Twelve groups and five individuals from five drought-prone regions share $152,000 in grant funding to prepare their communities for future droughts.
The in-total 38 grant recipients are part of a cohort of 132 graduates of the Drought Resilience Leaders Development program in their regions. From workshops to events and conversations, each initiative brings local communities together and builds social and economic resilience to the impact of drought.
It’s the second round of community extension grants awarded to participants. The first two rounds of Community Extension Grants have resulted in 23 projects receiving a combined total of $220,000 in funding. Participants who have already completed the program, but have not yet received any project funding, can still apply for a grant as part of the third round until 15 July 2022.
Western New South Wales
Building resilience skills in bush kids
Group grantee – $12,000
Building resilience skills in bush kids delivers resilience building skills to parents and children in rural and remote Western New South Wales by providing a workshop with Leanne Jones from Kalm Kids.
Community kickstart
Group grantee – $8,000
Community kickstart is a workshop and directory to help not-for-profit organisations build community reach and engagement. Following the workshop, an open day will kickstart community engagement for these organisations.
Connecting bush families
Group grantee – $8,000
Connecting bush families transforms facilities and provides resources for families in the Bourke and Central Darling Shires. The purposeful spaces encourage families to come together and build relationships, connect with community groups and services and facilitate storytelling and play. The grant is used to purchase resources to transform the spaces, foster educational play, and store resources safely from adverse weather and pests.
Building capacity for rural leaders to support emotional resilience in their local communities
Group grantee – $12,000
This initiative delivers social and emotional resilience initiative training to community leaders in the Western New South Wales. It is delivered in partnership with Outback Futures.
The decision-making process for livestock producers
Group grantee – $8,000
This initiative engages industry experts across the region to facilitate and event on decision-making to build awareness of channelise faced during drought. It will contribute to learnings to build future drought resilience and lead to a report identifying primary drought challenges for livestock producers.
A night for western women in business
Group grantee – $8,000
With keynote speakers and panelists discussing women’s wellbeing and mental-load and building resilience skills for business owners, this event helps local women build self-wellbeing skills and coping strategies to boost resilience.
Northwest Slopes and Plains
Bringing Bonshaw together
Individual grantee – $4,000
With support from the Bonshaw Hall Committee, this initiative establishes a group of woman to facilitate three resilience-building events. The group also plans to engage with teenagers and their views about the community’s future.
Good to go ag-finance workshop
Individual grantee – $4,000
This workshop is designed to develop financial literacy skills, increase confidence in business planning, provide information on banking needs and access to loans to support young farmers. The workshop also provides access to mental health information to support financial journeys and develop a social network for young farmers to be resourceful, adaptive and remain connected in their communities.
Bush dancing for community connection and resilience
Group grantee – $8,000
Two bush dance events will build drought resilience by bringing the community together and providing awareness of local support services.
My drought story
Group grantee – $16,000
My drought story is a digital media and awareness campaign in previously drought affected areas of New South Wales. The initiative encourages people in these areas to share drought experiences through images and stories. The campaign will have a focus on images illustrating ‘before’ and ‘after’ drought.
Murraylands
Farmer resilience in a changing environment
Individual grantee – $4,000
Farmer resilience in a changing environment is an introduction workshop to holistic farming models for regional graziers. Working with the Yankalilla Agriculture Advisory Network, the workshop addresses current climatic trends and the risk of reduced rainfall in the future across the Fleurieu and aims to help farmers to overcome a changing environment and increase overall community wellbeing.
Slow down for the bend
Group grantee – $20,000
Slow down for the bend is an evening of light entertainment for the local farming community to highlight the importance of self-care, community connectedness and access to good mental health resources.
Building resilience in Bowhill
Individual grantee – $4,000
Building resilience in Bowhill is a workshop connecting women in the Mallee. The day includes networking activities, a three-hour workshop focused on empowering women on the land and a keynote speech by Alex Thomas from ‘Plant a seed for safety’.
Goulburn Valley
Growing connections and resilience for youth in agriculture
Group grantee – $12,000
This initiative is a no-cost luncheon for 18 to 35 year old early career farmers and agricultural professionals in the Goulburn Valley to discuss pathways to farming and agricultural careers, goal-setting, improving mindsets and building resilience.
Connecting our emerging leaders – talking today to tackle tomorrow
Group grantee – $12,000
Talking today to tackle tomorrow is a workshop to foster conversations about developing and supporting emerging leaders within the community and agencies. With a focus on sharing knowledge, creating connections, the group will also discuss future engagement and networking models.
Eyre Peninsula
Tales of Eyre
Individual grantee – $4000
A series of podcast episodes, Tales of Eyre encourages connection, conversation and understanding by hearing peoples’ stories about life in the four towns of the Wudinna district. The conversations will feature peoples’ experiences living in the region including hardships living in remote communities and the things they love about their community.
A stronger Eyre Peninsula to strengthen drought resilience
Group grantee – $8,000
As a community reference group, A stronger Eyre Peninsula to strengthen drought resilience plans to develop a narrative for Port Lincoln through the eyes of its seafood tourism industry. Illustrated as signage at the Lincoln Cover Marine, the group will share the local seafood industry’s story. The project is supportive of the local council’s strategy to refresh the area for tourism and will bring the community together, strengthening local networks.
