Concerned about climate change and its influence on drought, bushfire and water availability?

Interested in regenerative agriculture or how the media is changing in your town?

Feeling forgotten and voiceless after the disasters that have hit you and your community recently?

2020 has been a difficult year. First the drought and summer bushfires, that tore through communities and blanketed our communities in smoke for months. And just as we got through the bushfires, COVID-19 struck, shutting down the economy. 

The online Farmers for Climate Action Community Resilience forums presented information on a topic relevant to each local area, explored the impacts of climate change that communities are already facing and discussed strategies to help people communities through the next few weeks, months and years.

We are in the middle of a huge moment of disruption and we have the chance to envisage and create a better world on the other side of it. These forums also provided the community with tools to go out and create the community change they want to see.

Each forum began with some words from Wendy Cohen (CEO of Farmers for Climate Action), next was Dr Rob Gordon, followed up by a guest speaker on a topic particularly relevant to the local area, and finishing with Denis Ginnivan.

Community Resilience – Dr Rob Gordon

Dr Rob Gordon

Dr Rob Gordon is a clinical psychologist who has been working in the field of disaster recovery since Ash Wednesday in 1983. He has worked with people and communities after the Port Arthur shooting, the Bali Bombing, Black Saturday and numerous natural disasters throughout Australia and New Zealand. At all five forums Rob spoke on the impact of disasters on weakening the social fabric of communities.

View Dr Gordon's Slides

Community Politics – Denis Ginnivan

Denis Ginnivan

Denis Ginnivan is a grassroots political leader, who is President and a foundation member of Voices for Indi, a community group based in northeast Victoria. He is also co-chair of Totally Renewable Yackandandah. Denis worked with the community to explore the type of actions and future directions participants might like to take or strengthen to increase the resilience of their community into the future.

Voiced for IndiTotally Renewable YackandandahVictorian Women's Trust

Wagga Wagga Climate Change, Drought and Community Resilience Forum

On 12th May 2020, Professor Mark Howden spoke at the Farmers for Climate Action Wagga Wagga Climate Change, Drought and Community Resilience Forum on the latest Climate Change outlook and the outlook for future impacts from drought. This forum is the first in a series of five which looks at community resilience following disaster.

Mark Howden

Professor Mark Howden has worked on climate variability, climate change, innovation and adoption issues for over 30 years in partnership with many industry, community and policy groups via both research and science-policy roles. He has been a major contributor to the IPCC since 1991, with roles in the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth and now Sixth Assessment Reports, sharing the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with other IPCC participants and Al Gore. Mark is Director of the Climate Change Institute at the Australian National University. He is also an Honorary Professor at Melbourne University.

Mark Howden
Denis Ginnivan
Dr Rob Gordon

Bega Climate Change, Bushfires and Community Resilience Forum

Full Forum
Dr Rob Gordon
Greg Mullins
Denis Ginnivan

On 19th May 2020, Farmers for Climate Action ran the online Bega and South Coast Community Resilience forum to support communities and people still grappling with the fallout of the summer bushfires.

Greg Mullins delivered the forum’s focused address, speaking about the impact of climate change on the intensity, severity and increasing frequency of bushfires. Other speakers include clinical psychologist Dr Rob Gordon, grassroots political expert Denis Ginnivan and Farmers for Climate Action CEO Wendy Cohen.

Greg Mullins

Greg Mullins is an internationally recognised expert in responding to major bushfires and natural disasters and developed a keen interest in the linkages between climate change and extreme weather events. He coordinated responses to many major natural disasters over more than 2 decades and retired as Commissioner of Fire & Rescue NSW in January 2017.

To read more of Greg’s work visit the Climate Council website.

Gippsland Climate Change, Regenerative Agriculture and Community Resilience Forum

On Tuesday 26th May, Farmers for Climate Action ran the online Gippsland Climate Change, Regenerative Agriculture and Community Resilience Forum to support communities still grappling with the fallout of the summer bushfires and drought.

Lorraine Gordon delivered the forum’s focused address on regenerative agriculture and bushfire recovery. Lorraine experienced the terrifying effect of bushfires on her own farm in the Northern Rivers of NSW last year. Other speakers included clinical psychologist Dr Rob Gordon, grassroots political expert Denis Ginnivan and Farmers for Climate Action CEO Wendy Cohen.

Lorraine Gordon

Lorraine Gordon is the founder of the National Regenerative Agriculture Alliance based out of Southern Cross University (SCU). As Director of Strategic Projects at SCU and Associate Director of the University’s Centre for Organic Research, Lorraine acts as a conduit between industry and research, delivering sustainable and regenerative agriculture solutions nationally. Lorraine is a beef trader from Ebor, NSW. Lorraine was awarded the 2018 Australian Rural Community Leader of the Year for her work with farmers.

Full Forum
Lorraine Gordon

Shepparton Climate Change, Water Availability and Community Resilience Forum

Full Forum
Dr Peter Hayman

The impacts of water constraints on the Murray-Darling Basin are still being felt across our communities. Farmers for Climate Action is ran the Shepparton Community Resilience forum to support communities and people still grappling with reduced water allocations and drought.

Dr Peter Hayman delivered this forum’s focused address on the impact of climate change and climate variability on river inflows and water availability. Other speakers included clinical psychologist Dr Rob Gordon, grassroots political expert Denis Ginnivan and Farmers for Climate Action CEO Wendy Cohen.

Peter Hayman

Dr Peter Hayman is the Principal Scientist in Climate Applications at SARDI. As program leader of the climate applications science program area, he works with industry stakeholders in dryland and irrigated industries to identify key climate risks and then form appropriate research and development partnerships to address the issue. He provides a two way flow of information between climate scientists from the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO and agriculture in South Australia.

Lismore Climate Change, Fake News and Community Resilience Forum

On Tuesday 9th June, Farmers for Climate Action held the Lismore Climate Change, Fake News and Community Resilience online forum. Matthew Ricketson delivered this forum’s focused address on the impact of a changing media landscape and fake news on the understanding of climate change and community resilience. Other speakers included clinical psychologist Dr Rob Gordon, grassroots political expert Denis Ginnivan, your very own regenerative agriculturalist Lorraine Gordon and Farmers for Climate Action CEO Wendy Cohen.

Matthew Ricketson

Matthew Ricketson is an academic and journalist. He is currently the head of the Communications Group at Deakin University. Prior to this role, he was the inaugural Professor of Journalism at the University of Canberra between 2009 and 2017. For three years before that he was Media and Communications Editor for The Age.

Full Forum
Matthew Ricketson
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