A GROUNDBREAKING NEW PROGRAM aimed at building resilience and hope in rural and regional communities will bring world-leading regenerative agriculture and trauma recovery experts to Bairnsdale and the broader Gippsland region next week.
Farmers for Climate Action, a group of farmers and rural leaders working to ensure farmers and regional communities are a key part of the solution to climate change, are hosting a virtual Community Resilience forum for the Bairnsdale and greater Gippsland community on 26 May, 2020.
The free forum, which is open to the entire community to attend, will look at the impacts of drought and bushfires on the region and how the community can develop the strength and resources to face the challenges of climate change.
Featured speakers include clinical psychologist Dr Rob Gordon and Lorraine Gordon,
founder and director of strategic projects at the National Regenerative Agriculture Alliance, based out of Southern Cross University.
Alongside her role at the alliance, Ms Gordon runs a beef cattle fattening operation in northern NSW that was hit twice by bushfires over the summer. The fires inflicted widespread damage on her property.
She said she was looking forward to talking to the Bairnsdale community about building both emotional and business resilience in the face of the challenges posed by our changing climate.
"Farmers are pragmatists, they like to see things working and to chew the fat with other farmers before trying something new," she said.
"But there are real opportunities in the regenerative space, to create businesses that are much more financially sustainable into the future."
"Farmers who resist change risk being left behind, but research into regenerative techniques is offering lots of reasons for hope."
Wendy Cohen, CEO of Farmers for Climate Action, said that with drought, bushfires and now the COVID-19 crisis, communities across Gippsland have had a difficult few years. She said the forum aims to bring people together to develop strategies to face the challenges that lie ahead.
"Rural and regional Australians have an extraordinary capacity for coming together and tackling challenges as one," she said.
"Drought, bushfires and social isolation have had a huge impact on Gippsland, but we want to bring people together to identify and pursue the solutions that will make communities stronger, more resilient against climate and economic threats, and help alleviate the threat of climate change," said Cohen.
Anyone who is interested in joining this free, online forum can register their details at https://www.farmersforclimateaction.org.au/bairnsdale_2020_forum
