A call out to Wimmera Southern Mallee residents who want to learn what’s been happening to prepare our region for drought, and to help drive future resilience initiatives during a special Drought Ready Think Tank at Horsham on July 3.
The free event, run by Wimmera Southern Mallee Development, will showcase the activities and outcomes of the 11 regional drought resilience projects undertaken in the region over the past 18 months.
These projects encompass a wide range of focus areas including agriculture, community resilience building, housing, green spaces, business, First Nations water and migrant community projects.
Attendees will hear reflections and insights from each of the projects and will have a voice in helping to shape future resilience program activities during an afternoon workshop session.
Wimmera Southern Mallee CEO Chris Sounness said many of the exiting activities had evolved from similar co-design processes in 2023 and 2024.
“Back then the community raised concerns about our ageing and unsuitable housing stock so we created “Hot Property”, which audited houses in 5 regional towns for suitability to cope with future climates and energy capacity.
“Our community’s renewable energy questions were researched by independent experts who presented their findings on economic, technical, insurance and agri-justice issues.
“We worked with Federation University to understand how business accesses support and found this was often too little, too late. So we responded by creating “Wimmera Southern Mallee Business Connect”.
“Another project, led by WestVic Business, worked across multiple communities to help foster business changemaking.
“Wimmera CMA led projects to complete the First Nations Ranch Billabong project at Dimboola ad well as supporting agriculture by enhancing use and coverage of soil moisture and weather monitoring data across the region.
“Wimmera CMA also led “Midday at the Oasis”, which identified priority green park and recreation sites in towns across the region to be protected for community use in the depth of a drought.
“Our young migrants have learned about drought through regular opportunities to meet in culturally safe places and to engage across their community.
“The Harrow “We’re Better Together” project in West Wimmera Shire is working with community to build resilience by creating opportunities for activities and targeted workshops designed to build and enhance connections. To help build leadership capacity in our region we’ve hosted leadership programs led by Australian Rural Leadership Foundation at Natimuk and Horsham.
“We’ve also rolled out the “Get Ready” campaign which highlights local examples of resilience in action.”
Mr Sounness said Drought Ready Think Tank provided a chance to learn about resilience and shape the programs next steps in the region.
“This year our east coast has simultaneously faced severe fire, flood and drought. We need to expect and prepare for such disasters. If you have thoughts on how to prepare the region, please join us on the day and share your ideas”
Drought Ready Think Tank will be at the Horsham Town Hall from 9am-4pm on July 3.
Bookings are essential and can be made through Eventbrite at this link. https://tinyurl.com/mry2fm7k
The 11 WSM projects were funded from the Federal Drought Fund through programs with both Agriculture Victoria and the Foundation for Rural and Reginal Renewal.
The free event, run by Wimmera Southern Mallee Development, will showcase the activities and outcomes of the 11 regional drought resilience projects undertaken in the region over the past 18 months.
These projects encompass a wide range of focus areas including agriculture, community resilience building, housing, green spaces, business, First Nations water and migrant community projects.
Attendees will hear reflections and insights from each of the projects and will have a voice in helping to shape future resilience program activities during an afternoon workshop session.
Wimmera Southern Mallee CEO Chris Sounness said many of the exiting activities had evolved from similar co-design processes in 2023 and 2024.
“Back then the community raised concerns about our ageing and unsuitable housing stock so we created “Hot Property”, which audited houses in 5 regional towns for suitability to cope with future climates and energy capacity.
“Our community’s renewable energy questions were researched by independent experts who presented their findings on economic, technical, insurance and agri-justice issues.
“We worked with Federation University to understand how business accesses support and found this was often too little, too late. So we responded by creating “Wimmera Southern Mallee Business Connect”.
“Another project, led by WestVic Business, worked across multiple communities to help foster business changemaking.
“Wimmera CMA led projects to complete the First Nations Ranch Billabong project at Dimboola ad well as supporting agriculture by enhancing use and coverage of soil moisture and weather monitoring data across the region.
“Wimmera CMA also led “Midday at the Oasis”, which identified priority green park and recreation sites in towns across the region to be protected for community use in the depth of a drought.
“Our young migrants have learned about drought through regular opportunities to meet in culturally safe places and to engage across their community.
“The Harrow “We’re Better Together” project in West Wimmera Shire is working with community to build resilience by creating opportunities for activities and targeted workshops designed to build and enhance connections. To help build leadership capacity in our region we’ve hosted leadership programs led by Australian Rural Leadership Foundation at Natimuk and Horsham.
“We’ve also rolled out the “Get Ready” campaign which highlights local examples of resilience in action.”
Mr Sounness said Drought Ready Think Tank provided a chance to learn about resilience and shape the programs next steps in the region.
“This year our east coast has simultaneously faced severe fire, flood and drought. We need to expect and prepare for such disasters. If you have thoughts on how to prepare the region, please join us on the day and share your ideas”
Drought Ready Think Tank will be at the Horsham Town Hall from 9am-4pm on July 3.
Bookings are essential and can be made through Eventbrite at this link. https://tinyurl.com/mry2fm7k
The 11 WSM projects were funded from the Federal Drought Fund through programs with both Agriculture Victoria and the Foundation for Rural and Reginal Renewal.