Canopy Communities

We're on a mission to activate and empower 500 Canopy Communities across Australia to begin their resilience building journey.

We’re building a nation-wide community of practice to achieve this mission

Each Canopy Community member will continue to teach and share their resilience building knowledge and skills within their own communities, passing on wisdom to equip future generations to better deal with unexpected natural events and challenges.

Supporting Australian communities to thrive means...

...our most vulnerable don't get left behind when disaster strikes

The Resilience Canopy is open to all Australian communities to...

  • Take part in training and become part of the practitioner network - the Canopy Collective
  • Use the resources and learnings to undergo the six-step community resilience building process
  • Connect with business, government and other partners to help match their goals with the right cash or in-kind support

There's already Canopy Communities all over Australia...

Is your community ready?

All communities are vulnerable to shocks and stresses...

...but some more so than others. Some communities experience a range of social or environmental disadvantages that need a guiding hand to build resilience to future challenges. Poverty, social isolation, disability or cultural barriers can put these communities at risk of greater disadvantage when disaster strikes.

We’re looking for communities to join us who need help to build their social connections and identify how they can better withstand future challenges. ​Fire and flood affected towns are welcome to join the movement. We strongly suggest that communities that are still in active disaster recovery may not yet be ready to embark on long term resilience building.  

​Our training program will help you to assess community readiness for resilience building by guiding you through the theory.​Get in touch with us by registering to become a Canopy Community and together we can assess their suitability for the program.

See the program

Activation Grants

Seed funding is available for communities to deliver on their resilience plan actions when applying the Six-Step Future Ready Communities Engagement Model.

Find out more...

Activation Grants

Resilience in action

The Millgrove Story

The Millgrove community in Victoria’s Yarra Valley is just one community using the Six Step Future Ready Communities Model to success. ​With a little support to guide them through the engagement process, Millgrove turned their own ideas about a stronger future, into key plan of activities and actions.  

​As a project with ResilientCo, AIDR and the Minderoo Foundation, they activated their community to develop a community resilience plan.​It's now being put into action as their big thinking projects have sparked interest by philanthropic and corporate organisations keen to support.

View the Community Plan

Latest Canopy Communities

These are the latest Resilience Communities added to our very own platform, Canopy House...

comm_card_state

{comm_card_title}

Suburb/Town

{comm_card_intro}

View all Communities

C.R.E.W.

At the centre of a Resilient Community

What characteristics does a resilient Canopy Community have in common? Connection, respect, empowerment, and wisdom, also known as CREW.

Connection

Brett pioneered the Six Step Future Ready Communities model while working with fire-affected communities in Victoria.

Respect

Along with Inclusion, we give respect and receive respect, to ensure everyone is listening to all those involved.

Empowerment

Create the space and opportunities for community to step up to the plate and solve their own challenges.

Wisdom

Beyond knowledge, wisdom is the communities’ capacity to act with insight and experience.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to go through the resilience building process?
Going through the Resilience Canopy process is a long-term journey.  The six-step engagement process can take some communities two or more years.  Continued relationships inside the community and with partners should be developed to be enduring, so that if a disaster strikes, that community is challenge-ready.
How do you know when a community is adapted and resilient?
There is no defined end-point for communities striving to live more safely with natural disasters or stresses.  Our communities are always changing: new residents are moving in, economic drivers ebb and flow, and natural vegetation continues to grow.
The traits that determine a resilient community in the face of hardship are based on the CREW principles  Connections Respect  Empowerment  Wisdom  Collaboration with local partners (including residents, community organisations, agency partners and more) often helps communities identify and mitigate their changing risks.
The traits that determine a resilient community in the face of hardship are based on the CREW principles:
  • Connections
  • Respect
  • Empowerment
  • Wisdom
Collaboration with local partners (including residents, community organisations, agency partners and more) often helps communities identify and mitigate their changing risks.
Does the Canopy support all communities or only 'at risk' communities?
When natural hazards are hardship becoming more frequent occurances, all communities in Australia need support to become resilient toward future challenges.  We exist to strengthen and connect ALL Australian communities.​However, some communities are more at risk than others.  The Resilience Canopy is heavily focused on supporting communities that are at risk of natural hazard-induced disasters and where economic and endemic stresses provide an additional layer of difficulty to recover and rebound from disasters when they strike again.
The most disadvantaged, such as those experiencing homelessness, poverty, domestic violence, disability along with First Nations people are most vulnerable to the impacts of disasters.  Our focus is to improve social vulnerability and community capacity outcomes within challenged, at risk communities across Australia.
How do communities get selected for sponsorship?
Sponsored community funding is weighted toward communities that are most vulnerable and most disadvantaged when disasters strike.  The Resilience Index, created by the Minderoo Foundation, examines relative exposure to disasters like fire and flood, social vulnerability indicators such as levels of poverty, mental health wellbeing and community health overall.  The LGAs listed within our 'Sponsored LGAs' section have been identified as high-risk according to the Resilience Index indicators of vulnerability to disaster.