Dr Moreton travelled to North Carolina (U.S.) to speak at the Human Dimensions of Wild-land Fire Conference in December 2018. Dr Moreton’s session was titled “Community Engagement in (Crisis) Preparation and Recovery – an Australian Perspective” and outlined the framework that is in place in Australia: from the National Strategy for Disaster Resilience (2011) and the National Principles of Disaster Recovery (2018), through to the various guidelines, tools and resources that are available to support communities who are preparing, planning or recovering from a large scale emergency event. Dr Moreton spoke of the unintended consequences of such a formal and thorough system of guidance and support. Communities can feel ‘done to’. They are treated as if they are helpless and are passive recipients of services and support. Dr Moreton shared case studies from Australia, demonstrating that communities are capable, intelligent, creative, and able to demonstrate and build on strengths. The audience responded very positively to these examples of community action and recovery and it became an even more active and enthusiastic conference to be at. Many ideas were shared between delegates about how to collaborate and support one another across the world. Dr Moreton believes that recovery work is the next important focus for the emergency management and community development sectors; and that success required creativity and collaboration.
