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Entries for this year’s Disaster Challenge close 11.59pm AEST, 7 July – could your solution to the wicked problem change the way trust in the emergency sector is built and sustained?
Read more about this year’s wicked problem here.
There are so many reasons to get a team together for the Disaster Challenge:
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$5,000 cash prize – good ideas deserve a reward! Two runner up teams will each receive $2,000.
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Make a difference – judges work in the day-to-day management of natural hazards. Your ideas will help them work with communities to improve preparedness, resilience, save lives, protect property, keep people safe and recover better after disasters
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Boost your credentials – use entries to support current education or research, or take it to the next level
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Make networks – finalists will be mentored by emergency management professionals and senior academics, with opportunities to showcase ideas over the next 12 months
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Career advancement – work on real problems with industry mentors that can help concept development
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Unlock future opportunities in emergency management research
We’ve put together some resources to support how to tackle the wicked problem:
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What is the Disaster Challenge & tips for getting started. This video explains what the Disaster Challenge is and how early career researchers, postgraduates and undergraduate students can contribute ideas to improve disaster resilience. It specifically covers what participating involves, what the judges will look for in a submission, as well as tips for getting started and putting your idea together.
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What is a wicked problem and how do you solve one? This video goes into more detail about the wicked problem, provides tips on how to attempt to solve it and how to develop a solutions statement.
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Winning solutions from the 2023 and 2022 Disaster Challenges show the breadth of thinking, professions and approaches that make a winning submission.
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Guide for entrants provides a step-by-step instructions on getting your team and idea ready.
Get a team together, thinking caps on and enter by 7 July. Any questions can be directed to the Disaster Challenge coordinator, Brendon McAtee at brendon.mcatee@naturalhazards.com.au.
The wicked problem
At the heart of society’s approach to disaster resilience are the notions of shared responsibility and community-led action, backed by scientific evidence and lived experience. This requires informed, trusted and effective relationships between people and organisations involved in preventing, preparing, responding and recovering from disasters, including climate change.
There are many ways to build and sustain mutual trust, however trust can be eroded by the decisions and actions of people, communities and organisations. In its place people and organisations can be disconnected, communication can break down and cynicism, doubt, isolation and non-participation can grow.
When trust is challenged the foundations of disaster resilience are threatened.
Teams are not expected to solve the entire wicked problem. By their nature, wicked problems are notoriously difficult to resolve and cannot be solved in a single step. Entries should pitch an idea that can help Australia take a step in the right direction. Teams do not need emergency management or disaster expertise – the Disaster Challenge is about innovation from all areas that can be used to benefit disaster management in Australia.
All the details to enter, including the entry form, are at disasterchallenge.com.au.
We look forward to receiving teams' entries by 7 July.