Fire to Flourish’s disaster resilience impacts and lessons showcased in new reports
Two new Fire to Flourish reports have been launched at a national webinar and are now available to download – 2023 Impact Report and Fire to Flourish: Lessons Learned in Its Activation. Together, these reports showcase how innovation in community-led resilience can strengthen social cohesion and support disaster-affected and at-risk Australian communities.
Four years ago, in the aftermath of the devastating 2019/20 bushfire season, there was a groundswell of recognition that business-as-usual approaches to disaster recovery were not serving the people and communities that were hit the hardest. Since then, Fire to Flourish has been working deeply within four communities affected by the fires – Clarence Valley, Tenterfield and Eurobodalla in NSW; and East Gippsland in Victoria – to trial innovative approaches that strengthen the agency and power of communities in their disaster resilience efforts.
Now, with our first full year of community-led activity being completed in 2023, Fire to Flourish is focused on demonstrating impact and sharing lessons. The findings and lessons captured in these two reports can be used by other organisations and communities working as part of the growing movement for community-led disaster recovery and resilience.
2023 Impact Report
The 2023 Impact Report is the first consolidation of Fire to Flourish’s impact evidence and stories to date.
The report presents case studies of impact for each partner community, along with self-reported social, economic, cultural, health, built and natural environmental benefits experienced by community members who have engaged with the Fire to Flourish program during its first year of 'test and learn'.
Professor Briony Rogers, CEO of Fire to Flourish, says the current approach to disaster resilience and recovery is not yet fully supporting communities, and innovation and experimentation is needed to develop new tools and knowledge that can better support communities preparing for and navigating the effects of disaster in the future.
“In a short period of time, the work of Fire to Flourish and our approach of partnering directly with local communities is demonstrating tangible progress in community disaster resilience and preparedness,” Briony said.
“Our 2023 Impact Report demonstrates that our emerging community-led delivery model is working, and is already making a real difference to our partner communities.”
A Summary Version of the 2023 Impact Report is also available to download here.
Fire to Flourish: Lessons Learned in Its Activation
Fire to Flourish: Lessons Learned in Its Activation – a companion to the 2023 Impact Report – summarises the reflections and lessons learned from the first three years of Fire to Flourish, and outlines what it has taken to establish and activate a program of this kind.
The report was prepared by Dr Inara Walden, A/Prof Annette Bos, Prof Briony Rogers and Dr Lara Werbeloff. The authors reviewed experiences across program establishment, community relationship development, co-design of local implementation, and preparation for scaling and systems change, and synthesised these learnings into five key, digestible lessons:
- Invest in a ‘Year Zero’: including setting a ‘Year Zero’ with appropriate milestones, and undergoing deep engagement with partner communities.
- Lasting change needs long-term funding: including setting a sufficient program timeframe that allows for the full potential of communities to be unlocked.
- Move at the pace of trust: including establishing stakeholder relationships, investing in in-person opportunities to build trust, practising deep listening, following through on commitments, being trauma-informed, and making language meaningful and accessible.
- Community customisation is key: including embedding and anchoring program principles, respecting existing community governance arrangements, recruiting local community staff, defining community-led for the program, co-designing a local approach to suit each community, and including people whose voices are less often heard.
- Resourcing for community self determination: including setting community teams up for success, supporting communities to think and act systemically, and elevating community voice.
Dr Inara Walden, one of the lead authors of the report, says that sharing lessons is an essential part of Fire to Flourish’s goal of transformative systems change.
“We don’t pretend to have all the answers but we are committed to learning by doing, and sharing what we learn to provide insight and support others,” Inara said.
“We hope these five lessons are helpful for other organisations and agencies that are keen to walk alongside communities and partner with them to support community-led change in meaningful, transformative ways.”
A Summary Version of Fire to Flourish: Lessons Learned in its Activation is also available to download here.
Reports launched at national webinar
The 2023 Impact Report and Fire to Flourish: Lessons Learned in Its Activation reports were formally launched at Fire to Flourish’s ‘Our Process, Lessons and Impact’ webinar on Thursday 20th June 2024.
Interest in the program’s journey to date is strong, with more than 340 people registered to attend the webinar. It was opened with remarks from Deputy Chair of Select Committee on Australia’s Disaster Resilience, Senator Tony Sheldon.
“I strongly believe that Fire to Flourish’s approach has merit and sustainability – it builds real resilience,” Senator Sheldon said.
“While I was in Gippsland, I heard some amazing work that Fire to Flourish is doing on the ground…building the resilience of local communities and creating social capital across the region.”
Briony then launched the reports, followed by an engaging panel discussion and Q&A between Fire to Flourish program and community leaders: Dr Lara Werbeloff, F2F Director of Strategy, Engagement and Development; disaster resilience Research Fellow Dr Adriana Keating; Kizzy Nye, Community Lead for F2F Eurobodalla; and Pamela Denise, Community Facilitator for F2F Clarence Valley.
“It’s so important for community to be given a voice,” Kizzy said.
“We’ve been given the opportunity to create and develop long-lasting relationships where people would never otherwise have had the opportunity to meet.”
Watch the full webinar recording below and stay tuned for more information about both reports.
