Children are vulnerable in earthquakes, but they are also essential to foster earthquake-resilient communities. It is critical to enhance the preparedness of children against earthquakes through effective education and training. Immersive virtual reality (IVR) and serious games (SGs) are innovative digital technologies that enable realistic and…

In this article the author discusses the implementation of the Education Renewal in Greater Christchurch policy which affected nearly 40 schools in the aftermath of the 2010/2011 Canterbury earthquakes. It describes the accumulated social, psychological and emotional toll that closures and mergers took on the schools and their communities. It…

New Zealand has faced an unprecedented series of disaster events in recent years. The Canterbury earthquakes provided an opportunity to document the role that schools played in supporting their communities to respond to and recover from such events. It is important that we capture what we have learnt from these experiences to help other schools in…

The earthquakes that rocked the city of Christchurch and surrounding districts in Canterbury, New Zealand, were to take their toll on families, schools and communities. The places that had once represented safety and security for most children were literally and figuratively turned upside down. Rather than reinforce the trauma and continue to…

Schools regularly find themselves dealing with the aftermath of family, community and national tragedies. In this article, two university-based educators share their experiences of working with schools to engage children in arts-based activities to support the processing of the traumatic events they endured. In both cases, children in local…

The author followed five primary (elementary) schools over three years as they responded to and began to recover from the 2010-2011 earthquakes in and around the city of Christchurch in the Canterbury region of New Zealand. The purpose was to capture the stories for the schools themselves, their communities, and for New Zealand's historical…