Abstract
Australian rural communities are experiencing some of the worst climactic and economic conditions in decades. Unfortunately, the multiple government and non-government agency responses have reportedly been uncoordinated, sometimes losing sight of their consumers. This article describes a program designed to strengthen and empower resilience in small rural communities and summarises the outcomes, including needs and action planning undertaken. The 97 participants were from eight outer regional or remote towns and communities in the northern Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. As groups representing their communities, they attended meetings and responded to a series of questions regarding issues arising from the drought, community needs, and actions their community could take to address these issues and needs. The study findings highlight the stress and strain of the climatic conditions and the insecurity of rural incomes, as well as problems with the high cost of transport. The communities recognised a degree of social disintegration but also expressed considerable hope that, by working together and better utilising social agencies, they could develop a social connectedness that would make their communities more resilient. Approaches that empower and facilitate community resilience are suggested as an effective model that governments and non-government agencies can use to encourage social groups that are struggling to build resilience.
Highlights
Statistics for rural and remote communities in Australia make for grim reading
While it is not unusual to capture information about the impact of climate on rural areas from public meetings or forums, this study uniquely focused on capturing community responses about what actions and goals they would propose, in order to build and strengthen their communities for the future
The NERRCS approach is informed by the model of neighbourhood resilience described by Mowbray and colleagues (2007), and employs principles that underpin family and community centred practices (Dempsey & Keen 2008; Dunst, Trivette & Hamby 2007), which recognise that communities are unique, know the needs of their members best and are most able to support themselves
Summary
Statistics for rural and remote communities in Australia make for grim reading. The people in these communities experience relatively high unemployment, low household incomes, inadequate public transport, scarce services and an ageing population (Catholic Welfare Australia 2006). The ‘natural cause’ of this economic loss has left communities struggling, as they attempt to respond to a situation that is largely beyond their control In many cases this has led to a decline in rural community populations, with many members seeking better incomes and circumstances elsewhere (Country Matters 2008). While it is not unusual to capture information about the impact of climate on rural areas from public meetings or forums (such as the Expert Social Panel, 2008), this study uniquely focused on capturing community responses about what actions and goals they would propose, in order to build and strengthen their communities for the future. Contrary to being ‘out of touch’ and ‘losing sight of their client group’, the NERRCS approach is designed to focus and empower small rural communities, families and individuals to self-manage the ongoing impact of adverse climate changes. The concept of resilience has provided a valuable theoretical foundation on which to build the resulting approach to facilitating positive community responses to hardship
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