Talking the long haul of disaster resilience

WSU's Dr Willow Forsyth facilitates (Image: J Weir)

Community Leaders meet to workshop their experiences

Jessica Weir, Willow Forsyth, Fiona Miller, Mel Taylor, Bhavya Chitranshi, Pip Collin

Disasters are hyper-local. They happen in specific places, to specific people, and to their homes, infrastructure, environments and neighbourhoods.

Local communities, as first responders, are thrust into making decisions and mobilising capabilities, sometimes forming community organisations for the long haul. And they often do so without the authority and resources held by government agencies.

In November, the BNHRC and Western Sydney University brought together nine community leaders from across the State, supported by five research staff. The intention was to amplify their voices and explore how stakeholders might better support disaster resilience at the local level.

‘Not what happened, but what happened next’

The ‘From Recovery to Resilience’ Community Leaders’ Workshop was held from 24-26 November on the outskirts of western Sydney, bringing together NSW community leaders two to five years on from their bushfire or flood experiences.

The focus was not on what happened, but what happened next.

Over three days, they shared their frustration and fatigue, and the ingenuity and action required to save lives, reduce risk and prepare for next time.

What emerged was different organisational forms and roles, and the extraordinary value such leaders bring to risk mitigation.

Led by WSU, collaborating with Associate Professor Fiona Miller from Macquarie University, the workshop was also informed by the National Indigenous Disaster Resilience program and supported by BNHRC end users: RFS, NSWRA, SES and DCCEEW.

From research to policy

Emergency management agencies are traditionally focused on anticipating and responding to hazard events, itself substantial high stakes work. But workshop participants feel that greater attention is needed to support the disaster resilience of community organisations.

Indeed, around 30 years of previous community preparedness research does find that strong community organisations are critical for disaster recovery. They are a rare and important asset in the disaster recovery and resilience landscape.

BNHRC researchers intend to add to this body of work and are now co-developing outputs with community leaders for sharing with end-users at a 2026 briefing for end-users and a journal article to follow.  

The workshop was funded by a $20,000 industry seed grant through the Institute of Culture and Society (WSU) and matched by $20,000 of BNHRC funds.