Connecting community to help in dry times
Workshops, a social event and conference attendances to share information about drought responses
Capacity building - LEP25 - 014_LLC07_1
The issue
Climate change is predicted to lead to longer and more severe drought conditions which will have increasing impacts on farmers. We were funded by the Foundation for Regional and Rural Renewal to learn and share innovative ways to build drought resilience as a community, build local leadership, networks and social support and to change awareness of and attitudes to drought preparedness at the community level. While we are a strong and active Landcare group with regular guest speakers, we don't often make the time to just sit and talk as a community group about these issues.
The solution
We did a range of activities to achieve the goals of the grant, including running workshops, a social event and sending members to conferences. The most successful by far were our two workshops. In the first, we travelled to two nearby farms to learn how the farmers were not only adapting to current climate change impacts but actively trying to address the causes as well. In the second, we heard from guest speakers and planned our priorities for dealing with major issues such as climate change over the next five years. Our social event gave people the chance to connect informally and feedback from our conference attendees led to interesting conversations amongst the group.
The impact
Formal and informal feedback was very positive about the opportunities for learning, networking and especially discussion. Group members were heartened to find that others had similar concerns and felt that we could achieve more as a group than as individuals in tackling the issues raised. They were enthusiastic about the social and learning opportunities offered and asked if we could do more of these. Our key learnings were that * asking people how they feel about issues and providing the opportunities to talk led to more open discussion and helped people to prioritise their actions and * other farmers have paved the way with their own solutions to drought issues and we need to tap into their knowledge.
Key facts
- We were funded by FRRR to improve community connections and knowledge to help in dry times.
- We held two workshops, a social event and funded members to attend conferences.
- People had good conversations and felt more connected and informed.