Conversations drive new thinking

New thinking and new relationships – that’s the rationale driving the Bushfire CRC’s Public Benefit Conversation Series, the first of which took place last week in Melbourne. By bringing together a diverse range of people to talk about the future and the role of emergency management agencies, we hope to increase our understanding of how community, business, government and industry can be better prepared and more resilient to natural hazards.

The two-hour round table discussion with 19 thought leaders provided an insightful overview of just how complex society has become when it comes to educating communities and resourcing our responses to multiple emergencies.

Feedback from the participants was positive with comments such as: “there was some good collaborative dialogue occurring particularly in relation to the community and its involvement”, “you are dealing with complex issues and talking around all the corners and angles is useful”, and “the role of private industry is often overlooked, but not at this meeting.”

A report on the first Public Benefit Conversation will be on our website soon. It will contain suggestions for further discussion at more events in other cities and ideas for shaping the ongoing research program.