Fire to Flourish

Recently, NIDR Research Fellow Emma McNicol, PhD was invited to visit Nukunu Country and present to the Nukunu Wapma Thura Aboriginal Corporation Board about the research engagement the NIDR team are undertaking across South Australia. Dr McNicol shared: "I was privileged to be toured around Nukunu Country by Uncle Laurie and Travis Thomas. On our four day road trip throughout South Australia, Travis and Uncle Laurie showed me a range of sites of cultural significance and great beauty. We wandered where their ancestors had camped; admired scar trees from which they had removed bark to make coolamans (baby carriers) and shelter trees in which they had sought refuge from the rain. I found it particularly incredible to encounter such a volume of shelter and scar trees simply by the side of the road in Melrose on a private property. Without Uncle Laurie and Travis' guidance, I would have easily driven straight past. And most crucially, in the event of an emergency, a fire truck probably would also have driven by. If emergency management sector personnel don't make the time to stop, listen, ask and find out from Aboriginal colleagues and friends what is important to them, they'll drive right by and sites of cultural heritage will be forever lost. Thank you to Trav, Uncle and the team for welcoming me on-Country and inviting me to present to the Board." Fire to Flourish | Monash University | Monash Sustainable Development Institute

The truth is, when resources are scarce, it's hard to be friends in the scramble for funding. NGOs often find themselves in a race for resources, which makes true collaboration incredibly challenging. Yet, if we're serious about making a real difference in our communities, we need to break out of this cycle. It's time to create a "sacred space" for collaboration—a space where the focus shifts from competing for resources to creating real community impact. It means putting aside the need to protect our own turf and coming together with a shared purpose. We've seen firsthand how powerful this can be. When we met with the team at Fire to Flourish, we quickly realised we shared a vision for disaster resilience and a dream for Australia’s preparedness and social cohesion. This is what it looks like in practice: setting aside our individual agendas and coming together with a shared purpose. In silos we are fragmented—but in pooling our resources, knowledge, and expertise, we can create solutions that are far greater than the sum of their parts.   

Last week, our program staff came together for On-Country Week in the beautiful Murramarang on Walbunja Country on the south coast of NSW. CEO Briony Rogers explains the value of coming together for these gatherings. “This year’s On-Country Week really brought the program and its impact to life for the team in attendance. Visiting one of our partner communities, hearing from locals about the projects that they’ve had funded and feeling such a strong sense of community connection, was truly inspiring for everyone.” Staff collaborated across two days of purposeful workshops and enjoyed a day of Indigenous and community connection and celebration. Thank you to everyone who travelled near and far to be there. Read more about On-Country Week in the news article below. https://lnkd.in/gaT929iU #firetoflourish #disasterresilience #disasterrecovery #communitydevelopment #sustainabledevelopment #emergencymanagement #eurobodalla Monash University | Monash Sustainable Development Institute | Paul Ramsay Foundation | Briony Rogers | Brett Davis | Sarah C Smith | Cara MacLeod | Adriana Keating | Inara Walden | Barb Rix | Gretel Evans | Helen Duroux | Eve Bentley | Eva Grunden | Gina Carpenter | Dr Zoe D'Arcy | Jessica Bulger | Ashley Keleher | Alison Worthington | Lucy Stackpool-Moore | Laura Cochrane (GAICD) | Katherine Dias | Eurobodalla Shire Council

Day 2 of our On Country Week was a wonderful, inspiring day of community connection and celebration. Joe Brierley, Community Facilitator for Eurobodalla, took the team on a cultural walk through the beautiful Cullendulla Creek and Mangrove Reserve - generously sharing his knowledge and connection to the land. The program was then brought to life at the Eurobodalla Fire to Flourish office in Mogo, NSW. We were warmly welcomed by the Eurobodalla Fire to Flourish team of Kizzy Nye, Barb Rix and Joe Brierley, who spoke with passion and pride about the long-term disaster resilience they've been able to co-create with their communities and how they've done it. A group of community project leads, funded by Fire to Flourish Eurobodalla, then shared stories of the projects they're bringing to their communities and the impact they're having. The projects were diverse, innovative and rich in community connection; ranging from Embers to Essence music festival to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the bushfires and Bangguri Gadhu food trailer to provide food during times of disaster, to Yarning on Country mens healing program and Walawaani on Wheels bike library, track and club for local youth. A big thank you to the Euorobodalla community and team for welcoming us all so warmly, sharing so generously and showing us what community-led disaster resilience looks like in practice. #firetoflourish #disasterresilience #disasterrecovery #communitydevelopment #sustainabledevelopment #emergencymanagement #eurobodalla Monash University | Monash Sustainable Development Institute | Paul Ramsay Foundation | Briony Rogers | Brett Davis | Sarah C Smith | Cara MacLeod | Adriana Keating | Inara Walden | Barb Rix | Gretel Evans | Helen Duroux | Eve Bentley | Eva Grunden | Gina Carpenter | Dr Zoe D'Arcy | Jessica Bulger | Ashley Keleher | Alison Worthington | Lucy Stackpool-Moore | Laura Cochrane (GAICD) | Sharon Tierney | Tony Capon | Kate Cowden | Ash Shannon | Barb Rix | Bonnie Nebauer | Joe Brierley | John Skinner | Kat Dias | Kath Kermode | Kizzy Nye | Matt Sing | Pamela Denise | Sara Matthews | Eurobodalla Shire Council |

This week we're bringing together our four partner community teams, researchers, Strategic Advisory Committee members, backbone and executive staff for our On Country Week in the beautiful Murramarang on Walbunja country. We're grateful to our Eurobodalla team for welcoming everyone and organising a cultural walk, showcase of Fire to Flourish funded projects and tour of the area. It's also an opportunity to connect as a team and use this time to reflect, learn and plan together, as we continue to work alongside our partner communities to co-create tailored resilience solutions. There'll be more On Country updates coming this week. #firetoflourish #disasterresilience #disasterrecovery #communitydevelopment #sustainabledevelopment #emergencymanagement #eurobodalla Monash University | Monash Sustainable Development Institute | Paul Ramsay Foundation | Briony Rogers | Brett Davis | Sarah C Smith | Cara MacLeod | Adriana Keating | Inara Walden | Barb Rix | Gretel Evans | Helen Duroux | Eve Bentley | Eva Grunden | Gina Carpenter | Dr Zoe D'Arcy | Jessica Bulger | Ashley Keleher | Alison Worthington | Lucy Stackpool-Moore | Robert Glasser | Laura Cochrane (GAICD) | Sharon Tierney | Tony Capon | Kate Cowden | Ash Shannon | Barb Rix | Bonnie Nebauer | Joe Brierley | John Skinner | Kat Dias | Kath Kermode | Kizzy Nye | Matt Sing | Pamela Denise | Sara Matthews | Eurobodalla Shire Council |

It's always valuable to bring the Fire to Flourish research team together to connect, share and learn. Yesterday the team caught up in Melbourne for our Quarterly Research Workshop with sessions on Data Governance and Sharing from Brett Davis, Harnessing Generative AI for Research from Jason Downs, Ph.D. and Fire to Flourish Research Publications for 2025 facilitated by Briony Rogers. It was a day of blue sky thinking, thought provoking discussions and strategic planning. As a program we conduct research in ways that build and honour respectful relationships, respond to community-defined priorities, involve community as co-researchers, make data and findings accessible and community-owned, and ultimately make meaningful contributions to our partner communities. #firetoflourish #disasterresilience #disasterrecovery #communitydevelopment #sustainabledevelopment #emergencymanagement Monash University | Monash Sustainable Development Institute | Paul Ramsay Foundation

On the back of the #NIDRGathering2024, Bhiamie Williamson of National Indigenous Disaster Resilience wrote for The Conversation Australia + NZ today about the shift in emergency management practice that will save Country and communities: cultural burning. "Indigenous groups around Australia have begun the work of rekindling cultural burns, but barriers still remain. It’s time this disaster management work by Indigenous groups was recognised and magnified by governments." #disasterresilience #indigenousdisasterresilience #disasterrecovery #culturalburning #emergencymanagement Monash University | Monash Sustainable Development Institute | Paul Ramsay Foundation | Jagun Alliance Aboriginal Corporation | AFAC | Jenny McAllister | Tony Sheldon | Oliver Costello https://lnkd.in/gfGmb2fC

Yesterday, our CEO Briony Rogers gave a keynote address - 'Fire to Flourish: Partnering with communities to co-create resilient futures' - at the Community Colleges Australia annual conference in Sydney. Briony shared experiences and insights from our deep co-creation work with bushfire-affected communities. Read her reflections on the conference below. #firetoflourish #disasterresilience #disasterrecovery #communitydevelopment #sustainabledevelopment #emergencymanagement Monash University | Monash Sustainable Development Institute | Paul Ramsay Foundation

After the 2019-20 bushfires, it was clear that communities needed more support to lead their own disaster recovery and preparedness. Fire to Flourish was convened in direct response to those fires - an innovative experiment in truly community-led, long-term disaster resilience. We are pleased to share this report led by The Australian Centre for Social Innovation (TACSI), with insights from a pilot community-led approach called Now-Future-How, conducted in Clarence Valley, NSW. This report presents the methods, lessons and opportunities of the Now-Future-How model to support disaster-affected communities. #firetoflourish #disasterresilience #disasterrecovery #communitydevelopment #sustainabledevelopment #emergencymanagement #clarencevalley Monash University | Monash Sustainable Development Institute | Paul Ramsay Foundation | The Australian Centre for Social Innovation (TACSI)

Fire to Flourish Eurobodalla and the Australian Communities Foundation are delighted to announce the successful applicants for the 'Our Country in Healing Hands' community funding round. This round saw community members take the lead in funding decision making, allocating funding to 12 local projects that prioritise caring for land, health and wellbeing. “What we have seen to be the most rewarding aspect of this journey is the ongoing commitment that communities demonstrate to supporting one another,” said Barb Rix, Indigenous Facilitator at Fire to Flourish Eurobodalla. Each new project supports Eurobodalla community organisations and locals through empowerment, self-efficacy and self-determination – part of Fire to Flourish's ongoing trials of innovative, flexible, accessible disaster funding for communities affected by the 2019/20 bushfires. Learn more about all these new community-led projects here: https://lnkd.in/gdm9DGJu #firetoflourish #disasterresilience #disasterrecovery #communitydevelopment #sustainabledevelopment #emergencymanagement #eurobodalla Monash University | Monash Sustainable Development Institute | Paul Ramsay Foundation | Eurobodalla Shire Council