Talking with Gil Brenson-Lazan about the role of facilitators in disaster response
1 March 2009Anyone reading this blog over the last couple of weeks will notice a pre-occupation, of sorts, with facilitation and disaster response. This is borne partly out of the need to share what I know and believe regarding what facilitators can bring and partly due to frustration. Frustration that the authorities responsible for recovery following Victoria’s…
Facilitators helping communities recover
27 February 2009Facilitator n. A person who makes a group’s work easier by structuring and guiding the participation of group members. Fran Rees, The Facilitator Excellence Handbook, Jossey-Bass Pfeiffer, 1998, page 11. Bushfires, emergency response, media coverage, tears, volunteers, support, recovery, resettling, hugs, rebuilding. Then what? How do individuals and communities…
Facilitators helping with bushfires recovery
18 February 2009In an earlier post I asked for anyone who was willing to donate time and/or skills for the community recovery process following the recent devastating bush fires here in Victoria. My friend Anne Pattillo had the same idea with members of IAP2 (International Association of Public Participation). We’ve been overwhelmed with offers. Thank you. We’ve…
Launch of Communities & Networks Connection
16 February 2009You may have noticed the new badge over there on the left. It says Communities & Networks Connection – and it’s being launched tomorrow. WooHoo! If you click on it you’ll be taken to a cool new site developed by Nancy White and Tony Karrer. It brings together good content from bloggers and other sources around…
Role of facilitation in disaster recovery
13 February 2009Back in 2006 BB (Before Blogging) I attended a training course for facilitators on the role of facilitation in disaster recovery. At the time I said it was probably the most significant training I’d ever done as a facilitator. I wrote an article for the Australasian Facilitators’ Network, to debrief my experience and to share…
Doing good without doing harm
13 February 2009My friend Phil is an independent documentary film-maker. A few years ago he inherited a run-down cottage in the bush. He divides his time between his country cottage and his Melbourne home. Like us, he’s well aware of the dangers of living in the bush and can emphasize with the bushfire survivors who are now…
Time for Action 2
9 February 2009Thanks to everyone who has so far offered support – and even if you haven’t or can’t, thanks for being there. It’s early days so I’ll simply keep a register of people who are interested in helping and pass that along to relevant organisations. I’ll let you know what I’m doing. Feel free to pass…
Time for action
8 February 2009What a difference a day makes. Many thousands of Victorians did not have a good weekend. They now face the devastation of bush fires that swept the State on Saturday in extraordinarily hot weather, fuelled by gale force winds. Whole townships have been destroyed, and many, many lives lost. It’s hard not to feel overwhelmed…
On being inspired
6 February 2009It’s easy to feel quite isolated from world happenings – and even though that’s desirable from time to time, rural southern Australia does seem a long way away sometimes. And it’s also easy to be despondent, fearful even, with all the doom and gloom predictions abounding. My antidotes are many – lose myself in a…
Just ask. The answer might be ‘yes!’
22 January 2009Check out this photo. It announces some tour dates for Eric Bibb in Australia. Nothing strange about that. Now take a closer look. There’s a gig in Melbourne, capital of Victoria. Population 3.8 million. And another one in Hobart, capital of Tasmania. Population 205,000. And Meeniyan. Population 1006. Meeniyan. Where the…