Online Forum – Future Proofing Hobart

Media release – City of Hobart, 4 July 2022

Future Proofing Hobart: Are we ready to respond to the next crisis?

Exploring how the Hobart community can ready itself to prepare for the next crisis will be the focus of discussion at an online public forum this week.

The second CityTalks forum for 2022 will explore the theme; Future Proofing Hobart: Community responses to crisis.

During the hour-long discussion, expert panellists will explore the community’s ability to respond to a crisis and look at effective systems that are used around Australia and the world as well as practical steps we can take to inspire and engage our community’s involvement.

Guest speaker will be Northern Rivers based Founder and Chair Dr Jean Renouf of Resilient Byron.

Dr Renouf is also an academic, firefighter, and ex-international aid worker and will bring a wealth of research and experience to the discussion. Dr Renouf was instrumental in organising on-the-ground support for those affected recently in the Northern Rivers floods disaster.

“A community-centred and led approach is an inevitable response in times of crisis,” Dr Renouf said. “There is more work to be done in terms of how governments and aid agencies align with a community response.”

Dr Renouf believes the bottom-up approach is the future.

“What I have experienced is that community-led responses are successful because they are fluid, they are not as messy as they may appear, they are sophisticated and while it may not look like an army-level formal layer of structure, community groups have proven time and time again they can be just as effective.”

Dr Renouf will be joined by panellists Melanie Hutton: Head of Resilience, Community and Business Auckland Emergency Management, Auckland Council. The talk will be hosted by the City of Hobart’s own Jessica Robbins who is also the Programs and Partnerships Manager, ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability Oceania and Professor Elaine Stratford (UTAS) will introduce the evening’s talk.

Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds, who will present closing remarks at the online forum, said recent severe weather and health events that have hit our Hobart community hard in recent years and highlighted the need for a discussion around community resilience to crisis.

“This conversation is particularly relevant as we begin to come out the other side of the COVID pandemic and we head towards bushfire season,” Lord Mayor Reynolds said. “There is an urgency for communities to be better informed and prepared for whatever the next crisis may be.

“I’m looking forward to hearing from our expert panel as they explore what actions we can take, collectively and individually, to create a more resilient city.”

The one-hour CityTalks forum will be held on Wednesday 6 July at 5.30pm. Interested members of the public are invited to register to attend the interactive online forum via Zoom. Registered attendees have the opportunity to submit questions to the speakers and participate in live polls.

CityTalks Hobart is a series of public forums hosted by the City of Hobart and University of Tasmania which aim to inspire ideas and innovation for Hobart’s future. Through a series of webinars and public talks featuring community, national and international keynote speakers, these events aim to provide a platform for conversations to take place; conversations that build connections, allow for an exchange of ideas, and inspire a vision for our future. Visit hobartcity.com.au/citytalks for details of the forum and to register.