Bushfire Biodiversity Webinars
Bushfire Biodiversity Webinars
Through partnership with Mid Coast Council, presenting the cost, recovery effort and opportunities for Biodiversity recovery 7 months on from bushfire.
Community Participation -
LP039-R002
The issue
The bushfire season of 2019 was felt heavily by the Mid North Coast community and biodiversity, however, it has taken some time to really address the true impacts. Prior to COVID restrictions, MC2T had been working with Mid Coast Council ecologists on a joint project to present the community with an update on the impact felt by the biodiversity of the Mid North Coast from the 2019 Bushfire season. With high RSVP numbers, it was clear the interest was there in the community, especially to be presented from a local perspective rather than on a national or state scale.
The solution
With RSVP numbers high, but gatherings cancelled for the foreseeable future, the decision was made to host this as our first online "Webinar". For a community with an older population, we were unsure about the uptake of this new format, but without an end of lockdown date, we choose to go ahead online.
The promotion was put out through the usual channels, with the addition of instructions and support to access the software Zoom. In addition, all the RSVP's from the previously planned event were contacted and given the link.
The decision was made to break the webinar into two parts, to avoid long periods online, and this allowed the time slot to be more flexible, slotting in the late afternoon to increase attendance by full-time workers.
The impact
In the end, both webinars had RSVP lists of over 50 attendees, something that would not have been possible in a face to face format with the usual venues. By recording these, this has also increased accessibility to this information, with the recording of part one being viewed an additional 60 times through our social media channels.
Our post-event survey suggested the shorter format and late afternoon time, both aspects that would likely not have occurred in the usual face to face format, were very popular with the audience, with 90% stating the late afternoon time slot suited them best.
The change in format meant that in the end, the information presented by Council was shared much more widely within our community then would have been possible previously. This was a great outcome as the information presented included the true cost of biodiversity loss in our region and highlighted opportunities to assist.
Key facts
- Webinars replaced traditional face to face workshops
- Allowed for greater attendance then previous venues would have allowed.
- Increased knowledge transfer by sharability post event
- Increased flexibility in length, time and format was popular with audience