If there’s one thing that has come out of the recent flood and fire disasters, it’s that communities are putting energy into looking at how we can do things better in the future.
One group that is creating a space for people to form a vision of the best outcomes is Imagine Northern Rivers, and the woman behind that is Murwillumbah resident Carmen Stewart.
Stewart has a Masters in Applied Science (Social Ecology) and a background in community, not-for-profit and government sectors and says Imagine Northern Rivers is an exploration of safer, regenerative and adaptive futures and the actions needed to get there. ‘We’re looking at a time frame within the lifetime of a child born today – what does it look like? How are we going to get there?’
Regeneration is the key
Stewart says we have to regenerate because we can’t sustain what we have. ‘The question is, how long do we leave it until we make that the priority? There’ll be more suffering the longer we leave it, so we have to regenerate. And I’m talking social, economic, cultural and personal regeneration, as much as environmental.’
With start-up funding from the Ingrained Foundation, Imagine Northern Rivers has launched with a first series of workshops that were held in the Byron Shire and Clarence Valley in May and June this year. The workshops involved input from residents, not-for-profits, businesses, activists, resilience organisations and government agencies across the region – all exploring opportunities for regenerative, adaptive and safe futures.
What the community most wants
Stewart says the beauty of the workshops is that they provide an understanding of what the community most wants. People come to realise what they’ve ‘mapped’ and desire.
‘We talk about the future of learning, the future of climate adaptation, housing, the economy, the natural environment, governance and a connected community. We get people to map on the wall their best ideas, and then we talk about it. Is it doable? Is it rocket science? No. We can get this done.’
Stewart, who lives with her partner and two children, says her family propels her. ‘I’ve got kids and I’m concerned about our trajectory, and even if the possibility to regenerate or the probability is only 5 per cent or 10 per cent, we’ve got to take it and we’ve got to bolster it. What is the other option? To grow it? Or do you let the 90 per cent get bigger?’
Bringing it into daylight
‘People want this, but we have to unearth it and bring it into daylight – what we most want. Everyone wants it. People are not bad. People are basically good. They’re just very overwhelmed.’
Stewart plans to facilitate workshops across the region in 28 communities, at a minimum.
‘We’re generating around 28,000 pieces of data around what people say they want, how we can get there, and what we need to stop doing in the present in order to get there.
‘So, so far I’ve been to ten so I’m a third of way through.
‘The intention is to give the findings to government, and I’m finding local and state government are very interested, but it’s also to give it back to the community, and then to say, can we help you now to align what you do to this vision?’
To find out more about how you can imagine YOUR future, visit the It Takes A Town website.
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