A cohort of 26 local resilience leaders have gathered in the Bellingen Shire to develop collaborative relationships and strategies to guide the Shire’s and the greater regions ongoing disaster preparedness, recovery and resilience activities.

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Bellingen Shire Council Mayor, Cr Dominic King, said the gathering was another national first for the regional cohort, who were all recently selected as Community Leadership and Resilience Scholarship recipients.

“Council championed the Mid North Coast Joint Organisation’s (MNCJO) efforts to join forces with Charles Sturt University to create this scholarship scheme and train a skilled network of local community leaders to fuel the region’s recovery”.

“Members were selected from our regions councils and local communities to undertake two online micro subjects towards a Graduate Certificate in Community Leadership & Resilience with Charles Sturt University.

They have been participating in the online study group working through these subjects since the beginning of July this year.”

Cr King said the scholarship recipients would also be automatically granted membership to the Mid North Coast Community Leadership and Resilience Network cohort, progressing efforts beyond the two scholarship subjects to identify long-term regional priorities and solutions for the Mid North Coast Region.

“Yesterday’s gathering was the first of many that will occur beyond the cohort’s current online study activities, and their collaborative efforts and expertise will contribute towards our community’s capacity to support a strong, positive recovery, and better prepare for future disaster events.”

Cr King said the output of the Mid North Coast Community Leadership and Resilience Network cohort would also inform Council’s ongoing work with State and Federal Agencies and community service providers to implement sustainable and effective community initiatives.

“Like many councils, our core objective has been to support our community through this pandemic, however that does not mean that our community isn’t still hurting from years of drought then the fires and floods.

“It is important that we continue to collaborate with this network and emergency and community service providers to ensure we deliver shire-wide solutions.”

By: Sandra MOON