Assisted relocations are about helping people and communities move from high natural hazard risk zones to areas of lesser or negligible risk. The term ‘assisted relocation’ is sometimes described as ‘community-led relocation’ or ‘managed retreat, with ‘buy-backs’ or ‘buyouts’ (common in the United States) increasingly discussed as part of this broader strategy.
Globally, assisted relocations are fraught with a range of challenges, including poor pre and post-event planning, deep place attachment among property owners, complex grant programs that may not address local needs and conditions, the decommissioning of supporting infrastructure, the management of the resulting open space in buyout areas, inappropriate levels of community participation, and thoughtfully identifying and if needed, developing areas that are suitable locations for residents to relocate to.
As demand for assisted relocation programs grows, so too does the need to better understand the challenges and gather evidence required to assist communities, regions, and nations make informed choices about their future.
In 2025, to assist policy makers, Natural Hazards Research Australia, alongside international collaborators from New Zealand and the United States, spearheaded the establishment of the Assisted Relocation Community of Practice to enable international knowledge exchange between practitioners and researchers.
Specific objectives of the Community of Practice include:
-
Facilitating knowledge exchange by providing a platform to exchange knowledge related to assisted relocations internationally, improving researcher and practitioner expertise and informing policy and practice.
-
Identifying challenges and solutions by encouraging discussion of implementation issues and collaborating to find effective solutions.
-
Enhancing collaboration by fostering collaboration between states, territories and countries, including between researchers and practitioners, to develop a comprehensive understanding of potential assisted relocation programs.
-
Building on existing institutional partnerships and their associated research, teaching, and community engagement.
-
Developing the next generation of scholars and practitioners through focused education and training efforts involving students.
Natural Hazards Research Australia CEO and Co-Chair of the Community of Practice Andrew Gissing said, “The Community of Practice not only shares knowledge but also creates valuable opportunities to connect, collaborate and build relationships among experts from diverse fields.”
The Community of Practice brings together representatives from Australia, New Zealand, United States and most recently Canada. It has already held three meetings exploring Australian and New Zealand experiences, with North America to be the focus of agenda in 2026. And two workshops were also conducted throughout the year, one at the University of Colorado’s Natural Hazards Research Workshop and the other as part of Natural Hazards Research Australia’s annual Research Forum.
Feedback from the Community of Practice has been excellent. “The Community of Practice is an excellent opportunity for researchers and practitioners to share experiences in what is a very complex area of policy,” said Eric Letvin of Tidal Basin and Co-chair of the Community of Practice.
While Executive Committee member, Gavin Smith of North Carolina State University said, “In our next meeting we look forward to presenting a draft set of ideas informing the creation of an applied research, teaching, and community engagement agenda spanning all nations.”
For further information about this Community of Practice, please contact Andrew Gissing.