Gympie resident’s experiences during the 2022 floods have been used to help formulate a recommendation guidebook to help communities can have greater resilience during natural disasters.
The Energy Ready Toolkit, is a first-of-its-kind free resource for Australian communities to help them prepare a plan for if the power goes out and ensure they remain energy resilient.
The toolkit is the result of a year-long process of research and consultation, funded by Energy Consumers Australia’s Grants Program and delivered in partnership with the UTS Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF), Community Power Agency and Parallel Lines.
This information was collected at a series of workshops in Gympie and Magnetic Island in Queensland, Mullumbimby and Lake Macquarie in New South Wales, and Bonang and Mornington Peninsula in Victoria.
Engagement Coordinator at Community Power Agency, Elianor Gerrard says, “Communities with lived experience of natural disasters and extended power outages have a wealth of knowledge and expertise to share on what to do or what not to do in crisis situations.
“They also know how to build local resilience.
“We’re pleased our work to facilitate community input into this timely resource ensures that it is grounded in the rich insights of communities.”
CEO of Energy Consumers Australia, Dr Brendan French, said the input of Gympie residents was extremely valuable in helping the guide come together.
“Gympie has a long history of flood events, most recently in 2022, when the worst flooding in a century claimed multiple lives and devastated homes and businesses across the region,” Dr French said.
“Participants in the workshops shared stories about pooling energy resources after the floods: one house in a street had access to a generator, one neighbour had a gas stove; another had solar hot water – so everybody shared.
“It is insights like this that have informed the recommended activities in the guidebook.
“While every community is different and faces unique challenges, we can learn a lot from those who have come out the other side of disastrous events about how to prepare and bounce back faster in the aftermath.
“We thank the residents of Gympie for sharing their stories.”
The Energy Ready toolkit is an essential resource for local councils, community groups, and emergency authorities.
Once communities work through the activities, they will be better connected, stronger and safer with a robust energy-resilience plan and an inventory of
resources in place.
Dr Sarah Niklas, Research Consultant at the UTS Institute for Sustainable Futures, says, “The Energy Ready toolkit empowers communities to achieve a high degree of energy resilience, helping them prepare for increasingly extreme weather events.
“The toolkit can be used to support collaboration and help community members work together to make the best use of their local assets, knowledge, connections, and capacity to achieve a higher state of energy resilience.”
The Energy Ready toolkit is available to download for free at: energyready.uts.edu.au
