MERIT:
Ongoing development
The MERIT team are committed to the ongoing capability and capacity development of our people and our modelling tools. We are continually extending our expertise through a number of research and applied projects.
Examples of our Current Research Programmes and PhD Research
Resilience National Science Challenge (RNC)
MERIT is being further developed under RNC. There are several workstreams:
- Creating inoperability capabilities between multi-hazard, risk (e.g. RiskScape), and infrastructure (including interdependency) models, enabling a rapid end-to-end assessment of impacts; and
- A broader and deeper MERIT impact 'lens' to account for additional impacts including dynamic household type, business value chain, and multiple capitals (economic, social, environmental, etc); and
- Uncertainty quantification associated with key model input parameters; and
- Improved embedding of the MERIT suite into emerging decision-making processes e.g. robust decision-making, dynamic adaptive policy pathways, hedging strategies and real options.
Canterbury Lifelines Group
- The MERIT tool is being used in the development of a low-cost infrastructure vulnerability and resilience investment evaluation process for lifelines groups throughout New Zealand.
QuakeCore
MERIT supports the activities in the Inter-disciplinary Programme 4: Harnessing Disruptive Technologies for Seismic Resilience including:
- Creation of novel approaches to capture behaviour when disruptive technologies change the business-as-usual structure of the economy beyond conventional socio-economic models that assume the future structure of an economy will follow the same pattern as it has historically.
- Development of adoption pathways for several disruptive technologies (noted above), including temporal rates and depth of penetration, and the associated equity and well-being consequences of adoption.
- Evaluation of resilience gains (and potential pitfalls) of such technology adoption, and an evidence-base for just decision-making beyond the business-as-usual utility of these technologies.
Coastal Adaptation Endeavour - Future Coast Aotearoa
