Client:
Purpose:
Situation:
Victorian Reconstruction and Recovery Authority
To unite and bring purpose to a community devastated by fire
Marysville Post Black Saturday Bushfires
In 2009 a series of wildfires swept through a number of communities, destroying hundreds of homes and businesses and killing 173 people. The fires left communities devastated, displaced families, traumatised individuals and a shocked Victorian population. Government agencies and charities sprang into action to try to bring relief but regrowth and rebuilding takes time and healing takes even longer.
Marysville, a historic tourist town situated in thick forest at the base of Lake Mountain was one of those communities impacted. Out of 400 properties, only 14 remained, all the major services were lost including the post office, the police station, the school, supermarket, shops and museum.
Thirty four people had died and those residents, who managed to survive huddled together on the football oval, were left shocked and angry. Due to a sudden wind change there had been little time to escape. Those who took to their cars fled through thick smoke and fire along roads covered in burning debris over which trees were falling.
It was a traumatic time.
MBCI were asked by the Victorian Reconstruction and Recovery Authority to help the community to come to terms with their loss and to envision a future for the town, and mobilise them to action.
There had already been many, many meetings and presentations by well-meaning agencies and public servants but there was a high level of frustration and anger that had become a real barrier to the town moving forward. The dysfunction was so profound that the officers involved had begun to talk about “fire brain” causing aggression and disruption in town meetings.
The first action taken by MBCI was to identify some of the local key stakeholders and to speak personally to them about what they wanted to see happen. This gave us a sense of the situation and how we could move forward to help.
After this a small workshop was arranged where the agenda was fairly loose, but the aim was to give the participants an opportunity to be heard before we focused on the future and the actions that were going to be required.
Each person was given time to tell their story which was the first time they had heard of each other’s experiences. Then they were divided into groups to brainstorm what they wanted the future to look like. After the groups presented their ideas, there was a definite thread that pulled the vision together.
For the majority, the key desire was to ensure the history of the town would not be lost and photographs and memorabilia be sourced from past residents and visitors. The group was looking to build a new cultural heart for the town.
So MBCI facilitated a series of planning sessions where a site was found, and teams established to refurbish one of the surviving buildings and collect cultural material to redevelop a museum, that would display the history of Marysville.
This project was an example of how facilitation can be used to empower a group to envision the future, develop a plan of action and implement those actions to achieve their own vision free from the constraints of advice and manipulation of outsiders. If you have a community or business department that needs help our coaches are highly experienced and qualified. Helped thousands of national and international companies over 20 years.
Please click here to contact us. We look forward to meeting you.