Planning for a post-tsunami world

Communities planning their future in a post-tsunami world

The recent tsunami in the Indian Ocean has left islanders around the world thinking about their vulnerability. While our sympathies lie with those affected nations, and as we continue to provide assistance and immediate relief to them, sometimes our minds turn to the previously unimagined scenario of a series of 10-metre high tsunami waves barreling towards our
islands.

Should we just continue to go on the same way as before? Concentrating our development on the coast and near to the beaches, responding to the perceived needs of our tourist markets?...

Community visioning, put simply, is a process whereby communities lay out a blueprint, or vision statement, for future changes they want to see, they then prepare and implement a plan to meet their needs. Community visioning has been used successfully in Moloka'i and Hawaii, and Palauan communities are hoping it will work for them....