Fire to Flourish

Supporting communities affected by bushfires to lead their recovery and resilience through collaborative approaches

  • 10 first nations represented

    Covering 52,941 square kilometers of land

  • 12 on country visits

    by program team members

  • 400+ community members

    engaged through 40+ meetings & events

Many communities severely affected by disasters often feel a lack of confidence in leading the recovery of their communities.

Fire to Flourish [link] is a five-year transdisciplinary program working at the intersection of community development, disaster resilience, and innovation. It recognises that communities with lived experiences are the experts in leading recovery after disasters, and co-creating novel foundations for long-term community resilience through collaborative approaches.

The program partners with communities to co-create the foundations for a thriving future and disrupt cycles of entrenched disadvantage. The program takes a collaborative approach, tailored to the local Indigenous and broader community context and the priorities of the people that live there. The program is people-focused and place-based.

Fire to Flourish is a partnership between Monash University, Paul Ramsay Foundation (PRF) and Metal Manufactures Pty Ltd, which works closely with four communities across New South Wales and Victoria. The program also brings together partnerships with government, philanthropic, not-for-profit, and private sector organisations to empower local leadership and action.

What We Do

Our Communities

Our Knowledge Centre

Disaster survivors feel more prepared for the next one, but are often left out of planning

These are just some of the findings from the national Fire to Flourish survey run by Monash University, which asked more than 3500 Australians about their perceptions of preparedness and resilience to disasters. Our research suggests one of the greatest assets following a disaster is the people who experience them. But this asset is hugely under-utilised.

Read more about the framework behind this research

Download the report

Spanning 15 years and 12 case studies at Monash University, the Framework with its interconnected seven elements seeks to strengthen systems, cultures, and capabilities for responsibly growing university-led research missions.

Other mission-oriented research

Inhaled Oxytocin Project

The goal is to make childbirth safe for women everywhere by developing an inhaled form of oxytocin that is heat stable, non-invasive and simple to use.

World Mosquito Program

The World Mosquito Program is a not-for-profit group of companies owned by Monash University driven by a vision to protect the global community from mosquito-borne disease, such as dengue, Zika, yellow fever and chikungunya.

Climateworks Centre

Climateworks Centre is at the forefront of accelerating transitions to net zero emissions for Australia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific. This is integral to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees.

Partnership for Australia-Indonesia Research (PAIR)

The Partnership for Australia-Indonesia Research (PAIR), supported by the Australian Government, recognises that the challenge to Indonesia's infrastructure is connectivity that benefits local communities.

RISE

RISE is a transdisciplinary research program which aims to address this issue by trialling nature-based, water-sensitive revitalisation in Fiji and Indonesia to improve environmental health in informal settlements.

ASPREE

The ASPREE Project is a long-term multi-centre, bi-national study into how aspirin supports the health of older adults.

Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF)

SAEF was established to develop innovative ways to forecast, mitigate and manage climate and biodiversity changes in Antarctica.

Woodside Monash Energy Partnership

The Woodside Monash Energy Partnership aims to accelerate the development and deployment of new solutions to global energy challenges by building sustainable energy technologies that deliver energy in cleaner ways.

Building 4.0 CRC

Building 4.0 is a Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) program co-funded by the Australian Government which aims to develop a thriving Australian advanced manufacturing sector.

National Centre for Healthy Ageing

The National Centre for Healthy Ageing (NCHA) – a partnership between Monash University and Peninsula Health – aims to address this by creating integrated care models to promote health and wellbeing in older Australians.

Monash Centre for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies

The Monash Centre for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies (M3CS) is a research and education centre which integrates interdisciplinary consciousness research with community engagement and education to help solve world challenges.