future disaster recoveries has been a real driver for me,’’ the Mayor said.
“When we experience adversity, when we are traumatised by events outside our control, when we lose a loved one or a friend in circumstances that we know must have been avoidable, we look for meaning in the sure knowledge that our experience will prevent others going through what we have been through.
“There are reviews that have been undertaken and they show there were things we did incredibly well – in many respects we were much better prepared for recovery than we realised. However, there were mistakes made and we must not allow them to be repeated.
“The questions I want you to have in your mind as we listen to the presentations and discuss the ideas that are generated, is, how have we addressed our pre-event vulnerabilities?'' the Mayor said.
“Have we fully understood the world of possibility this post-disaster environment offers? What opportunities have we taken to ensure that not only Greater Christchurch, but the whole of New Zealand, is more resilient to the challenges we will continue to face.’’
The Mayor was speaking at the start of a two day symposium organised by Christchurch City Council and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to share lessons learned from the Canterbury earthquakes.
About 300 local and national participants from academia and the public, private, voluntary and community sectors are attending the symposium, which is a forerunner to a bigger international event that will be held in 2021 to mark the 10th anniversary of the quake.