Rural communities seem to have an innate ability to respond to natural disasters, yet can be immobilised in the onslaught of gradual change. Praise for reactive collaboration and ‘resilience’ masks a need for greater readiness, hindered by competitive funding, systemic bias, community factions and lacking civic engagement.
Ready Communities is a grassroots program for rural communities which is currently being piloted in Kempsey, NSW Australia. The program applies a collective learning approach enabling skills, knowledge and behaviours to build strong and collaborative communities.
Ready Communities recognises opportunities for collective learning in every facet of community life. The program identifies five key themes to draw the community together, and then weaves learning opportunities throughout the program enabling opportunities for all community members to come together, to share information and resources and to develop a shared vision for the futures of the community.
