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Civil defence emergency management
Last updated: 16 February 2026
Reporting frequency: Quarterly
Core service: Community Preparedness and Response to Hazards
Environment Canterbury enables and funds the Canterbury Civil Defence Emergency Management Group (CDEM Group).
The CDEM Group is a partnership between Environment Canterbury, territorial authorities, emergency services and others. CDEM Group works with communities to identify and reduce risks, increase readiness, and prepare for responding to, and recovering from, emergencies.
How are we tracking on our service measures?
Service measure 24: Percentage of time that an Emergency Coordination Centre (ECC) and a CDEM Group Controller, are available and ready to activate
Target: 100%
How we are doing: 100%
All ECC equipment was tested in accordance with standard operating procedures.
On track
Service measure 25: Percentage of appointees in the Emergency Coordination Centre that are trained to Civil Defence Emergency Management Group standards
Target: 90% or more
How we are doing: 100% – a total of 59 Environment Canterbury staff supported the Canterbury Emergency Coordination Centre during quarter two: 29 during the severe wind event in October and 30 as part of Exercise Pandora in November. Two staff members were deployed to support the ongoing emergency response to the October weather event in Southland.
On track
More information
The response to a Civil Defence Emergency is coordinated by the CDEM Group. Appointees in the Emergency Coordination Centre are Environment Canterbury staff members, and members of the public, who are volunteers.
Training refreshers take place when we exercise for an event (or when an event occurs).
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