Mansfield Community Resilience Leadership Program

Project Summary

The Mansfield Community Resilience Leadership Program aimed to build the skills and awareness of behind-the-scenes community leaders to enable them to be better able to support a community in crisis and assist them to recover quickly.

Background and Situation Context

Situated 180kms north east of Melbourne, Mansfield Shire covers 3,843 square kilometres and includes vast tracts of ‘High Country’. The most recent ABS data sets the Shire's population at 8,067. The major urban centre of the Shire is Mansfield and there are numerous outlying and isolated communities throughout the Shire, which can swell considerably during holiday periods with visitors and part-time residents.

Since 2010, Mansfield Shire Council has been conducting a community development program that has seen 12 of our small communities develop their own community plans. Many much-needed community initiatives have been achieved through these community plans which include a newly renovated hall in Merton and the popular Merrijig community newsletter.

Mansfield Shire’s local communities are inherently resilient and, through the community planning processes, have built on this resilience. Through projects such as renovating a local hall, networks have been created, new skills learnt, information shared and community ownership developed.

To keep the community planning program fresh, relevant, inspiring and valuable, we are now working with communities to identify the characteristics of successful projects, which build resilience in the community. One such characteristic is strong community leadership.

The Mansfield Community Resilience Leadership Program was developed to build behind-the-scenes community leaders who will be able to support a community in crisis and assist them to recover quickly.

Activities

The Mansfield Community Resilience Leadership Program (CRLP) was promoted via networks already established through community planning and the local newspaper. There was an initial information session about the program after which 22 community members were selected through an expression of interest process. The participants represented eight communities in the Mansfield Shire, including Woods Point, one of the most isolated communities in Victoria.

The program covered a broad range of topics that included

• Disaster planning, response and recovery cycle
• Individual and collective strengths
• Leadership styles and temperaments
• Project planning
• Communities in crisis
• Roles of emergency services and agencies
• Review and evaluation

An expert facilitator, with experience in delivering regional and national leadership programs as well as community development initiatives post black Saturday, was engaged to deliver the program which spanned 30 contact hours and included workshops, peer to peer learning, guest speakers and an emergency services panel session.

A working group made up of Council staff, emergency services and a community member with participatory experience in a highly regarded leadership program oversaw the planning, delivery and evaluation of the program.

The program culminated in a one-day Community Conference in which the participants took a part in the planning and delivery and shared what they had learned with the broader community. Over 70 community members and local emergency service personal attended the conference.

Results

Mansfield Shire Council evaluated the CRLP using the Most Significant Change technique. Twenty interviews with CRLP participants and Steering Committee were conducted. Interviewees answered a series of questions around program outcomes, issues, lessons learned and future ideas. This participatory type evaluation method was chosen specifically to continue building the skills of the participants and to demonstrate an evaluation method they could use.

The following most significant outcomes identified

• An increase in participant understanding of the importance of wider community consultation and engagement in the risk management process. This includes understanding that the community has skills and knowledge that can be utilised; that understanding the community’s needs are critical along with ownership of needs and solutions.
• Participants identified that the CRLP increased their understanding and skills in preparing and planning for emergencies including how to prepare for and recover from emergencies, mapping of community assets and understanding community responses in crises.
• A number of CRLP participants identified networking and connecting with others as a key outcome. This includes understanding what other communities are doing, sharing ideas, bonding, opening up pathways and networks, and engaging with relevant agencies.
• Participants recognised leadership skills within themselves including an increased understanding of their own abilities and self-discovery. The CRLP built confidence and recognition of own value. Participants learnt how to listen to and accept others’ points of view.
• The participants co-delivered the 2015 Community Conference with its emergency management and resilience focus. They graduated from the program with projects and ideas for their communities aimed at building the characteristics of resilience.
• A new network consisting of community, Council and emergency services has now formed and will be the basis of a strong collaborative approach in times of both peace and crisis.

Reflection

The CRLP brought together emerging community leaders, Council and emergency services and resulted in an enhanced understanding of each other’s roles in times of emergency, the risks facing small communities and the part that well-prepared community leaders can play in building community resilience and in emergency response and recovery.

A turning point for many of the participants was community asset mapping and a disaster scenario exercise. This activity raised the importance of understanding each other’s roles, the plans already in place, the community’s involvement in emergency management planning, preparation, response and recovery and the formation of solid partnerships, particularly that of community/Council.

Post this exercise, a forum was held that featured an emergency services panel and guest speakers from other communities who provided examples of community initiatives in both the preparation and recovery phases.

The participants invited some of these speakers to share their story with the broader community at the Community Conference. The community asset mapping and simulated disaster exercise was repeated at the Conference with the Emergency Services taking a listening role only to hear first-hand the types of questions raised by the community.

The participant’s eyes were opened to the extent of planning and behind-the-scenes preparation that happens in the emergency management sector and to the need for preparation and readiness at the community level. The Emergency Services learnt of the local knowledge, skills and willingness of the community to partner in building stronger, more capable and resilient communities.

One of the great aspects of the CRLP is that the participants are committed, established residents of their communities. The CRLP is self-sustaining in that each of the community leaders will continue to take a role in driving the future of their communities and applying the skills they have learnt in developing their community’s resilience and future risk readiness

All participants came from community groups. They will share their learnings with their groups and the broader community. Many concluded the program with the purpose of instigating projects in their community that will result in increased communications, stronger networks and a greater understanding of emergency management planning, response and the recovery pathway.

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