“I just find it fascinating that a dishwasher can be such an interesting detail to unlocking what resilience can look like in a community.”
Stories, Place, and Dishwashers: Community Resilience
Gretel Evans · Research Fellow, Monash University | Historian | Social Researcher
About this episode
In this episode, Matt speaks with historian and social researcher Dr Gretel Evans about the powerful intersections between storytelling, place, and community resilience. Drawing on her work with the Fire to Flourish program at Monash University, Gretel shares insights from the upcoming Community Disaster Resilience Capability Framework and reveals why unexpected things, like a commercial dishwasher, can tell us more about resilience than surveys ever could.
Key takeaways
Community resilience is collective, not individual
Focusing on networks and connections between people offers more productive ways to prepare for and respond to disasters than placing the burden on individuals.
Storytelling reveals what statistics cannot
Oral history and interviewing uncover unexpected insights about resilience, like how a community dishwasher can strengthen disaster preparedness by bringing people together to practise skills and build connections.
Six capabilities underpin community disaster resilience
The new framework identifies cultural safety and inclusion, Indigenous knowledge and practice, building networks, disaster resilience knowledge, community-led action, and social innovation as foundational.
Place-based initiatives matter
Projects that combine built infrastructure with social connection, like fixing a hall roof so communities can keep gathering, create the conditions where resilience thrives.
Be thoughtful about research methods
Communities can be over-surveyed after disasters. Storytelling approaches require awareness of trauma, time commitments, and the value of existing community archives.
Topics covered
- Community Resilience
- Oral History
- Disaster Recovery
- Storytelling
- Place-Based Practice
- Social Research
- Fire to Flourish