Connection

In Millgrove, situated in Victoria’s Yarra Ranges, the Millgrove Residents Action Group (MRAG) has been busy forming connections with local groups, major organisations, other community members, and nearby communities.

MRAG’s local partnerships include the River Valley Church, Koha Community Café, Upper Yarra Rotary, the CFA, Millwarra Primary School, and the local council. These connections have helped build strong community initiatives like free meal programs and well organised events. 

Its connections with major organisations have led to generous funding and support, and tangible change. In fact, they’ve converted their initial $20k seed funding into over $800k in investments through connections with the likes of AusNet Energy, Bendigo Bank, and Telstra. 

MRAG’s promotion of intergenerational engagement – with youth becoming involved in surveys and events and open forums – sets the community up for sustained connection. 

Another invaluable connection has been between Millgrove and the neighbouring town, Warburton (also a Canopy Community), with MRAG and the Warburton Emergency Planning Group (WEPG) working together to help both communities thrive.

Through this knowledge-sharing, Warburton heard about The Resilience Canopy. They have since created their own resilience plan and set about actioning several of their identified priorities. No doubt Warburton’s momentum will help them connect with other communities, causing a positive ripple effect of change.

This ripple effect is further evidenced by the two communities working together on a newsletter – 3799 Connect – which is disseminated across several Yarra Valley communities, providing a valuable, community-owned communications asset that supports ongoing connection, knowledge-sharing, and outreach across the region.  

Respect

In this context, respect is about building trust and encouraging different perspectives, so that every voice feels heard.

Two trained practitioners in Marong VIC, a town within the City of Greater Bendigo, are actively working to ensure that everyone in their community feels recognised and respected, by conducting inclusive community surveys and door knocking, and welcoming input from diverse participants and inviting them to attend meetings.  

As a result, the Marong Community Action Group (MCAG)’s first Deep Dive session had an incredible turnout, with 50 community members (that’s 2.5% of their overall population) attending!

At the workshop, they organised pizza and dinner for all the attendees to make the event more accessible, knowing that it’s easier to get to know each other and start building trust when sharing a meal, especially in a welcoming and informal atmosphere.  

It was also a conscious, inclusive decision to bring the dinner table to some of the more marginalised community members there, and to make sure their voices were included in the room.

This demonstrates the strong community connectivity around a shared goal, and the benefits that come with respectfully including people from all walks of life within each community.

Acknowledging potential barriers, like the groups’ limited capacities and their ongoing struggles in getting other demographics involved, such as younger people, also displays respect.
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Empowerment

In Kempsey NSW and Gympie QLD, two Canopy Communities are working on ways to engage and empower youth, by trusting that young people know what’s best for them and supporting them to lead the process, advocate, and make decisions for themselves.

Kempsey currently has one of the youngest mayors in NSW, leading the Council and advocating for education, experience and collaboration to raise young people up the decision ladder. 

In announcing the successful Activation Grant for Macleay Youth Rising, Mayor Kinne Ring captured the essence of CREW: 

“Our community works best when people work together and when we empower people and community groups to do the work and share their knowledge.”
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— Mayor Kinne Ring, Kempsey Shire Council

Building this empowerment at every level of a community is paramount to success, especially when it comes to engaging young people, some of whom feel marginalised within the current community culture.  

And knowing that The Resilience Canopy is there to provide skills, resources, guidance and support empowers communities to think big and keep all ideas on the table. 
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Wisdom

There is deep wisdom in any community, be it knowledge of prior extreme weather events from longstanding residents, learnings from people’s professional roles, cultural nuances brought from other communities.

By drawing on this wisdom, unearthing people’s stories, and listening to each other’s experiences, new and old alike, each community’s perspectives become richer. It’s these chats that lead to wisdom coming to the forefront, and to those meaningful ‘A-ha moments’ that can propel a community forward.  

In Warburton VIC, the Warburton Emergency Planning Group (WEPG) boasts an interesting mix of people. Its President, Kevin, for example, has been living there for decades. But vibrant new members are bringing fresh perspectives.

In one of their Deep Dive sessions, tourism was perceived as a strength of the town. But other members who had lived there for a long time saw it as a pressure point.  Recognising this lived experience, the group leaned into the complexity, knowing that these differences are an important part of building a stronger, more connected future. 

In another session, someone pointed out that there wasn’t a business owner in the room. The group paused and reflected. Who else should be there? Whose wisdom and knowledge are missing? They made a commitment to invite small business representatives to the next session. 

Wisdom isn’t stagnant either. With each plan and project that a community collaborates on, the more wisdom they accrue. This extends from informal discussions with neighbours to understanding what’s possible and what to prioritise through to the art of grant writing and negotiations.