The amalgamation of the nine Civil Defence offices across the Wellington region in 2012 offered the opportunity to develop a fresh approach to emergency management.  By drawing on the lessons learned from Christchurch, the new Wellington Region Emergency Management Office put particular emphasis on enhancing community resilience by forming an entire team that embraces a community development approach to emergency management.  Dan’s presentation will help answer the “how” in enhancing community resilience by highlighting aspects of WREMO’s Community Resilience Strategy which has become the foundation document for an International Centre of Excellence in Community Resilience through the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.