In this week’s episode of Doing Disasters Differently, Renae is talking with Kruthika Nagananda, a passionate advocate for resilience who moved from India to Australia to pursue her dream of strengthening communities in times of crisis. Today, we are talking about Kruthika’s journey, from completing her Master’s in Disaster Resilience and Sustainable Development at the University of Newcastle to her work in disaster risk reduction at the Walcha Council and now with the Australian Red Cross in the Urban Climate Resilience Program. 

In this week’s episode of Doing Disasters Differently, Renae is talking with Fiona Jago, a former dairy farmer and small business owner with deep roots in regional Victoria. Fiona and her husband, Mark, made a bold move to purchase and run a caravan park on Kangaroo Island, South Australia, where they became active community members. However, the devastating 2019-2020 bushfires profoundly impacted their lives, prompting three years of rebuilding. Eventually, they decided to sell and return to regional Victoria to be closer to family. Now, as a lived experience facilitator with Resilient Ready, Fiona travels across Australia, sharing her resilience journey and helping other small business owners navigate challenges. 

In this week’s episode of Doing Disasters Differently, Renae is talking with Johanna Garnett who is the Manager of Disaster Resilience & Risk Reduction at the South Australian Fire and Emergency Services Commission (SAFECOM). Today we are talking about building cultural heritage resilience. 

In this week’s episode of Doing Disasters Differently, Renae is talking with Dr Val Ingham who is the Associate Professor, Emergency Management at Charles Sturt University. Today we are talking about Indicators of Community Disaster Fatigue. 

In this week’s episode of Doing Disasters Differently, Renae is talking with Professor Daniel Aldrich, Director of the resilience and security studies program at Northeastern University in the USA who’s also a volunteer advisory member of Resilient Ready and project delivery partner. Today we are talking about bringing social capital and social infrastructure measurement to Australia. 

In this episode, Renae reflects on the increasing complexity of disasters in Australia, from bushfires and floods to smaller disruptions like power outages and staffing shortages. She emphasises the critical role small businesses play in community resilience, noting that "if small businesses get impacted, it actually affects the whole community." 

Renae discusses the development of the Business Community Resilience toolkit, a microlearning program focused on disaster preparedness, which uses nudge theory to help businesses become more resilient. This approach has been implemented across various regions and industries, including collaborations with the CFA in Victoria and the South Australian government. 

In this week’s episode of Doing Disasters Differently, I sat down with David Parsons, crisis management expert, and volunteer advisor and delivery partner at Resilient Ready and today we are talking about safeguarding livelihoods and services after disasters. 

In this week’s episode of Doing Disasters Differently, I sat down with Tracy Collier, GM of Strategy and Programs for the Thriving Communities Partnership and today we are talking about building thriving communities. 

In this week’s episode of Doing Disasters Differently the Podcast, I sit down with Jenn Donovan from Spend with us and we are discussing ‘Getting Australia to Buy from the Bush’. 

Today Renae sits down with Bridget Tehan, the Senior Policy Advisor at the Victorian Council of Social Services, also called VCOSS. We are sitting down to discuss the role of community organisations in disasters.
Bridget has worked for more than 10 years in emergency management in both the government and not-for-profit sectors. Bridget is currently a senior policy advisor at the Victorian Council of Social Services and works to highlight the role of the community sector in building resilience and to explore the role of the sector in emergency management.

Bridget also works to highlight the needs of vulnerable and disadvantaged people before, during and after emergencies as well as their needs in the mitigation, transition and adaptation to climate change. Bridget is also the co-founder and President of the Australasian Women in Emergencies Network (AWEN).

Links:

VCOSS 

Perspectives from the frontline report

Connect with Bridget on LinkedIn