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Community Resilience Forums
Concerned about climate change and its influence on drought, bushfire and water availability?
This 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 area, explore the impacts of climate change that communities are already facing and discuss strategies to help people communities through the next few weeks, months and years.
Wendy grew up in various small townships across rural NSW where the challenges and rewards of farming were part of everyday life and the importance of community identity and fortitude was written into her DNA. Wendy graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from Charles Sturt University. In 2002 she took up the role as CEO of Equestrian NSW and over the next 11 years worked with rural and regional communities to grow the Aussie icon of horse sports and ownership. When equine influenza hit Australia Wendy spearheaded the NSW response to the crisis, championing members and horse-related businesses as the industry struggled to cope with the financial and social impact of EI, including distribution of over $25 million of Commonwealth relief funds. Most recently Wendy was CEO of Country Education Foundation of Australia where she fought for better outcomes for education in rural and regional communities including greater participation of country students in jobs pathways via university, TAFE and apprenticeships.
Denis is a grassroots political leader, who is the immediate past president and a foundation member of Voices for Indi, a community group based in northeast Victoria, which seeks to encourage citizens to engage and participate in politics and democracy. Denis occupied key senior leadership roles in the three successful independent Indi campaigns of 2013, 2016 and 2019. He is also deputy-chair of Totally Renewable Yackandandah, another community group, which maximises opportunities for renewable energy uptake in his beautiful country town. Denis will work 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. Denis will work with participants on how to take meaningful action in their local communities.
