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Articles 1 - 9 of 9

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

The Retention, Revival, And Subjugation Of Indigenous Fire Knowledge Through Agency Fire Fighting In Eastern Australia And California, Christine Eriksen, Don Hankins Jul 2014

The Retention, Revival, And Subjugation Of Indigenous Fire Knowledge Through Agency Fire Fighting In Eastern Australia And California, Christine Eriksen, Don Hankins

Christine Eriksen

This article explores the potential impact of training and employment with wildfire management agencies on the retention of Indigenous fire knowledge. It focuses on the comparative knowledge and experiences of Indigenous Elders, cultural practitioners, and land stewards in connection with “modern” political constructs of fire in New South Wales and Queensland, Australia, and California in the United States of America. This article emphasises the close link between cross-cultural acceptance, integration of Indigenous and agency fire cultures, and the ways in which knowledge types are shared or withheld. While agency fire fighting provides an opportunity for Indigenous people to connect and …


Gendered Risk Engagement: Challenging The Embedded Vulnerability, Social Norms And Power Relations In Conventional Australian Bushfire Education, Christine Eriksen Jan 2014

Gendered Risk Engagement: Challenging The Embedded Vulnerability, Social Norms And Power Relations In Conventional Australian Bushfire Education, Christine Eriksen

Christine Eriksen

Building on an identified need for gender-sensitive approaches to bushfire risk engagement, this paper examines outreach initiatives specifically targeting women's bushfire awareness and preparedness in southeast Australia. The results of an online survey, together with two workshops with community engagement staff and volunteers from rural fire services, convey perceived aids and obstacles for engaging women. Efforts at engaging women with bushfire risk management are shown to align squarely with efforts to create a more gender-balanced and gender-sensitive environment for bushfire brigade volunteers. The paper demonstrates how gender roles and gendered norms are reinforced by the patriarchal structures that shape everyday …


Guest Editorial: Geographical Fire Research In Australia – Review And Prospects, Christine Eriksen, Lesley Head Jan 2014

Guest Editorial: Geographical Fire Research In Australia – Review And Prospects, Christine Eriksen, Lesley Head

Christine Eriksen

No abstract provided.


Gender And Wildfire: Landscapes Of Uncertainty, Christine Eriksen Dec 2013

Gender And Wildfire: Landscapes Of Uncertainty, Christine Eriksen

Christine Eriksen

In pursuit of lifestyle change, affordable property, and proximity to nature, people from all walks of life are moving to the wildland-urban interface. Tragic wildfires and a predicted increase in high fire danger weather with climate change have triggered concern for the safety of such amenity-led migrants in wildfire-prone landscapes. This book examines wildfire awareness and preparedness amongst women, men, households, communities and agencies at the interface between city and beyond. It does so through an examination of two regions where wildfires are common and disastrous, and where how to deal with them is a major political issue: southeast Australia …


Wildfire Preparedness, Community Cohesion And Social-Ecological Systems, Tim Prior, Christine Eriksen Dec 2012

Wildfire Preparedness, Community Cohesion And Social-Ecological Systems, Tim Prior, Christine Eriksen

Christine Eriksen

The consequences of wildfires are felt in susceptible communities around the globe on an annual basis. Climate change predictions in places like the south-east of Australia and western United States suggest that wildfires may become more frequent and more intense with global climate change. Compounding this issue is progressive urban development at the peri-urban fringe (wildland–urban interface), where continued infrastructure development and demographic changes are likely to expose more people and property to this potentially disastrous natural hazard. Preparing well in advance of the wildfire season is seen as a fundamental behaviour that can both reduce community wildfire vulnerability and …


Defining Adequate Means Of Residents To Prepare Property For Protection From Wildfire, Trent Penman, Christine Eriksen, R Blanchi, M Chladil, A Gill, K Haynes, Justin Leonard, Jim Mclennan, Ross Bradstock Dec 2012

Defining Adequate Means Of Residents To Prepare Property For Protection From Wildfire, Trent Penman, Christine Eriksen, R Blanchi, M Chladil, A Gill, K Haynes, Justin Leonard, Jim Mclennan, Ross Bradstock

Christine Eriksen

Wildfire can result in significant loss of property and lives. Evidence shows that residents can decrease the risk of loss when they stay to defend their property. In order to safely defend a property, residents need to be adequately prepared for the wildfire conditions they face. Residents who wish to evacuate prior to the arrival of a wildfire also need to prepare their property and themselves for such an action. Despite the importance of preparation, there are no clear and quantifiable definitions of what it means to be prepared for different exposures to wildfire. Here we develop a model and …


Defining The Importance Of Mental Preparedness For Risk Communication And Residents Well-Prepared For Wildfire, Christine Eriksen, Timothy Prior Dec 2012

Defining The Importance Of Mental Preparedness For Risk Communication And Residents Well-Prepared For Wildfire, Christine Eriksen, Timothy Prior

Christine Eriksen

Building on a recognised information-to-action gap in wildfire risk communication, this paper examines what being physically and mentally ‘well prepared’ actually means to wildfire agency staff and volunteers in charge of disseminating risk information. Using the results of an open-ended survey conducted in southeast Australia, we examine how a set of preparedness messages is interpreted. The paper demonstrates that the concept of wildfire preparedness is ambiguous, and that being ‘well prepared’ is a complex mix of practical and mental preparedness measures. Many of the individual interpretations of preparedness messages are found to not align with the official outlined intent. In …


Bushfire And Everyday Life: Examining The Awareness-Action 'Gap' In Changing Rural Landscapes, Christine Eriksen, Nicholas Gill Jun 2012

Bushfire And Everyday Life: Examining The Awareness-Action 'Gap' In Changing Rural Landscapes, Christine Eriksen, Nicholas Gill

Christine Eriksen

In this paper we use the notion of 'everyday life' to critically examine an apparent 'gap' between bushfire risk awareness and preparedness amongst diverse landholders in rural landscapes affected by amenity-led in-migration in southeast Australia. Landholders were found to bring their own agency to bushfire preparedness in the relationships between everyday procedures, dilemmas, and tradeoffs. Consequently, regardless of landholders' awareness levels, attitudes towards bushfire and natural resource management influence if, how, and to what extent landowners prepare for bushfires. We argue that not only is the 'gap' complex but also paradoxical in that it is both evident in, and constituted …


Indigenous Environmental Knowledge, Christine Eriksen, Michael Adams Jun 2012

Indigenous Environmental Knowledge, Christine Eriksen, Michael Adams

Christine Eriksen

No abstract provided.