Anouk Ride will co-present with Lionel Dau from Solomon Islands Development Trust on Community Resilience in a Crisis this Friday 25 May 9am. Talking specifically about natural disasters the presentation, looking at the situation from global to local perspectives, will examine how resilience can be supported or harmed by natural disaster aid and assistance. The … Read more →

Anouk Ride will co-present with Lionel Dau from Solomon Islands Development Trust on Community Resilience in a Crisis this Friday 25 May 9am. Talking specifically about natural disasters the presentation, looking at the situation from global to local perspectives, will examine how resilience can be supported or harmed by natural disaster aid and assistance.

The presentation is part of the Pacific Psychosocial Forum organised by the Mandala Foundation and the local organising committee.  The Pacific Psychosocial Forum is a bi-annual event facilitated by the Mandala Foundation that aims to advocate for and enhance psychosocial awareness and systems of staff care and community support throughout the Pacific region. In 2012, the three-day forum will be held in the Solomon Islands and will focus on the theme of ‘Enabling resilience in a crisis’. Details of the event are on

http://www.mandalafoundation.org.au/index.php?page=2012-pacific-psychosocial-forum-2012

This opinion editorial article from Dr Diane Bretherton and Anouk Ride has appeared in several US newspapers recently, pointing out evidence indicates most people, when facing a natural disaster, are cooperative, altruistic and resilient. If you watch the news, particularly news about foreign countries, you could easily believe that natural disasters are followed by looting, … Read more →

This opinion editorial article from Dr Diane Bretherton and Anouk Ride has appeared in several US newspapers recently, pointing out evidence indicates most people, when facing a natural disaster, are cooperative, altruistic and resilient.
If you watch the news, particularly news about foreign countries, you could easily believe that natural disasters are followed by looting, crime and individualistic behavior to survive. However, research from six different countries indicates when facing a natural disaster most people are cooperative, altruistic and resilient.

Read more: http://www.huntingtonnews.net/28050

Community Resilience in Natural Disasters uncovers the voices of people in the eye of the storm, the swirl of tsunami waves, and the dust of the drought – people who have not only survived but joined community efforts to cope with and adapt to the crisis. These communities tell us how aid agencies, the media, … Read more →

Community Resilience in Natural Disasters uncovers the voices of people in the eye of the storm, the swirl of tsunami waves, and the dust of the drought – people who have not only survived but joined community efforts to cope with and adapt to the crisis.

These communities tell us how aid agencies, the media, and government support or weaken communities? As natural disasters affect more and more people, the answer to this question provides vital knowledge – not just for relevant organisations but for all of us who one day may face disaster and need some help to help themselves.

Edited by Dr. Diane Bretherton & Anouk Ride

Published by: Palgrave Macmillan, For a limited time only in US and Canada… Buy “Community Resilience in Natural Disasters” at 20% discount

Australians and New Zealanders can now learn more about how people from around the world cope with natural disasters and reflect on their recent experience of fires, floods, earthquakes and drought, by reading a new book “Community Resilience in Natural Disasters”. (Click here to download Australia/NZ order form). Community Resilience in Natural Disasters uncovers the … Read more →

Australians and New Zealanders can now learn more about how people from around the world cope with natural disasters and reflect on their recent experience of fires, floods, earthquakes and drought, by reading a new book “Community Resilience in Natural Disasters”. (Click here to download Australia/NZ order form).

Community Resilience in Natural Disasters uncovers the voices of people in the eye of the storm, the swirl of tsunami waves, and the dust of the drought – people who have not only survived but joined community efforts to cope with and adapt to the crisis.

These communities tell us how aid agencies, the media, and government support or weaken communities?

As natural disasters affect more and more people, the answer to this question provides vital knowledge – not just for relevant organisations but for all of us who one day may face disaster and need some help to help themselves.

Edited by Dr. Diane Bretherton & Anouk Ride

Published by: Palgrave Macmillan

Also available on: Amazon US

Amazon UK

Presenting new research in Washington DC, Dr Diane Bretherton and Anouk Ride say evidence indicates when facing a natural disaster most people are cooperative, altruistic and resilient. “If you face a natural disaster, you will most likely turn to your neighbors and your community for help, advice and to help others you see as suffering … Read more →

Presenting new research in Washington DC, Dr Diane Bretherton and Anouk Ride say evidence indicates when facing a natural disaster most people are cooperative, altruistic and resilient.

“If you face a natural disaster, you will most likely turn to your neighbors and your community for help, advice and to help others you see as suffering more than yourself. This is a natural response to survive, to cope psychologically and to rebuild communities. This behavior is far more common than generally assumed by the authorities and media commentators which predict crime, competition and opportunism,” said Dr Diane Bretherton.

The research is featured in a new book, “Community Resilience in Natural Disasters” (Buy “Community Resilience in Natural Disasters” at 20% discount) in which Bretherton and Ride compared interviews in six countries around the world to find out what communities did when faced with a natural disaster and how their behavior changed with the arrival of assistance from aid agencies, government and other organizations.

“We found everywhere community resilience is the usual story and communities tearing themselves apart is the unusual story,” said Anouk Ride. “But the problem is aid agencies, authorities and others who seek to help disaster survivors often take over and disempower local people, actually hurting the very resilience that helped people survive and cope with the disaster in the first place and creating conflict in communities.”

Interviews with survivors of earthquakes in Mexico and Pakistan, tsunamis in Indonesia and Solomon Islands, drought in Kenya, cyclone in Myanmar and the US’s Hurricane Katrina, inform Bretherton and Ride’s conclusions which they say should be instructive for aid agencies, government and the media.

The research was discussed at the American Psychological Association (APA) Convention, attended by around 12,000 psychologists which this year is being held in Washington DC, 4-7 August.

Dr Diane Bretherton is a renowned psychologist presented with an award (the Morton Deutsch Conflict Resolution Award) by the APA for outstanding contribution to the field and Anouk Ride is a  Phd candidate, researcher and author of many articles and books on social issues.

Anouk Ride signed a consultancy contract for media liasion for the PNA, an innovative group of Pacific Islands that sustainably manage and develop the world’s largest purse seine tuna fishery. The contract will commence in May 2011. For details on the PNA see www.pnatuna.com More details about upcoming PNA events and stories will be available … Read more →

Anouk Ride signed a consultancy contract for media liasion for the PNA, an innovative group of Pacific Islands that sustainably manage and develop the world’s largest purse seine tuna fishery. The contract will commence in May 2011.

For details on the PNA see www.pnatuna.com

More details about upcoming PNA events and stories will be available from the PNA website and this site soon.

A paper was presented by Anouk Ride on behalf of the research team including Dr Diane Bretherton and Dr Asha Bedar on the effects of sentimentality on natural disasters (particularly in the case of the Pakistan earthquake) to the Trauma and Sentimentality Symposium recently held by the Public Memory Research Centre of the University of … Read more →

A paper was presented by Anouk Ride on behalf of the research team including Dr Diane Bretherton and Dr Asha Bedar on the effects of sentimentality on natural disasters (particularly in the case of the Pakistan earthquake) to the Trauma and Sentimentality Symposium recently held by the Public Memory Research Centre of the University of Southern Queensland.

This diverse symposium included researchers from many different fields including psychology, sociology, cultural studies and history and elicited many discussions on broadening perspective on trauma and sentimentality. A publication featuring papers from the symposium will be released shortly.

Recent events in Egypt and other parts of the Arab World recall Indonesia’s transition to democracy, spearheaded by student demonstrations and as described in New Internationalist’s edition entitled Indonesia edited by Anouk Ride. Read the full report here: Power of Protest

Recent events in Egypt and other parts of the Arab World recall Indonesia’s transition to democracy, spearheaded by student demonstrations and as described in New Internationalist’s edition entitled Indonesia edited by Anouk Ride.

Read the full report here: Power of Protest

Readers of The Grand Experiment will be pleased that one of the boys whose story is featured in the book was honoured by a pilgrimage and ceremony at the site of his unmarked grave. Read details here: http://www.marymackillop.org.au/canonisation/view_newsarticle.cfm?loadref=41&id=432 After publication of the book in 2007, the story generated a lot of interest in Australia, and … Read more →

Readers of The Grand Experiment will be pleased that one of the boys whose story is featured in the book was honoured by a pilgrimage and ceremony at the site of his unmarked grave.

Read details here:
http://www.marymackillop.org.au/canonisation/view_newsarticle.cfm?loadref=41&id=432

After publication of the book in 2007, the story generated a lot of interest in Australia, and now visitors to the Australian Museum can also see the engraving of Conaci and Dirimera and discover more about their lives.

As Bougainville considers opening mining again, community leaders have been vocal in calling for continued involvement in the peace process. As described in a report by Anouk Ride in New Internationalist shortly after the ceasefire, community members must ‘own the peace’ including having a significant role in decision making about the key issues that inflamed … Read more →

As Bougainville considers opening mining again, community leaders have been vocal in calling for continued involvement in the peace process. As described in a report by Anouk Ride in New Internationalist shortly after the ceasefire, community members must ‘own the peace’ including having a significant role in decision making about the key issues that inflamed the conflict.

Read the full report here: The rebel peace