Bushfires

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The Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Diagrammatic Framework is a very useful approach to better understanding disasters, particularly as they pass through their Normal/Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), Emergency Response & Recovery Stages.  See the enclosed article here.

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This short blog focuses in on Australian bushfires and floods.  It is updated in late 2022 when much of the east coast of Australia (as well as Tasmania), is being challenged by unrelenting La Nina influenced floods.  Whilst the majority of examples relate to bushfires, the principles behind them apply equally to floods (as well as to other Australian hazards such as tropical cyclones and drought). This blog is written by Chris Piper, an Australian-based Global Humanitarian Practiioner (GHP) and Teacher/trainer/Facilitor.  With regards Australian bushfires and floods he has been involved in coordinating volunteer recovery responses to the 2009 Victorian bushfires and 2011 floods, as well as acting as Bushfire Recovery Adviser (BRA) to the Baptist Union of Victoria (BRA) following the 2020/2021 bushfires.

The Australian 2019/2020 bushfire season was unprecedented in its intensity and geographical spread. Following the fires, Chris worked from March-May as BRA for the BUV, this involving him visiting and supporting affected communities in the east of Victoria. The following two links highlight some aspects of his visits to the field.

BUV Video on Corryong, 5-6th March 2020

https://www.buv.com.au/news/corryong-and-surrounds-from-bushfires-to-covid-19

BUV Video on Gippsland, 11-12th March 2020

https://www.buv.com.au/news/an-update-on-our-response-to-the-bushfires

In January 2020 Chris prepared an article on the bushfires for the March 2020 edition of the Geography Teachers Association of Victoria’s (GTAV) quarterly ‘Interaction’ magazine.  This includes some suggested Classroom Activities for Secondary level students.  This gives a good overview of the Emergency Response Stage of the bushfires; some comments on the recovery challenges throughout 2020, this complicated by COVID-19; and some thoughts on future Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) initiatives, these including some related to climate change.

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Based on his BRA work, Chris has prepared an article on training for bushfire-related field staff and volunteers, these people involved in recovery work within a COVID-19 context.

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Following the earlier 2009 bushfires in Victoria, Chris coordinated some church-based community recovery work on a number of weekends during 2009-2011.  Follow the link below for a copy of bushfire-related Project Design Document (PDD) relating to this.

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Following this 2009-2011 work, Chris prepared a short article on the management of volunteers in such situations.

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Aspects of bushfires is covered in Topics 1 & 2 of the Participatory Disaster Risk Management (PDRM) training program, which can be delivered in either workshop or online format.  See the link to the 2023 PDRM program.

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DRM-Framework

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Over the past two dozen years, TorqAid, with input from practitioners and students, has developed a diagrammatic framework of how key aspects of all disasters can be illustrated by the use of four key diagrams.  This material is covered in an article entitled a ‘Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Diagrammatic Framework’.  This DRM Framework article can be accessed here.

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This DRM Framework article focuses on four key diagrams, namely the Disaster Risk Management Cycle (DRMC); the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) diagram; the DRM Planning diagram; and the Project Management Cycle (PMC). There are also variants of the DRMC and DRR relating to slow-onset hazards such as drought and climate change. There is also a variant of the DRMC diagram relating to the 2020-2023 COVID-19 pandemic, as well as a modification of the DRR diagram due to conflict and/or a severe breakdown in governance.  Jpeg copies of these diagrams can be accessed on the TorqAid website at www.torqaid.com/resources.

The DRM framework is also extensively covered in TorqAid accredited Participatory Disaster Risk Management (PDRM) training.  This is offered in an online format running from the end of July through to mid November 2026, as well as other PDRM client-based workshops. Details of the online program can be accessed here:

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PPM-generic

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Since 2002, over 65 accredited Participatory Project Management (PPM) workshops have been facilitated across Australia and overseas. Australian PPM workshop locations have included Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane, Nhullunbuy, Darwin, Alice Springs, Perth and Adelaide. Overseas location have included Fiji, PNG, Indonesia, India, Afghanistan and Albania. In the link below is the latest 2022 PPM workshop program.

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When accompanied by assignments, this workshop is accredited with a couple of Australian universities.  Follow the link below to the assignment and university details.

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TorqAid Consultancy

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This blog highlights the various humanitarian-related consultancy services offered by TorqAid.  These are primarily offered by the CEO, Chris Piper, but he can draw on extra expertise from other members of the company, as well as the TorqAid Advisory Team  (TAT).  The link below is to a one page bio for Chris, and this can be supplemented by a longer CV as required/requested.

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DRM Diagrammatic Framework.  Over the past 15 years, TorqAid has developed four key diagrams which illustrate the key aspects of a disaster or humanitarian situation.  These are the Disaster Risk Management Cycle (DRMC); the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) diagram; the DRM Planning diagram; and the Project Management Cycle (PMC).  These four are incorporated with three other illustrations (the risk matrix; the ISO 31000 risk management process; and the Core Humanitarian Standard {CHS) diagram) in the article linked below:

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DRM memberships.  Chris is a member of the Australian Civilian Corps (ACC), as a Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) specialist, and from 2014-16 was a member of the Post Disaster Recovery Team (PDRT).  He is also a Member of the Australian Institute of Emergency Services (MAIES), as well as a member of the International Association of Professionals in Humanitarian Assistance and Protection (PHAP).

Chris has worked across Australia, and throughout the Asian-Pacific, Eastern/Southern African, and European regions in the roles outlined below.  The scenarios involved have been a combination of natural disaster and conflict-related situations.

Strategic planning such as :

  • Working as the Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Adviser for the Kingdom of Tonga’s National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO). This work focused on developing Government-led coordination Clusters, as well as responding to an off-shore volcanic eruption
  • Working as DRM Adviser for the Anglican Church of Melanesia (ACOM) in Vanuatu.  Principal roles here involved developing a strategy for dealing with future tropical cyclones (TCs) and droughts
  • Working as an humanitarian consultant on an Australian government mission to Cambodia, planning out resettlement and reintegration of refugees/returnees from Thailand
  • Enclosed below are links to the Cluster framework carried out in Tonga:

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Emergency Response such as:

  • Working as Crisis Centre Adviser in Tirana, for Albanian churches, at the height of the refugee exodus from Kosovo
  • Planning and management of emergency airlifts to Ethiopia, Bangladesh and Jordan from the UK and Australia

Recovery Initiatives such as:

  • Working with an Australian NGO to develop a Cyclone Nargis recovery strategy for national partners in Myanmar
  • Working with a British NGO helping develop a recovery program for partners in both Aceh and Sri Lanka following the Indian Ocean tsunami
  • As an ACFID/AusAID-contracted consultant, working with the Government of PNG to develop a a comprehensive recovery strategy following the Aitape tsunami
  • Management of inter-church community level recovery initiatives in Victoria following the 2009 bushfires and 2011 floods

Training/Capacity Building such as:

  • Facilitation of over 110 accredited DRM and Participatory Project Management (PPM) workshops both across Australia and overseas
  • Development of an online accredited DRM program for humanitarian and development practitioners
  • Highlighted below are the links both to the online DRM, as well as to the overall training options offered by TorqAid

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Community Based Disaster Risk Management (CBDRM) such as:

  • Development of a CBDRM-focused program in Laos for an Australian NGO
  • Development of a CBDRM field manual.  Enclosed below is a link to this CBDRM manual

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Humanitarian Evaluation such as:

  • Team leader for a British NGO’s evaluation of its humanitarian work in Serbia, Albania, Kosovo, and Montenegro
  • Evaluation for an international NGO’s conflict-related humanitarian response in Afghanistan
  • Team leader for an Australian NGO’s CBDRM evaluation work in PNG, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu

 Working with Diaspora Communities such as:

  • Co-Founder and Co-Convenor of the Melbourne based Syrian Community (SC)/Humanitarian Community (HC) Forum

Preparation of  Submissions, reports etc such as:

  • Preparation of multiple proposal, reports, evaluations and other documents such as the Project Design Document (PDD)
  • An example of a DRM/CBDRM PDD for an NGO working in Myanmar is enclosed in the link below:
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Networking & Publications, such as:

  • Co-founder of the Melbourne Development Circle
  • Founder and Editor of the Australian Aid Resource and Training Guide (AARTG) over a 15 year period
  • Development of the TorqAid Toolkit, the link to which is given below.

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Mentoring such as:

  • Personal support for humanitarian/development practitioners working in both Afghanistan and Niger

 

 

 

 

Pips war

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Chris & Phil Piper are researching and writing about their father’s (Flt Lt ‘Pip’ Piper) wartime experience flying Spitfire Mk VIII’s with 273 Squadron in India and Burma over the period July 1944-August 1945.  They are basing their research on a number of sources, these including Pip’s logbook; some memoires written by him in the 1980’s; the Operational Record Books (ORBs) of the squadron from May 1944-August 1945; and, perhaps most unusual of all, an 89 page ‘Squadron Secret Diary (SSD)’ which was covertly written up by squadron members.

273 was an RAF squadron, but included many nationalities – as well as British pilots, there were also those from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, and Burma.  The squadron operated out of a number of airstrips across British India (Chittagong, Cox’s Bazaar), and well as Burma itself (Maunghnama, Ramree Island, and then Mingaladon, just outside of Rangoon).  The squadron’s main role was supporting elements of the British XIV Army as it battled down the coastal Arakan region.  The title of the book is ‘Pip’s War & the Forgotten Squadron’.

The squadron was disbanded in 1946, but in order to preserve its memory, a 50 year campaign commenced, waged primarily by Jane Pelling, one of the pilot’s sister, to have the squadron shield or crest officially recognised.  Squadron members had submitted their own design to the Air Ministry at the end of the 1944, this being based around a black widow spider, superimposed on a Burmese fylfot.  The latter bears a strong resemblance to  a swastika, and the suggested design, perhaps understandably, was rejected by the powers to be.  In 1996, this decision was eventually reversed after it had been debated in the House of Lords. The shield now proudly is embedded next to No. 1 squadron’s crest in the floor at St Clement Danes Church in the Strand.  The black widow spider remains, but the fylfot is absent ….

Enclosed below are the links to a number of key documents:

An overview of 273 squadron’s wartime campaign.

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A summary of Pip’s logbook over the period May 1944-August 1945

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A summary of the key pilots names and other squadron characters mentioned in the ORBs & SSD

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A summary of squadron characters; other RAF and Royal Indian Air Force (RIAF) squadrons, as well as Allied and Japanese aircraft, mentioned

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The squadron crest (including the fylfot !)

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Church disaster recovery volunteer work

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This is a compilation of articles which is designed to be useful for churches involving themselves in post disaster recovery work. As well as some general information on participatory disaster risk management (PDRM), there are some practical examples of inter-church recovery initiatives carried out following both the 2009 Victorian floods, and the 2011 Victorian floods.

The initial article to read is the Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Diagrammatic Framework, which includes some key diagrams for those wanting to better understand how disasters work (and the responses to them!)

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We then include an article from the earlier afore-mentioned inter-church work carried out in Victoria, particularly a report on the use of volunteers. Other documents, such as the development of a Project Design Document (PDD) for funding/submission purposes, can be requested from Chris Piper.

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Finally the reader should note that bushfires are included in Module 1 of the TorqAid online, accredited, Participatory Disaster Risk Management (PDRM) program.  This focuses on training for church or agency field staff or volunteers involved in recovery initiatives, something which is, in 2020, complicated somewhat by the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent restrictions.

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Bushfire PDD

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Following the February 2009 Victorian bushfires, Barrabool Hills Baptist Church (Barro) in Geelong worked with St John’s Anglican Church in Healesville to support fire-affected families, particularly those out in remote rural areas. This mainly consisted of helping people clear damaged property of burned out trees and debris, but also included refurbishing a portable cabin to be used as a temporary home. From July-August 2009, three working weekends were organised, with a separate initiative in Nov 2009 providing a coastal holiday break for some of these families. A further three working weekends were organised in 2010, with a seventh run in 2011. Separate to this, following the Victorian floods on 2011, Barro worked with Bendigo Baptist Church to carry out 3 similar working weekends for farming families in the Lodden Valley affected by floods.  Enclosed here is the Project Design Document (PDD) for the 3 bushfire-related working weekend and the holiday initiatives in 2009. The PDD is an ideal document to gather together key project material which can be utilised for funding submission purposes. Also included here is a generic version of the PDD format/template, together with a disaster risk management PDD for an NGO working in Myanmar, this being prepared at the end of 2016.

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PDD examples

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The Project Design Document (PDD) is a template/format for developing a proposal or submission either internally, or for project funding from an external donor.  It is prepared during the Planning Stage of the Project Management Cycle (PMC). Jpeg copies of the PMC can be accessed from www.torqaid.com/resources. The PDD includes all the key components required in a development or humanitarian project.  Enclosed here is a useful PDD template/format.

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Also included are examples of a PDD relating to an inter-church community-based recovery project arising from the 2009 Victorian bushfires; and a separate one to a proposed Community Based Disaster Risk Management (CBDRM) project for Myanmar, prepared in 2016.

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Humanitarian Development Definitions

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Enclosed is a link to the key definitions which are used by Humanitarian and Development Practitioners

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These definitions, as well as other useful humanitarian and development material, can be found in the TorqAid toolkit (see link below).

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Chris Piper Overview

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Enclosed here is an Overview of Chris Piper’s skills and experience as a Global Development Practitioner (GDP), as well as qualified teacher/trainer/facilitator.

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