Building community resilience
About community resilience
Community emergency resilience refers to a community’s ability to ‘bounce back’ after emergency events or very stressful events such as natural disasters, economic downturn, pandemics and other crises.
Connected communities are more resilient and have a higher capacity to withstand and recover from major emergency events.
Our role
Council works with communities to build resilience by:
- asking communities for feedback on, and helping them identify, their perceived risks
- helping them to develop community actions in response to these risks.
Watch this page for information and updates on new projects.
Upper Beaconsfield Resilience Project
This 2018–2019 pilot project aimed to build the Upper Beaconsfield community’s resilience to emergencies.
Council and community members collaborated to:
- increase social connections and sense of wellbeing
- increase knowledge of and be better prepared for potential risks
- improve their emergency preparedness
- build on the existing community emergency resilience in Upper Beaconsfield.
This project was funded by Cardinia Shire Council and Municipal Emergency Resourcing Program.
View more information on the Upper Beaconsfield Resilience Project
Upper Beaconsfield Fuel Management Project
In 2019 Council worked with the Upper Beaconsfield community to:
- identify ways to improve fuel management in Upper Beaconsfield to reduce the incidence and impact of fire.
- establish the community’s fuel management priorities
- develop ways to achieve sustainable fuel management priorities.
This project was funded by the Victorian Government’s Safer Together Program,
Upper Beaconsfield Bushfire Management Fuel Management Project information
Clematis and Menzies Creek Bushfire Preparedness Project
Cardinia Shire Council and Yarra Ranges Council worked with the communities of Clematis and Menzies Creek to:
- develop a shared understanding of the current level of bushfire and emergency preparedness in Clematis and Menzies Creek.
- increase bushfire preparedness within the Clematis and Menzies Creek townships.
- promote a culture of working together, for example, councils working together, councils working in partnership with fire and environment agencies, as well as township communities who share a common municipal boundary and who are at risk of bushfire.
- foster leadership within those communities and identify local solutions to bushfire risk.
- increase community connectedness.
Clematis and Menzies Creek Bushfire Preparedness Project information
Tonimbuk Model Roadside Project
Working with the local community, business, and agencies, as part of the Victorian Government Safer Together Program we have:
- Found the best way to do roadside planting to reduce the risk of “wicking” during a bushfire
- Observed, recorded, and reported on roadside fuel loads
- Helped inform future roadside planting strategies in bushfire prone areas using indigenous, lower flammability species.
- Reduced the risk of bushfires along roadside reserves whilst improving the environment
- Lowered the ability of a bushfire to spread via roadside vegetation.
Ready Get Go Emergency Preparedness Project
Emergencies can happen anywhere and anytime. It is important to be prepared. Ready Get Go Bags help people prepare for emergencies by helping community members before emergencies, gather and store items that they may need. The bags are lightweight, easy to use if you need to leave your home in a hurry. Council in partnership with a number of community groups and stakeholders developed the design and resources, including easy read and resources for people with disabilities.
This Project was part funded by the Vulnerable Persons Grant from the Victorian Government.
Get involved
To become involved in understanding and building resilience before, during and after emergencies in your community, contact us at mail@cardinia.vic.gov.au or 1300 787 624.
Video: Interviews with local participants in a bushfire preparedness project
More information on community resilience
Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience
Emergency Management Victoria Community Resilience Framework