The Program

The Resilience Canopy is a resilience building movement, creating a ripple effect of change embedded in communities across Australia for many generations to come.
The Problem
More frequent, unpredictable and catastrophic hazards and challenges that drive mounting personal and economic losses and greater than ever recovery and response costs.
Strong, connected and prepared communities are crucial for Australia’s ability to prepare for and recover from the shocks and stresses of unexpected events and societal challenges. ​Local communities know their challenges better than anyone. To connect the dots, they need to be empowered and mobilised to drive the change they want to see.
The Solution
The Resilience Canopy is a nation-wide program working with communities who are ready to become more resilient to future challenges.  
Alongside key partners, we help put the power in community hands to determine the strategies and actions that will best address their challenges for the long-term.​This is resilience building in a new way.  Using our Six Step Future Ready Communities Engagement Model, communities work through imagining their future, and how to put plans into action.
Read on to find out more

What’s a Resilience Canopy?

Notice the reach of a tree’s branches and leaves providing shelter and shade. The way the tree stands tall and strong amongst the busy life inside and around it.
A Resilience Canopy, with strongly connected branches driving down into the earth’s foundations is something that can be grown together by communities in order to withstand shocks and stresses and to re-emerge stronger.  Communities who are strong and connected are more challenge-ready – just like the canopy of a tree.

Pathways

Communities need to be able to lead their own future-ready discussions, that's why we provide training.

1. Train
2. Activate
3. Connect
4. Share
1. Train
This program will upskill and mentor an Australia-wide network of community resilience practitioners to lead their communities on a resilience building journey. Everyone is welcome to undertake the training, whether they are individual community members or part of a team working in an organisation. Learn more.

Our Goal

2000 community resilience practitioners by 2030 to activate resilience conversations in their communities.

Ready with the skills, our trained Canopy Collective practitioners  support their communities to explore strategies and actions to overcome their identified challenges

2. Activate
Our newly trained Canopy practitioners are supported to guide their communities through the six-steps to explore strategies and actions to overcome their identified challenges – be it fires, floods or social disruptions.  This process takes time and commitment from community members and identified partners like councils or emergency authorities. The result? A pathway and plan of actions that begin to shape resilience

Our Goal

Empower and activate 500 Australian Communities to undertake their own resilience building journey by 2030.

Communities moving through their resilience building journey will identify the support they need to put their plans into action

3. Connect
With their priorities in hand, we help connect communities with enabling partners wishing to invest in communities through cash and in-kind support – amplifying their efforts and outcomes. We’ll connect partner resources to community needs through our online portal.

Our Goal

Grow a network of 200 partners across the corporate and for-purpose sectors, and 250 local government partners to assist communities implement their goals.

A resilience movement needs to connect all the knowledge, learning and networks of people together so that they continue to teach and share with other communities, which creates that ripple effect of generational resilience.

4. Share
Canopy House provides an online platform for the growing network of capable, connected and more resilient Canopy Communities, Practitioners and Partners to share their insights, access resources and match need with investment.

Our Goal

Build an entire community of practice, connected online, to strengthen Australia's locally-led resilience movement

Swipe to read

Canopy House, our online portal, is coming soon. It brings together...

  • Pathways to Resilience Training
  • A Practitioners gateway
  • Community stories, profiles, resilience plans and ways to connect
  • Data and analytics about communities and their risk profiles
  • Avenues for funding and donations
  • A gateway for partners and volunteers
  • Resources for resilience-building

A different approach to resilience

  • We support communities to identify and articulate their priorities because resilience doesn’t always come from a plan.
  • We help communities to find their own path to resilience because it looks different in every community. To deliver on their ideas to tackle challenges, they can take actions or advocate themselves, or in conjunction with authorities, or choose to activate their own partnerships.
  • We mentor leaders to build capacity and keep teaching resilience for an enduring legacy.
  • We seek to work with communities where the need is the greatest.
  • We equip communities to lead collectively and build connections in an environment of empowerment and respect.
  • We amplify the existing wisdom of communities.
  • We acknowledge and respect Indigenous wisdom, and intergenerational knowledge.
Support the program

C.R.E.W.

At the centre of a Resilient Community

What characteristics does a resilient Canopy Community have in common? Connection, respect, empowerment, and wisdom, also known as CREW.

Connection

Social connection has a critical role in creating communities that are resilient to shocks and stresses – with neighbours and friends, and also people with influence

Respect

Along with inclusion, the circle of respect (giving and receiving) is an important characteristic of resilience to ensure everyone is listening to all those involved

Empowerment

Create the space and opportunities for community to take on challenges and solve them in their own ways

Wisdom

Beyond knowledge, wisdom is the communities’ capacity to act with insight and experience

Six-Step Model

A model to reimagine resilience

The Six-Step Future Ready Communities Model is a community engagement approach designed to support the true meaning of community-led resilience building. Each of the Six-Steps are designed to unpack community aspirations and lead them through the decisions and actions that will make the greatest impact.    

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the program all about disasters?
No, but communities who continue to be hit by disasters are often in need ofbuilding their community resilience in order to withstand adapt and come outstronger in the face of these impacts. We know there are many other criticalissues impacting how prepared communities are for the unknown. This programconsiders both natural and human-caused disasters and other stressors such asthe impact of homelessness, mental health and wellbeing and economic changes.
How is resilience different to preparedness?
Preparedness is about the actions communities can take to ‘prepare for’ disasters ‘before they occur’.  Relief and recovery efforts happen ‘after’ a disaster occurs.  Resilience building is different because its focus is on ‘strengthening and connecting’ communities for all types of shocks (like fires and floods) and stresses (like economic or social impacts).  We know that communities that are stronger will respond and recover more quickly from any type of expected event or disaster. When we take community resiliency beyond disaster response or relief, we can begin to address the consequences of systemic disadvantages. Boosting resilience means strengthening communities and enhancing their health in a way that will reduce the negative impacts of challenges both present and future.
How do I get involved?
You can be part of a community group designing and delivering on a resilient future through priority setting and action planning – see Communities. You can become a resilience champion through our training.  You can be a partner or giver of your time, resources and knowledge.  You can sign-up for our Newsletter, or connect with us on social media and share your learnings and success stories.