Supporting The Fire to Flourish Program For The Clarence Valley
We are thrilled to announce our partnership with Monash University’s Sustainable Development Institute to support the Fire to Flourish Program for the Clarence Valley.
The overall program aims to support four regions across the Eastern states badly impacted by the 2019/20 Black Summer bushfires to lead their own recovery, co-create foundations for long-term resilience and wellbeing, and disrupt cycles of entrenched disadvantage. Locally, NRCF will perform a critical role as the Clarence Valley community granting program partner.
The Fire To Flourish Program is an innovative model which includes participatory grant making, delivering “strength through community-led action”. This is a concept particularly close to the heart of NRCF, whose crisis support following disasters such as Covid-19, bushfires and floods in the Northern Rivers, amplified the knowledge, strength and ability of local grassroots organisations.
NRCF CEO Sam Henderson said the participatory granting model was an exciting way to bolster the community initiative and action seen through times of disaster in the Northern Rivers.
“The model has a community co-design group at its heart who lead knowledge building of locally relevant needs and objectives, and have responsibility to approve the projects that will best support them. Local facilitators work and support the broader community to develop local initiatives that deliver recovery, resilience and wellbeing outcomes in line with community expectations.
“NRCF has always been here for the diverse communities and charitable causes that make up the richness of the Northern Rivers. This program is a fantastic step towards increasing the voice and empowerment of communities in their own recovery and futures.”
The first locally awarded grant will support not-for-profit organisation Hernani Hall to participate in the famous Small Halls Festival – a travelling arm of the Woodford Folk Festival, designed to bring life and the arts to Australia’s iconic country halls. Hernani, a regional town of just a few hundred inhabitants, was hit hard by fires, the pandemic and floods.
Hernani Hall’s Lisa Daly said her community had been solely responsible for developing and driving the project.
“We need activities that connect and build our community connections, our social capital, to ensure we are able to mentally and collaboratively cope with any other disasters that may come our way into the future,”
The co-design process takes around 8-12 weeks, with opportunities available to the Clarence Valley over the next two years.
Interested community members are invited to find out more at the Fire to Flourish website or by joining the Fire to Flourish Clarence Valley Facebook page.