Community Recovery Forum: communities thriving, not just surviving

The third annual Queensland Community Recovery Forum at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre highlighted inspiring case studies and initiatives for disaster resilience and recovery, in one of the Australian states most heavily impacted by disaster. 

The theme of the event on 25 October was ‘communities thriving, not just surviving,’ which stimulated energetic discussion around strengthening communities and building resilience among the audience of close to 300 people from across the state.  

Hosted by the Queensland Department of Communities, Disability Services and Seniors, the forum explored the journey that communities take from disaster to resilience and invited several local council representatives to share their experiences in the recovery space at both short-term and longer-term time scales.

The range of speakers allowed for diverse topics and perspectives to be explored, including community-led recovery; climate change and resilience; best practice in collective trauma events; building resilience in the tourism industry; business; volunteering; health; and the big picture for community resilience and recovery in Queensland from the perspective of state government.

The forum was supplemented by a masterclass, giving participants a valuable opportunity to reflect on the strengths and challenges of building community resilience to disasters. Led by Creating Communities director Allan Tranter, the masterclass also focused on methods for engaging communities to ensure an inclusive approach to disaster recovery.

AIDR was proud to support this event as a sponsor of the Speaker’s Breakfast.