Date: 20th January 2015 at 6.
30 pm
Venue: Hall of Culture, Nehru Centre,
Dr. Annie Besant Road, Worli,
Mumbai 400 018
Increasing risk is a dominant theme of the 21st
century. Engineers are well placed to act as
leaders of change to meet this challenge.
Innovative forms of collaborative thinking and
action are required to mitigate, prepare for and
respond to crisis.
TO REGISTER CONTACT
OR CONTACT
Now in its 10th Series the ICE’s new Brunel International
Lecture describes an internationally award winning post-
disaster collaborative recovery model. The Stronger
Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team – SCIRT -
designed by engineers, and organisational specialists, to
meet the massive horizontal infrastructure challenges
created by the earthquakes that struck Christchurch,
New Zealand in 2010 and 2011.
Mr. Sanjay Rane: sanjayr@tataprojects.com
+91 22 6625 5673
 10th Brunel International Lecture Series
Collectively
we are stronger
Increasing risk is a dominant theme of the 21st century.
Engineers are well placed to act as leaders of change to
meet this challenge. Innovative forms of collaborative
thinking and action are required to mitigate, prepare for
and respond to crisis.
This paper describes an internationally award winning post-
disaster collaborative recovery model [The Stronger Christchurch
Infrastructure Rebuild Team - SCIRT] designed by engineers,
and organisational specialists, to meet the massive horizontal
infrastructure challenges created by a series of devastating
earthquakes that struck Christchurch, New Zealand in 2010
and 2011.
The model intentionally builds collaboration across multiple
parties drawn together by an unwavering commitment to
shared vision, goals and objectives. It is underpinned by
established commercial principles that are robust and flexible
and empowered through: broad sets of relationships, community
engagement, leadership training and a wellbeing plan to support
workforce resilience. It provides clarity, certainty and a supportive
workplace for the hundreds of team members that were ‘pulled
together’ from multiple highly competitive parent organisations
to create an ‘instant’ organisation.
SCIRT leadership have been continuously challenged and
surprised by the ability of engineers to work with others to
create innovative solutions to engineering, social, economic
and public health dilemmas faced in the midst and shadow
of disaster. It is clear that the collective power of individuals
is exponentially increased through the intentional generation
of collaboration and leadership. Innovative construction
methodologies, community engagement and traffic planning
have been designed in consultation with communities to support
broader social outcomes.
Engineers generating
collaborative solutions
to strengthen community
resilience post-disaste
The experiences of SCIRT offer lessons for establishing post-
disaster collaborative models that are transferable to other
contexts and sectors. They offer insights into some of the key
challenges faced by post-disaster leadership such as:
n Navigating the highly political post-disaster context to generate
a mandate for new collaborative/innovative approaches
n Integrating engineering technical solutions with well-resourced
community engagement to enhance social outcomes and
strengthen community resilience.
n Creating a system that channels ‘the big egos’ in a way that
drives effectiveness in the post-disaster context.
n Making decisions in times of uncertainty.
n Communicating effectively in the post-disaster context
n Maintaining ‘the noble purpose’ that forms the essence of
what you do over time and how you do it
To conclude, this paper will explore the prearrangements,
skills and relationships that engineers need to build
prior to a disaster that will enhance their leadership
post-disaster. This paper builds on recovery literature
and theory and seeks to contribute to global thought
on collaborative leadership and action in disaster
management.
Keywords: leadership, collaboration, innovation, social outcomes,
community engagement, resilience, engineering,
post-disaster recovery