Resilient cities and communities: the new global
imperative
1 & 2 December 2015
Melbourne Arts Centre
Outcomes from participant input on resilience ideas, questions and
themes – these are your thoughts…
Key Thematic Areas
1. Community Engagement and Connection
2. Behavioral Transformation
3. Creative Communication
4. New Models of Governance
5. Economy and Innovative Finance
6. Green Infrastructure and Sustainable Development
Community Engagement and Connection
Ideas
• Emergency service organisations, local governments and the community
have an opportunity to collaborate and work more closely together. We
need to develop new ways of working where the community leads what
works for them.
Further questions
• How do we design and plan for a community if there is no community to
consult with? (Greenfield development)
• What do our citizens need from us to enable greater community
cohesion?
• How can local government change their leadership style to value the
radical, positive, and self organising contributions of community? How
can we get out of their way?
• “Wisdom lies in the community” – how do we capture and engage the
community and it’s wisdom?
Behavioral Transformation
Ideas
• Look to New Zealand’s response plan – street and neighbourhood
focus.
• Initiation of behavioural transformation should not require a crisis.
Further questions
• How do we become better prepared for the uncertain, as well as
the certain?
• How can we prevent the word “resilient” being used in token or
misleading ways?
• What are the new capabilities needed (at the Executive and
Officer level) to support resilient futures?
Creative Communication
Ideas
• Community cohesion is key to resilience. Governments need to
work with communities effectively and stay focused on the
opportunities even when the media stirs up fear in the face of
terrorist events.
Further questions
• What role do the media play in building resilience?
• How do we bring the media to the table? They are very powerful
in the agenda’s that are pushed / championed.
New Models of Governance
Ideas
• Work on resilience needs to cut across policy silos such as infrastructure
and social cohesion. We need to apply systems thinking.
• We need to engage the broader local government organisations in
Melbourne on the resilience journey.
Further questions
• To what extent does regulation stymie change and impede resilience?
• At the conclusion of the seed funded 100RC program, the work has only
just begun. What happens next? Who owns the outcomes and who will
be responsible for keeping the program running?
• If we generally know what to do….is it a lack of leadership that’s blocking
us from getting on with it?
Economy and Innovative Finance
Ideas
• Demonstrate community and local government collaboration –
then fund collaborations as ‘shared responsibility’
• Develop grant streams and offer grants to fund collaborations with
resilience outcomes
Further questions
• What role does free markets and clear price signals have in
facilitating change and growing and empowering communities?
• How do we fund long term community projects, to help people
and communities build the future?
Green Infrastructure and Sustainable Development
Ideas
• We need to have reverse marking for green field and tower development. If we
inform people about the impact of their choice to purchase for their long term
health, safety and wellbeing, maybe they would choose somewhere else.
• “If we were serious, couldn’t we fix this (Melbourne unbalanced urban
structure) with a concerted 30 year plan?”
Further questions
• Greenfield sprawl is happening. It will continue to happen. 30 year approvals
are in place. How do we make them better?
• Balancing the densification and the city. How do we balance the need to be
“fiscally responsible” (which is a short term outcome) and the desire of
communities to have a liveable / resilient city which can often be expensive, but
has long term outcomes?
• How to design infrastructure that works now, but doesn’t lock us into old ways
that aren’t sustainable?
• How to change the urban heat island effect?