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Details about RWBI now online

ahazelwood — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 18:43:09 -0700

For other groups interested in undertaking ambitious relocalisation efforts, we've posted the content of our prospectus to show how we got started- mind you, we're still in the beginning stages! Our detailed plan for relocalisation maps out exactly what we value and how we intend to proceed. We offered this prospectus (in the form of a well laid out, visually interesting PDF) to a select group of potential patrons and partners, who wil be able to help us achieve more than if we were to attempt these ambitions on our own. When our partnerships are cemented we will post an official prospectus document. In the meantime a great deal of its content is available here. Please feel free to reply here with any questions you might have.

Relocalisation Works in the Burnett Inland (RWBI)

Getting Started â€“ the 'y' behind the prospectus

maclee — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 08:22:24 -0700

I met Andi for the first time roughly a month ago. I had emailed her â€“ as almost a complete stranger â€“ to see if she was interested in setting up 'some sort of relocalisation group'. Together with Andiâ€™s husband, Dean, we started brainstorming, if anything were possible, what would we want to achieve with a relocalisation group? We talked about what we believed and why; what sort of organization we would be proud to be associated with; what sort of organization we would want nothing to do with; what â€˜projectsâ€™ did we want to achieve and why. It was quickly apparent we were on the same wave length and so we started scheming about how to make it happen.

Although we had plenty of drive and some skills, we didnâ€™t have all the knowledge, skills, resources and public profile we needed to achieve our joint vision. Examples of some of our less-ambitious aims include establishing LETS type trading systems and Permaculture Community Cooperative gardens in every shire throughout the Burnett Inland. Weâ€™re both relatively recent arrivals in the Inland, neither of us has any prior experience in setting up or managing either a LETS or a garden co-op (though we do have experience managing other types of projects), we have no funding, are not established as a legal entitiy and (at that time) had exactly four members - Andi, her husband, my partner and me! Ironically, neither of us were especially phased by that.

When explaining the first of his twelve permaculture design principles (observe and interact) David Holmgren (2004) makes the comment that â€œâ€¦careful observation and thoughtful interaction provide the design inspiration, repertoire and patternsâ€, whilst his seventh principle advises to â€œdesign from patterns to detailsâ€™. How true we found that to be! We put our heads together, thought about who we knew (either personally or by reputation) who had the skills, knowledge and resources Ruby needed to successfully undertake the relocalisation/community development projects that were her main purpose. Voila â€“ a list of potential partners and patrons. If we had tried to plan from details out â€“ we might very well still be sitting there trying to figure it out!

So there we were, two country women, with an ambitious vision, some skills and know how, but not a lot else. How were we going to get two international personalities and four professional, busy, organisations to take us seriously and get involved?!

Simple answer â€“ A prospectus!

"A prospectus should contain the facts that an investor needs to make an informed decision" (Wordnet: 2006). This document would be our method of first contact with and (perhaps only) chance to convince our potential patrons and partners that we were serious players. It had to showcase both Ruby and our individual skills and knowledge as the initial coordinators who would be responsible for making it happen. Longer term, the prospectus will also inform Rubyâ€™s ongoing development, planning and promotion, as well as providing support documentation when applying for funding. Hence, developing a prospectus was a vital first step in getting Ruby on her way.

For-profit businesses have one overriding motivation that drives their decision making - maximising profits. On the other hand, non-profit, community organisations, managers, workers and volunteers are primarily motivated by a drive to achieve specific goals and aims based on particular values and ideologies. For this reason, non-profit, community-based organisations need to be clear about their ideology and values base. Which projects to prioritise or refuse; how to recruit and support staff; how to prioritise workload and how to allocate resources. All are ideologically driven decisions. An organisational values statement informs policy frameworks which ensure that decision making is consistent at all levels across the organisation and throughout time. It also provides a tool, which individuals, organisations and funding bodies can use to gauge the extent to which they want to be involved (as potential partners, sponsors, investors, employees or volunteers) and by which the organization can be held accountable â€“ both internally and externally (Quixley: 1995 &1999). Therefore, a core component of Ruby's prospectus was concerned with detailing the values and ethics that she will operate under.

Writing the prospectus was also a worthwhile exercise for a number of other reasons. (â€˜Each element performs many functionsâ€™ â€“ Holmgren, 2004) It gave Andi and I an opportunity to develop the concept, think through and articulate in more detail exactly what our vision is. It also provided the opportunity for us to test our working relationship. We agreed early on that we wanted to be able to put ideas â€˜out thereâ€™, knowing that â€˜the otherâ€™ would question, critique and add to them in a process of mutual learning and creating, in order to achieve the best possible outcomes for Ruby. In my opinion this is our true strength. I expect co-writing a document of the import and content of the prospectus in less than two weeks is a pretty good test of a relationship. I am pleased to report that our enthusiasm for both Ruby and working together survived intact.

With almost every experience there is something to learn and hindsight is a great teacher. One thing Andi and I learnt was to include an introductory summary sheet at the beginning of the document. It was unfortunate that we didnâ€™t think of that before we gave it to our potential partners and patrons (Doh!). The other feedback we received from two of our partners who received the prospectus was that we need to put language around the economic advantages of relocalisation if we want to sell it to government policy makers (local, state or federal). We do intend to work on local, state and federal policy makers - so we will work on that aspect and post something when we have.

Still, it couldn't have been too bad an effort overall. We've received some very complimentary feedback (some of it here - thanks all!), both our proposed patrons Richard Heinberg and David Holmgren signed on and negotiations currently underway with the other proposed partners look encouraging. As soon we have an official response, we will come bounding in here with an announcement!!

Reference List:

Holmgren D. (2004) The Essence of Permaculture, viewed on line at holmgren.com.au on the 25th August 2006

Quixley, S. (1999); Values, accountability and development in community organisations;

Quixley, S. (1995); Beyond the Corporate Planning Approach

Wordnet (2006) viewed on line at wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn on 26th August, 2006.

Relocalisation Works in the Burnett Inland (RWBI)

Partners 'signing up'

maclee — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 12:50:48 -0700

Two of our four partners have officially come on board! Two to go! Keep watching to find out who they are!

Relocalisation Works in the Burnett Inland (RWBI)

RWBI behind the scenes

ahazelwood — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 14:53:41 -0700

The RWBI prospectus is a document full of our philosophy and ideals- we decided it was time to talk about how we're implementing those ideals in "real life" and what other paths Ruby is taking that weren't directly outlined in the prospectus.

Software

Early on, Chérie and I decided that we would make every effort to use open source and free software when possible in the day to day operations and development of Ruby. The obvious benefit is the ability to put more of our funds directly into Ruby projects. All of our members can access and use open source software regardless of their financial standing, which aligns with our guiding principles of access and equity. Self help and mutual aid are also RWBI ideals: most if not all open source projects have related forums, feedback and bug reporting so that users can find their own answers to questions or help the developers to improve the product for the benefit of all users. In addition, since open source software is regularly improved by the users, it often results in better products that evolve more quickly than standard software.

We both use Mozilla's Firefox browser and I use Thunderbird for email. For the creation of our group documentation and publications we are moving to the OpenOffice.org suite of office products including Writer for word processing, Calc for spreadsheets and Impress for multimedia presentations. FTP transfers are accomplished using FileZilla. For image editing we'll move to using The Gimp. When I develop our website, it will be built with Drupal (the Relocalization Network site is also built with Drupal, but as our site will only have to cater to us, it will be a much simpler, smaller-scale site). There are thousands of open source software projects- find the ones you can use at SourceForge.net.

Collaboration and Consistency

Nearly everything Chérie and I do for RWBI is done jointly- I'm sure she'll suggest changes to this post, just as I do with hers! Co-writing everything, from our values and ideals documents right through to our presentations and publicity documents, insures that they include both of our voices. It gives each of us the opportunity to explore ideas or aspects of a topic that the other might not have considered. Each document and idea is a compromise, taking a shape unique to Ruby. Working collaboratively on projects- whether they be writing documentation, planting a garden or lobbying the government- makes the work easier for all involved and helps each project take on the personality of the entire group. That same personality will be evident in all of our online and printable documentation, simply by using the same font styles whenever possible, the same graphic look and feel, the same type of language and most importantly, content that is always consistent with our ideals.

Relocalisation Works in the Burnett Inland (RWBI)

A party plan approach to community education

maclee — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 06:29:39 -0700

Andi and I are both impatient to get Ruby actively involved in initiating practical relocalisation projects. To do that, we need to motivate people to get involved and work with us.

Companies like Amway have demonstrated impressive growth and success, using a 'party plan' approach for selling products and recruiting new distributors/members. The approach is simple – but very effective. A distributor asks people in their personal network to host a 'party' for friends and/or relatives, at which the distributor gives a presentation, takes bookings for subsequent parties and recruits new 'distributors'. The presentation follows a simple to deliver format that is easy for beginning ‘distributors’ to present. There is a structure of mentoring and support built into the recruitment and training of new distributors/members.

If someone we like or respect invites us to visit their home to check something out, we probably will. Reading a newspaper article, seeing a flier or being approached by a stranger is less likely (in my opinion) to successfully motivate people to go out of their way to find out about something new and unfamiliar. Word of mouth is not only the most effective form of advertising – it is also the cheapest! Presenting in private homes avoids venue availability restraints and expense. When group members are familiar with each other, they are more likely to freely participate in discussions, share opinions, ask questions and contribute ideas.

Relocalisation is about promoting cultural and behavioural change and building networks of interest and support across the community. A party plan approach for raising community awareness about peak oil and introducing Ruby taps into existing networks right from the get go - people who already know each other, are given the same thought provoking information in a novel context. Knowing human nature, wouldn’t you expect that the next time they meet, they will talk about what they’ve heard and what they think of it?

Peak oil can be a heavy topic, with the potential to be more depressing, disempowering and immobilising than motivating! Why would anyone host a doom and gloom party? Why would anyone willingly agree to go?

Barry (Blackall Ranges Relocalisation group) said “I want to see relocalisation as a fun activity” and suggested (tongue in cheek) celebrating the day of the global peak as an excuse for a get-together of like-minded individuals.

Fun motivates.

Andi and I immediately recognised a novel way to catch people’s interest and a good hook for motivating people to become involved. Put the focus on what we are creating – not what we are leaving behind.

Having decided on our concept, we had to start putting the tools together to achieve it.

We wanted to develop
- A brochure;
- An invitation to Ruby parties;
- A party ‘kit’ that was cheap to reproduce for demonstrators/communities to use to introduce Peak oil, the Oil
Depletion Protocol, Relocalization Network and RWBI;
- An information pack to give to party guests that would give them information to take home. This needed to include
information about where to begin independently researching the topics further

Our party invitation is our brochure; is a summary of the key points of our presentation; and offers information on starting points for further research of the topics. So it serves multiple purposes.

Andi and I are still working on the exact process of the presentation format. So far we’ve decided that the presentation will be interactive and take about an hour in total (including some discussion time). It will include
– a short DVD presentation explaining peak oil and the implications for our society
– an introduction to the Oil Depletion Protocl and relocalisation
– an introduction to Ruby and her aspirations
- an invitation to get involved

The purpose of the presentation is to raise the issue in people’s mind and encourage them to get involved. The presentation can be delivered to a shire council meeting, or a privately hosted Ruby party. The presentations will act as a forerunner to larger community meetings and planning sessions.

Any ideas, suggestions or comments would be gratefully received.

Cheers

Ree

Relocalisation Works in the Burnett Inland (RWBI)

Permaculture Design Certificate

ahazelwood — Sun, 29 Oct 2006 21:11:27 -0800

I've just returned from a two week course with permaculturalist Janet Millington, where I received my Permaculture Design Certificate. It was an excellent experience and I'm full of information that will help when it comes time for RWBI to start some permaculture community gardens! Most importantly I made a number of valuable contacts with likeminded people who want to improve the soil, grow healthy food, and relocalise. I hope these contacts will develop into close friends.

Relocalisation Works in the Burnett Inland (RWBI)

Regional Adaption Map

pekadillo — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 16:21:26 -0800

At our last meeting, someone outlined a very interesting idea which seems to have generated some excitement in the group. I'd like to run it by you all to see if anyone's tried this before, and if you have any suggestions on how to implement it.

The idea is to host an interactive map on our website, showing the local region in high detail. We then collect data from the community and show it visually on the map, eg:

Home vegetable gardens
Organic farms
Green innovations
Businesses that buy local produce
Solar panels
Biofuel producer
Grey water system
Designated permaculture 'zone'
- Zone 1: Home garden
- Zone 2: Town infrastructure
- Zone 3: Small farms
- Zone 4: Forestry
- Zone 5: Native habitat
etc

Once some of the map has been marked, people in the community moving towards sustainability can identify each other. This could facilitate the creation of 'green clusters' and business networks which could make progress more effectively than they could alone.

The map & data could also be used as the basis for an Energy Descent Action Plan.

There are some technical hurdles to jump before we can implement such a scheme. While I have some web development skills, I don't have any GIS experience and the learning curve may be steep. There seems to be a lot of open source GIS systems out there but it will take a lot of time and work to research to find the most suitable one and to learn how to use it.

Google Maps is not usable in our area due to the low-resolution coverage. Our local council (Caloundra City) already hosts an impressive online map with excellent resolution and numerous useful layers. Perhaps we can leverage this in some way.

Any ideas out there on a way to take this forwards?

Barry
http://www.blackallrangerelocalisation.org

Sustainable Maleny Project

On Farm compost workshop

Andi Hazelwood — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 20:53:06 -0700

Hey RWBIans, I thought you folks'd like to know about this workshop one of the SustainaBundy members found in the newspaper:

http://www.relocalize.net/on_farm_composting_workshop

Short notice I know, but could be a good group to start developing ties with at the very least!

Relocalisation Works in the Burnett Inland (RWBI)

Your say at State Govt level - last call!

Sonya — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 18:53:59 -0700

Have your say at State Govt level.

How can we prepare for climate change and peak oil?

On August 29 I have been invited to attend a roundtable discussion at Parliament House in Brisbane.

The forum will look at how we can best prepare for the long haul on these global issues.

As part of my role in the discussions, I have been asked to discuss these issues with my local community (geographical or virtual) and bring their input and comments to the table.

My interests in this are relocalisation, permaculture solutions, energy descent action planning and community education about these issues and the many solutions we have available to us to act.

I will be discussing the energy descent action planning course we have in place, the Sunshine Coast Energy Action Centre and the relocalisation groups I am involved with.

Could you please consider the following background information and questions and let me know if you have any suggestions or comments you would like to include;

Leading for the future…

Building resilience in social and economic systems to deal with sudden discontinuous change and uncertainty.

Strengthening our capacity to learn, adapt and innovate in businesses and communities.

Think ‘local’… think ‘dispersed’… think ‘diverse’…

Focus questions

What conditions allow people to collaborate across boundaries to generate social resilience and innovation?

What do we (as community leaders) need to do differently to meet the challenges of climate change (and peak oil)?

What support and resources will we need to be effective in this role?

What steps can we take in SEQ and NENSW to develop local leadership?

How can we support networking and learning between leaders?

Your comments would be most appreciated,
Sonya

SustainaBundy

New book lifts lid on Howard's 'greenhouse mafia'

Sonya — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 23:40:15 -0700

High & Dry by Guy Pearse
John Howard, climate change and the selling of Australia's future.

Guy Pearse's revelation about Australia's 'greenhouse mafia' made headlines. In High & Dry this Liberal Party insider shows why John Howard's climate change policy is reckless, how it came about, and who is behind it.

Released only a few weeks ago, this book outlines the reason behind John Howard's refusal to sign Kyoto and explains why he will never do anything to cut carbon emissions while he is in power. The story featured on ABC TV's Four Corners in February 2006.

If you wonder why our leaders are steadfastly refusing to respond to the greatest threat posed to our planet - read this book.

Not only are our politicians doing nothing to stop emissions, they are resolutely taking us in the exact opposite direction - one they know will lead to a very grim future for us all.

It's hard to understand how anyone could consciously do this, but Pearses' book explains the reasoning and the 'behind the scenes' very well.

Not a cheery read by any means, but an absolute must read for any Australian concerned about climate change, the future of the planet and future generations.

From the book jacket...

In this damning account, Liberal Party member, lobbyist and former Howard-government advisor Guy Pearse takes us behind the rhetoric he once helped write. He reveals that the government has no plans whatsoever to reduce Australia's emissions, and explains why this is bad for Australia's economy. He exposes a prime minister wilfully blind to Australia's real interests - a man who has allowed climate change policy to be dictated by a small group of Australia's biggest polluters and the lobbyists they fund.

Just as Tim Flannery's The Weather Makers explained the science of climate change, High & Dry explains the politics. You cannot understand the future of Australia without reading this book.

Published by Viking as an imprint of Penguin Books - ask for it at your bookstore

Visit www.highanddry.com.au for more information and updates.

SustainaBundy

Resilience in the face of the long emergency

Sonya — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 17:42:42 -0700

Resilience in the face of the ‘long emergency’

(With acknowledgement to JAMES HOWARD KUNSTLER)

My new mantra is ‘resilience’. It’s officially my new favourite word and I have a lot of favourite words as they are my tools of trade. But resilience is my absolute favourite as of now.

It perfectly sums up how we need to approach peak oil and climate change. It’s succinct, positive, definite and strong.

We need to build resilience, we need to be resilient. Our systems and infrastructure need to be resilient.

Our food gardens, water supply, lighting, heating, cooling – they all need to be resilient.

Our finances, our means of earning money, our health, even our psyches needs to be resilient.

To me, resilience means that if one thing ‘falls over’ not everything does, that there is diversity and strength in systems to weather a shock and still be standing. That something can ‘fill the gap’ left by a problem, life continues to some degree…you haven’t put all your eggs in one basket and subsequently backed over your basket.

The Macquarie Dictionary defines resilience as; elasticity, rebound, recoil, ready recovery, buoyancy, even cheerfulness.

But how do we go about it?

I’ve summed up what I believe is the start of a resilience plan. The Steps we need to take to build resilience in our communities. I’ve taken my years of working in media and communications for emergency services, where I responded to emergencies using communication as my tool on a daily basis, and I’ve applied the same ‘crisis management’ strategies to preparing for a post carbon future.

Aside from the topics raised in this article, now is the time for communities to carefully and thoughtfully examine how they can build resilience and preserve the following; society and social structures, law enforcement & justice, health, culture, bio-diversity, emergency response, insurance, and recovery.

This is a long emergency, as James Howard Kunstler has described. Most emergencies I dealt with in emergency services lasted a few hours, perhaps a few days – never weeks, never years, never decades – never like we are now facing with peak oil and climate change.

It’s going to be hard work, it’s going to be tiring, frustrating, exhausting, depressing, busy, draining. Our energies will be shattered and scattered as we look for solutions. We’ll respond and react to problem after problem, to crisis after crisis at a heightened level day after day after day after day… it could easily take a tragic toll among us.

You first
Firstly, YOU must become resilient. Build support systems, create networks, find your inspiration, TAKE TIME OFF, rest, eat well, keep in contact with Nature, support others, acknowledge, accept, celebrate, have fun, laugh, and cry.

Steps to resilience
Identify
Admitting and identifying the problem is a good first step and one a lot of people will struggle with. People honestly think nothing will change and everything will just keep going the way it is today. Discuss and identify the issues, ensure you include lots of diversity in the groups you discuss these problems with. Talk about vulnerabilities, what are they and how can they be managed, improved, changed, or accepted. Who’s in your community? What strengths do you have in your human resources? What skills are lurking in the masses? Do you know your neighbours?

Pre-plan & Pre-pare
Being prepared is a wonderful thing, it gives you such confidence. It’s not bad luck to talk about the ‘what ifs?’ In fact it’s a sign of good management to discuss scenarios and to talk about the ‘what ifs?’ Perhaps it may not be as bad as what you expect, if you think the worse, you might be pleasantly surprised. In all seriousness, table top scenarios, community discussions, acknowledging the possibilities and planning for them – they are all powerful tools of preparation and preparation is the key. Whether it’s a public talk you’re giving or laying a concrete slab, preparation pays off. It’s also good to underpromise and overdeliver. Preparation = information therefore information = empowerment.

Mitigate where possible
Is there something you can do today, right now to mitigate a problem? To reduce your vulnerability. To build resilience today?

Communication
Ah, my favourite subject. Communication is another powerful tool we humans have in the face of adversity. Communication = information, information = empowerment, When we communicate, people have an understanding (hopefully!). If we communicate before a situation arises, even better. If people are prepared and know what might happen, what might be expected of them, how others might respond, and where to get more information it often leads to less panic and mayhem when the incident actually happens. Communicate early and often. Communicate pre, during and post events. Keeping people informed reduces rumour, mis-information and problems later. PS there will always be someone who asks “why wasn’t I told?” no matter how thorough you are – it’s just one of the mystical laws of communication.

Have structures in place
Another current favourite topic. Google ‘peak oil’ or ‘climate change’ and see what happens. There is SO much information out there we can no longer excuse our ignorance and continue living in denial with “well I didn’t know that” or my other favourite “no-one told me” – another mystical law of communication that must be followed for the fabric of the universe to be maintained. Community groups, activists and even some leaders around the globe are telling anyone who will listen what is on our horizon. Leaders know – and they have an absolute moral and ethical responsibility to HAVE STRUCTURES IN PLACE. My personal aim is to lobby for the systems to be built around the people. Put the structures in place. Those of us who know have a responsibility to do this.

Resources
We will need resources. Now is a really good time to identify them, where they are located, who can get to them quickly, how many we have and how they can best be activated in an emergency. Are they readily available and easily accessible? Resources can be many things and should include people.

Build confidence in the community
Isn’t it just so much easier to do something when you know how to do it, what’s expected of you and what’s expected of others? That’s confidence! A confident community = an empowered community. Communication plays a key role as does education and practical experience in building confidence. Resilient psyches are very powerful!

Have a back up plan
Murphy’s Law – whatever can go wrong will go wrong. Take note of it and have a back up plan. If one road is closed does your plan fall in a heap? Have a back up plan.

Have more back up plans
The long emergency is a unique situation. Sure we’ve dealt with crises here before, but not of the intensity and frequency we will face in the future. Add to that the fact we will have less available ‘energy’ – power, electricity, petrol, goods, food etc – in the future due to peak oil. Increasing demands (for emergency response) in a depleting energy environment – who’s planning for that?

Have alternatives
When all else fails have an alternative plan – creativity, flexibility, responsiveness, the courage to accept feedback and make the necessary changes are all good things.

Diversify
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket – someone may drop it. Practice resilience in all its glorious forms.

Feedback
Factor it in, accept it, do something about it. If something isn’t working change it. If something is working keep doing it.

Identify
The closing of the loop… go back to the beginning and start working through it again.

So that’s my 13 steps to resilience.

But who is going to do all this? We need leaders and those leaders need QUALITIES…

Qualities needed for community resilience
Leadership
Isn’t it great when someone knows what to do? Someone who inspires you, someone you want to be around? Leadership is an innate quality. People are born with it (or not). It can be honed, but it can’t be ‘made’. Poor leadership has got us into this mess. Good leadership can get us out. The same bad leadership that got us into this mess is NOT the same leadership that will get us out. If ‘they’ had that foresight in their thinking, we wouldn’t be here in this mess in the first place.

Trust
‘Sigh’ so lacking in today’s leaders… Trust is the key. We need to trust our leaders because we will be following them. Without trust it’s all over. If I don’t trust you, I’m not going to do what you ask of me.

Ingenuity
Being ingenious! Inventive, talented, skillful. Excellent qualities to have and encourage in others.

Creativity
As it relates to flexibility. The ability to creatively look for answers, solutions, new ways of doing things, new ways of using things. Not being locked up by that “we’ve never done it like that before” type thinking.

Know limitations
One of the greatest qualities a leader or a community could have. It takes great strength and self-awareness to know, let alone acknowledge your limitations. A good leader surrounds themselves with good people who possess the skills that complement their own personal limitations. It also shows a lack of ego, which is a good thing.

Able to ask for expert support
See above

Community empowerment
An empowered community goes a long way toward a resilient community. Understanding, feeling ownership, being involved in the process and in decision making all lead to empowerment.

Established networks
Now is a really good time to build networks – not when the crisis is happening. Networks, whether physical or social need to be establish BEFOREHAND, not during, not after, but before. Now is a really good time to build networks, while we have the time, resources and technology to do it.

Understand skills base
In your community, in your leaders. A skills base of expertise is part of communication, networking and preparation. All important strategies for emergency preparation.

Identify inequities and those most vulnerable
‘They’ say the measure of a community is how it treats it’s most vulnerable. People who have nothing to lose – have nothing to lose. Identify and ADDRESS inequities. This is part of social cohesive and inclusiveness. People who feel isolated probably are isolated and they also feel desperate. Desperate people will do desperate things. Ensuring equity and support and caring for our most vulnerable is GOOD social management and will go a long way in the long emergency.

Things will change
Understand that things will change. We are living in an illusion of stability. Things will change. It is very likely that our future situation will be very different to our current situation. Things may never return to ‘normal’ and they will definitely not be ‘stable’ once the long emergency really kicks in. We need to define a new ‘normal’ and be prepared to redefine that too. We need to communicate this to people so they are prepared.

Responsive to and understanding of change
A fundamental quality we must all adopt. See above.

Communication
Back to my favourite subject. Communication. One I’m dedicating a thesis to in fact. But let’s just focus on one aspect of communication in society. How do a lot of people get their ‘information’? From the media. The television news, radio, internet and newspapers are their sources of what’s happening. When a disaster occurs there is a predictable pattern of reporting that newsrooms follow and it is timely for our leaders to understand this process – no surprises then. These stories and the process of reporting them will go something like this…

How the media will report a ‘disaster’
• Initial reports – media report what hard facts are immediately available and vision of the incident.
• Cause of emergency – more details, more information emerges of the incident
• Stories of individual courage – the ‘human interest’ of the story, in depth ‘features’ appear
• Effect of the disaster – financial costs, industry costs, ‘loss of’ costs, final fatality numbers, and more features of various aspects depending on the type of disaster
• Safety warning and inadequacies – the media (public) examination of the incident begins includes letters to the editor, more features etc
• Emergency response and inadequacies – media (public) examination of the emergency response
• Blame – who is to blame?
• Aftermath and recover – the one year on story, costs, losses etc, lessons learnt

This is my take on resilience, why it’s important and perhaps a few ideas and thoughts on how we might go about creating it.

I hope you find it useful and please ask yourself; ‘how can you build resilience in my community?’

SustainaBundy