Embedding Community Expertise: Four Steps In Planning For Resilience

In November 2022, Central West NSW experienced significant flooding, which impacted numerous towns across the region. This violent ‘wave’ of water led to the loss of many homes and, tragically, some lives.

Within a week of the disaster, Ned Anson, Senior Consultant in the Urbis Engagement team, was deployed on a placement with RA (Resilience NSW at the time) as part of the immediate response efforts. Prior to joining Urbis, Ned was a Senior Communications and Engagement Officer at the NSW Reconstruction Authority.

Drawing insights from Ned’s experience working with RA in Central West NSW, we have identified four key steps to embed community expertise in resilience planning.

RA’s approach in the Central West focused on genuinely involving the community and establishing social license.

Early engagement focused on listening. It was essential to gather information about the towns including the sense of community, what they were proud of, and what they might need in recovery. For example, Eugowra residents expressed a great desire to recover in place – residents wanted to stay in town with their community and help each other get back on their feet.

Another important consideration was how the community was engaged. Many residents lost their phones or computers in the flood, so in-person engagement was essential as a starting point. This took time, but it provided a great opportunity to build rapport with residents who we would be walking beside for many months to come in their recovery journey.

RA also worked with Cabonne Council to establish a local Flood Recovery Advisory Committee which included key community leaders and complemented the existing LEMC to provide ongoing two-way dialogue throughout the recovery efforts in the town of Eugowra.

Early engagement showed RA that these communities valued their place and wanted to stay. Where possible, it was important to respond to this by providing options to recover in place.

The communities shared that things as simple as saying g’day to a neighbour in the morning or bumping into friends at the local café were integral in maintaining the health of a tight-knit and proud community. It was important that any agency programs considered this and promoted opportunities for the community to recover together, in place.

However, if the community was to recover in place, it would be essential for them to feel safe from any potential future floods. This was a key consideration in program design.

RA aligned programs with community values by rolling out the At-Home Caravans and Pods on Private Property programs – both of which prioritised providing residents with the opportunity to recover from the disaster at their own property.

Transparency was key in rolling out these programs. Regular updates were provided to community leaders via in-person committee meetings, where accurate and timely information and updates were provided, and feedback gathered on the programs.

Updates were also provided to political stakeholders including the Minister for Emergency Management, who described the approach as the “gold standard”.

And the community feedback was strong, too. One impacted resident said “we lost everything, but we gained community.”

A key contributor to the success of the Central West programs was ongoing engagement with the community.

As the community moved through its recovery journey, RA was able to adjust engagement methods to incorporate more phone calls and emails. This meant connectivity was maintained without having to visit each individual dwelling. But where necessary, in-person engagement was maintained too.