{"id":730,"date":"2014-08-26T13:24:07","date_gmt":"2014-08-26T01:24:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.massey.ac.nz\/expressivearts\/?p=730"},"modified":"2014-09-09T22:54:20","modified_gmt":"2014-09-09T10:54:20","slug":"ski-trip-yields-important-safety-communication-data","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.massey.ac.nz\/expressivearts\/2014\/08\/26\/ski-trip-yields-important-safety-communication-data\/","title":{"rendered":"Ski trip yields important safety communication data"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mount<\/a>

Fieldwork with a view – Mt Ngauruhoe from the slopes of Mt Ruapehu<\/p><\/div>\n

Staff and students from the School of English & Media Studies enjoyed the stunning view from their \u2018office\u2019 yesterday as they undertook fieldwork on Mt Ruapehu.
\nAssociate Professor Elspeth Tilley and Bachelor of Communication students Oscar Mein and Eden Cowley helped collect data about people\u2019s behaviour during a lahar warning test run by GNS Science and the Department of Conservation.
\nThe fieldwork is part of a research collaboration investigating ways to optimise safety communication at the skifields that includes English & Media Studies staff and students and Massey\u2019s Joint Centre for Disaster Research. Some of the issues for mountain users include lahar warnings, avalanche risk and general mountain safety.
\n\u201cThe agencies in the front line of mountain safety such as GNS Science and Department of Conservation have been working together for many years and have very good data about the risks and about public behaviour,\u201d Dr Tilley said. \u201cAs we saw at the lahar warning test yesterday, though, it\u2019s still the case that not every mountain user knows what to do. When the siren sounds, people need to immediately get out of the valley floor and climb to higher ground \u2013 some do, others do only when other public-minded bystanders call out to them repeatedly or a ski patroller moves them, and some remain where they are, hypothetically in the path of a massive fast-flowing gush of boiling water, sediment and boulders.\u201d
\n\u201cThe next step in the research is to identify the missing link between someone knowing about a risk and responding appropriately. We also need to know more about those mountain users who genuinely aren\u2019t aware of the risks or how to mitigate them.\u201d
\n\u201cThat\u2019s where communication staff and students can make a big contribution. We\u2019ll be bringing a humanistic or people-centred approach to understanding the communication processes. Some of our students will have the opportunity to extend the research with funded postgraduate study, living on the mountain next ski season and conducting ethnographic and focus group research to identify communication patterns and norms, and make recommendations about how, when and where to create the most effective safety messaging.\u201d
\nDr Tilley said understanding \u2018mountain culture\u2019 could be the key to unlocking the right communication tactics. \u201cGroups of people who share an interest and affinity, such as for family ski trips, snowboarding weekends or climbing expeditions, create and define their own group culture. They establish behaviours, thoughts, and norms that define their identity as a member of the group.
\n\u201cEffective communication occurs when the identity that a message assigns to a person matches the identity she or he wants to claim in a situation \u2013 so to target a particular group, you have to have very good research about how they construct their identity as a group and what notions of identity are appealing.\u201d
\n\u201cCreativity also has a big role to play. As well as documenting the culture and its communication, our students will need to make innovative and creative recommendations about practical ways to communicate that produce a positive sense of identity that includes being knowledgeable and proactive about safety.\u201d
\nYesterday\u2019s lahar warning test research project activity was recorded by Alison Ballance, producer and presenter of Radio New Zealand\u2019s weekly science and environment programme Our Changing World. Alison\u2019s story on the project will be aired on RNZ in the next week: go to\u00a0http:\/\/www.radionz.co.nz\/national\/programmes\/ourchangingworld\/20140911<\/a> for the story and\u00a0the podcast.
\nLinks to more information:<\/p>\n