Audrey Cetois is in the first phase of her PhD with University of Queensland and is conducting a resilience survey in Rainbow Beach and is seeking help from residents.
The whole project is by and for Rainbow Beach residents with the first community engagement activity the Rainbow Beach Community Vision and Resilience survey.
“The ideal project considers all the voices in Rainbow Beach and so the more people come forward and share their ideas and views the better. For the survey, a 100 completed survey is the goal.
“A key part of resilience is preparedness. When we think about what could go wrong and we become aware of our strengths and challenges, that’s the beginning of preparedness.”
This survey takes about twenty minutes and contains questions relating to you and your life in Rainbow Beach, your vision for Rainbow Beach’s future, and your views on Rainbow Beach community resilience.
Entries will close at the end of April and Audrey is planning to make the survey results available a few weeks after that.
In July-September community workshops and other activities will take place with Audrey planning to have the Resilience Action Plan available by the end of this year.
“All constructive feedback is welcome. The stakeholders for this project are the community residents but also the council, disaster organisations, infrastructure and utilities, and many others. They all play a part in Rainbow Beach resilience. “
The survey results are providing a baseline for how the community views its future and residents’ thoughts on resilience. This will guide the next community activities.
“The Survey report could also be used when interacting with the council or other organisations, for future planning for example.”
Audrey first interviewed resilience professionals and community members to understand what resilience meant to them.
“I happened to interview a Rainbow Beach community member and I gained a lot of insight in Rainbow Beach context. After chatting and interviewing a few locals, I sensed a need for and interest in the project, and I decided to work with Rainbow.”
“We know that resilience is very much about context. For example, what resilience is for Gympie CBD, Tin Can Bay, or Rainbow Beach would look quite different. This is because of a multitude of factors like demographics, income sources, geography and so on. A CSIRO framework was tested in different contexts, mostly overseas, to build resilience for droughts for example. I hope to find out how the framework can be applied to meet Australian communities need.”
Audrey said the framework includes a series of community activities. Those activities include the creation of a core group of residents who will drive the project, hopefully beyond my involvement because my PhD will end.
“This core group of residents have already started to emerge, and it is very exciting. The goal of my PhD is the co-production of the Rainbow Beach Resilience Action Plan, and for the core group to be in situation where they can implement it.”
“The opportunity to do a PhD in community resilience with a strong component of community participation presented itself and I took it. The overall PhD goal is to co-produce a Community Resilience Action Plan with a community using and testing a framework developed by the CSIRO. My role is to listen and facilitate resilience building and to support the community in being recognised as an expert at its resilience.
French born Audrey worked as a contaminated land consultant for seven years when first coming to Australia and said she needed a change and decided to study for her Masters of Sustainable Energies at the University of Queensland which included subjects like stakeholder engagement and innovation adoption.
“It became clear to me that people and communities were key in designing a desirable future. And I realised that I would like to contribute to communities having a voice and agency over their future. At the same time, several disasters like the pandemic, fires and floods unfolded and community resilience became my focus.”
For those completing the survey, a link for a brief survey report will be provided via email and social media. A one-page summary will also be available for newsletters, articles and other communications.
Please complete the survey by putting this link in your website browser. survey.app.uq.edu.au/rainbow-beach-community-vision
The PhD thesis is due in the second half of 2023.
