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Disaster Management and Resilience (free webinar)
August 5, 2020 @ 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
HEI are delighted to present the Disaster Management and Resilience webinar, presented by two of the Hunter’s most experienced professionals in this field – Skye Moore (Regional Disaster Preparedness Officer – Hunter from Resilience NSW) and Siobhan Isherwood (Environmental Projects Coordinator) from Hunter Joint Organisation. We’ll explore local and regional perspectives to disaster preparedness, emergency response and resilience for our communities.
Please join this free event on Wednesday 5 August 2020 at 3.50pm for our webinar (4pm – 5.30pm) using this link: https://uonewcastle.zoom.us/j/92605146507.
Introduction to the Regional Disaster Preparedness Program
The Regional Disaster Preparedness Program is a 2-year initiative funded by the NSW Government which will be managed jointly through Resilience NSW and Hunter Joint Org which commenced in April 2020. The program aims to provide support to local government to better prepare for, response to and recovery from emergencies.
Presented by Skye Moore
Skye is the Regional Disaster Preparedness Officer from Resilience NSW, working with Hunter and Central Coast Councils to enhance their ability to prevent, prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies.
Skye is passionate about resilience – starting her career in ecosystem resilience with Hunter-Central Coast Catchment Management Authority in 2004 before turning to community disaster resilience with Hunter Local Land services, and most recently with the NSW Police Force.
Skye has over 16 years of diverse work experience, covering community engagement, natural resource management, biodiversity conservation, floodplain management, climate change adaptation, emergency management and disaster resilience.
Communicating Disasters: Challenges and opportunities for Councils
An Australia-wide report undertaken in 2010 found that almost 20% of recommendations made [in emergency incident and emergency exercise debriefing sessions and reports, spanning 2003 to 2008] related to improving communication with the community. Community members look to their Council as an important source of support and information, before, during and after disasters. Effective Disaster Communication requires that messages be both understood and trusted.
Through funding provided by Resilience NSW, the Hunter Joint Organisation has been exploring the challenges faced by Council in the region when it comes to communicating about disasters. When natural disasters strike it is not unusual for Councils to be inundated by a deluge of communication demands from their communities. The HJO disaster communications project has identified some of the gaps in resources and knowledge and created a suite of materials to build communication skills, capacity and resilience in Councils.
Presented by Siobhan Isherwood
Siobhan Isherwood has been at the Hunter Joint Organisation as Environmental Projects Coordinator for 18 months, working across a number of regional projects including waste education and disaster resilience. She studied environmental science at Monash University and is currently undertaking a Masters in Conservation Biology.
She previously worked in the renewable energy industry before joining the HJO. She is passionate about working collaboratively and creatively towards a more sustainable future.
The recording of this free webinar is available below, and at https://youtu.be/nxiaQUk0xnc: