Extreme weather events have become more frequent with climate change. The East Coast has been particularly hard hit in recent years. In early 2023 the Gisborne District Council commissioned Te Weu Charitable Trust to investigate ways communities could be supported to do their own adaptation planning in conjunction with development of a regional adaptation plan. Te Weu undertook a literature review confirming the importance of residents being actively engaged in the planning process if it is to be effective in achieving desired outcomes. The review noted that deliberative democracy approaches (such as citizen assemblies) have been particularly useful tools for promoting flax-roots participation in addressing civic issues and informing local government policymaking.
A working group of Council staff and Te Weu personnel subsequently agreed a project plan in two phases. The first was a series of community case studies using locally based researchers to investigate how selected communities were recovering from the cyclone in early 2023 and adapting to such events becoming more frequent and severe. That research is intended to provide input to a randomly selected deliberative ‘Citizen Assembly’ process to be designed and implemented in 2024. The assembly (or assemblies) will consider a wide range of evidence and how the Council in collaboration with private and public sector stakeholders could facilitate and support communities to develop their own adaptation plans as well as contribute to the development of regional adaptation plans. The report was presented to the Gisborne District Council in Februrary 2024.
