ECH Community Resilience, an Australian Exemplar

“Looking for progress and new priorities will require close attention to examples of communities which have developed customized approaches based on their own understanding of the risks with which they live.

Numerous examples provide some confidence that communities have taken up the challenge. For instance, the Emerald Community House (ECH) has established its own Centre of Resilience (COR) within a community of almost six thousand people located at the foothills of the Dandenong Ranges near Melbourne.

The centre’s vision is “To be a place where connections are made and opportunities realised,” and people are empowered to confront the risks they face, especially the bushfires. Their pursuit of community resilience involves efforts to integrate safety messages across several risks, build local capacities with local resources, and provide training embedded throughout numerous community programs, activities and services.

The ECH’s vision reflects and embraces many of the central themes that have motivated similar communities across the nation to focus on building community strengths through establishing and strengthening trust and mutual benefit in each area of everyday local activities (Emerald Community House, 2014).” Written by Mark Duckworth, Executive Director of Citizenship and Resilience, Department of the Premier and Cabinet (DPC), Victoria, Australia. (Strategies for Supporting Community Resilience, Multinational Experiences, Multinational Resilience Policy Group. Editor: Robert Bach)