Community-led disaster resilience initiatives: a case study

It is widely acknowledged that community-led initiatives can significantly improve community resilience to bushfires and other disasters. These initiatives can be particularly important in overcoming some of the challenges presented to emergency management organisations in moving towards the goal of community resilience and shared responsibility. This paper provides an overview of a case study of the roles and outcomes of community-led bushfire and disaster resilience initiatives in the region of Kangaroo Valley, New South Wales, Australia. Three initiatives are described: the establishment of a comprehensive network of bushfire-ready neighbourhood groups, the establishment of the Kangaroo Valley Bushfire Recovery Association and its recovery ‘drop-in centre’, and the genesis and evolution of a community resilience group known as ‘Resilient KV’. These initiatives played significant roles before, during and after the disastrous passage of the Currowan bushfire through Kangaroo Valley in January 2020. This fire destroyed over 10% of homes in the region and had very severe impacts on people, infrastructure, animals and the environment. The findings of this study covered issues including household ‘stay-and-defend’ versus ‘leave early’ decision-making and the ways residents improved the bushfire resilience of their properties.