Building community resilience
Rural communities face a wide range of challenges, such as reduced access to services, economic adjustment, natural disasters, persistent drought and fluctuations in global trade.
Building skills and capacity at a community level to respond and adapt to sudden or slow-onset shocks and stressors lessens their impact and enables the community to bounce back faster or respond to opportunities, as they emerge.
FRRR supports communities to increase resilience in a number of ways, some examples of which are showcased below.
You should be dancing!
For decades in communities across rural, regional and remote Australia, local dances brought people together from all over the district and further afield.
Two such towns are Winton and Blackall, small communities about 1,600 kilometres north-west of Brisbane, in Queensland.
Read their story
With the effects of the ongoing drought felt strongly in these areas – affecting both physical and mental health - Red Ridge Interior saw the opportunity to hold a celebration of dancing in these communities.
Through the Tackling Tough Times Together program and the support of the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation, FRRR provided an $11,000 grant to help bring dancing back to these communities.
With this funding and the support of many other groups, Red Ridge Interior engaged a professional team comprising artists, choreographers, actors, producers, dancers and bands to collaborate with the two communities. They researched local history, recorded interviews with locals and trained a large cast of community dancers in old time dance at weekly workshops in the lead up to two main dance events.
It culminated with Winton holding a street party and Blackall having a live dance performance in the Old Memorial Hall.
This project had wide-reaching outcomes. Red Ridge reported their project revived local history and enabled older community members to reflect and capture memories, as well as share cultural knowledge.“Participants young and old experienced the increased connectivity, exhilaration and wellbeing felt from dancing and the community was brought together in an inclusive way…. it brought new life and created pride in the communities at a time of major drought. It also helped boost the local economy.”
Helping little kids with their big feelings
Strathewen was one of the communities severely affected by the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria. It took 20 months for the primary school to be rebuilt, but the recovery of the residents and students is ongoing.
A strong partnership between the local CFA and the primary school has helped students become more resilient through education and understanding of the environment.
Read their story
Strathewen in north-west Victoria was one of the many communities impacted by the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires, and is still recovering.
The team at Arthurs Creek Strathewen CFA realised that students at the local primary school were suffering post-traumatic stress after Black Saturday, as parents were reporting their children experiencing high levels of anxiety and panic attacks. This prompted the CFA to develop the Strathewen Primary School Fire Awareness Program, which was the second of three projects delivered in partnership between the CFA and primary school. The program was designed to support local students and help build their confidence around fire safety and preparedness.
To support this initiative, the CFA received a $15,730 grant from the Grants for Resilience and Wellness program funded by the Victorian Bushfire Appeal Fund. The weekly program gave students the opportunity to discuss fire safety plans, evacuation strategies, and fire danger ratings. A picture story book was created, which participants took home to share with their families.
Parents reported that after the program, their children’s confidence levels improved significantly, and anxiety levels decreased.
Photo: Julie Millowick
Strengthening Denmark’s volunteer base
The Denmark Environment Centre on the southern coast of WA is the community voice in environmental education, research and advocacy. It is a coastal community that experiences pressures from high visitor numbers over summer and easter holiday periods.
These demographics put pressure on natural areas and on capability to manage them, which are also the aspects that attract people to the region. Volunteers at the Environment Centre are key to nurturing a sustainable community that has a high level of environmental consciousness which is why they invested their funds in volunteer recruitment and support.
Read their story
Established in 1987, the Denmark Environment Centre was the first of its kind in regional Western Australia. Its purpose is to inspire, educate and connect people in the community to protect, care for and preserve the natural environment.
It moved into larger premises in 2015, after the Centre was burnt to the ground in 2009. This created an opportunity to expand its services but they needed to engage volunteers in the restoration and conservation work.
A $4,165 Small Grant for Rural Communities grant, thanks to the
Ronald Geoffrey Arnott Foundation, allowed the Centre to invest in volunteer recruitment and support, ultimately improving local environmental health and reducing volunteer fatigue.
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