Case Studies
Green Star Accreditation and Resilience
Client: National Retail Property Group
ResilientCo was engaged by a well-known retail property group to deliver a Community Resilience Plan that aligns with Green Star accreditation requirements. The Plan was designed to serve as a benchmark to be implemented across all its assets. The Resilience credits found in the Green Star – Buildings rating tool requires businesses to re-look at the way they operate, as well as how they directly or indirectly influence the surrounding community. In helping to shape the Plan, the ResilientCo team considered the socio-economic, environmental, and governance landscape of the business with the lens of Community Strengthening, Climate Adaptation and Resilience, and Emergency Management. A workshop with the client helped to identify and prioritise the chronic stresses and acute shocks likely to impact and shape the client’s assets, as well as the community supported by those assets. This provided the basis for the client to develop goals and objectives that were aligned with the business’s community resilience pillars, existing sustainability strategies, and the identified stresses and shocks. Through the process undertaken, it was determined the community resilience building activities would focus on disengaged youth, increasing employment opportunities, supporting retailers and the local community by protecting and preparing assets for the impacts of climate change, and establishing responsible value chain.
Facilitating A Multi-Sector Response To The Royal Commission Into Australia’s Natural Disaster Arrangements
Client: Australian Business Roundtable for Disaster Resilience and Safer Communities (ABR)
Sponsored by the Investor Group on Climate Change and the ABR, ResilientCo worked with the representatives of multiple industry bodies to support a coordinated view of the draft Royal Commission report. Drawing on our significant knowledge of corporate, government, and not-for-profit sectors, we were able to assist this diverse group to understand common points of interest, shared concerns, and an agreed approach to addressing feedback to the Royal Commission. Our approach required a high level of facilitation skills designed to achieve a quality level of engagement and outputs through online meetings.
Crisis Management - Strategic Support
Client: Yarra Ranges Council
Following the storms of June 2021, ResilientCo worked with the leadership of Yarra Ranges Council to support the immediate strategic response. This time-critical work required deep understanding of issues impacting communities during the disaster, the varied roles and responsibilities of critical infrastructure providers and different tiers of government, and how the loss of critical infrastructure is both an immediate challenge to the emergency response, as well as a compounding factor to good recovery. In this storm event, communications, road networks, power, water and gas were all impacted for extended periods of time, exacerbated by the impacts and challenges associated with the pandemic. Our significant knowledge of emergency events, the requirements of different authorities, departments and tiers of government enabled us to deliver profound and transformative advice even during the ongoing challenges of a protracted emergency event.
Climate Change and Emergency Management
Client: Western Alliance for Greenhouse Action (WAGA)
We supported a group of councils focussed on embedding climate change projections and aligned actions within their emergency management arrangements and organisations. Climate change presents an evolving challenge for governments, organisations and communities. On this initiative, we worked with the Western Alliance for Greenhouse Action (WAGA) on the project they’re leading for the Victorian Greenhouse Alliances: Victorian Climate Resilient Councils. We supported this project through: • a deep dive into challenges and opportunities through environmental scanning and facilitated workshops • the development of guidance documents looking at best practice strategies, case studies and initiatives scenario planning This project was designed to enhance emergency risk assessment processes by incorporating future societal and environmental changes projection driven by climate change. With a focus on systems and interdependencies, it called on our organisation’s emergency management experience as well as our focus on resilience and sustainability.
Responsibility For Delivering Drinking Water Following Emergency Events
Client: Department of Environment, Land, Water, & Planning
On behalf of DELWP, ResilientCo prepared and facilitated workshops to clarify the roles and responsibilities of the department, water authorities, and local government authorities in delivering tanked, potable water to households impacted by emergency events. The project demanded significant understanding of legislative requirements across State and local government sectors in Victoria, how legislated and mandated roles are fulfilled following emergency events, as well as the ability to facilitate at-times challenging conversations. We developed summary reports from each of the workshops, along with recommendations to clarify roles and responsibilities at different points in the relief and recovery journeys.
Crisis Management After Action Reviews
Client: Mornington Peninsula Shire Council
Having been hit with multiple storm and flood events, Mornington Peninsula continues to build its capability and capacity in crisis and emergency management. ResilientCo was asked to review its emergency management structures, processes and planning, developing recommendations to grow the organisation's maturity. Following a second storm incident, we undertook a follow up after action review to gauge progress and support staff. Reviews are an important way to mark challenges and opportunities for change in an organisation's approach to crisis management, business continuity and emergency management. A typical approach may include - Desktop review of plans and structures in place - Interviews with key team members one on one or small group - Review workshop with all staff and/or the executive - All staff survey This work culminates in a report with observations, high level recommendations and tailored actions born out of our team’s own practical experience. In Mornington Peninsula's case its continuous improvement approach is highlighted through a growing maturation in emergency management outcomes.
Extreme Heat Strategy Development
Client: Whittlesea Council, Victoria
With a focus on the threat of extreme heat, Whittlesea Council wanted to build preparedness for the short term and longer term future, linking with existing strategies. Heatwaves have widespread impacts ranging from direct impacts on our health, damage to ecosystems, agriculture and infrastructure. Acknowledging the more localised risk, our client wanted to build a holistic extreme heat strategy to mitigate against extreme heat emergencies. This project considered how to build resilience over time and providing an overview of the linkages with existing strategies and plans, and where to consider future investment in resources and capital. Our approach involved research and analysis of risk, vulnerability factors, historical events, facilitated workshops and plan development to inform a short and longer term approach with actions for mitigating and adapting to extreme heat events.
Organisation Community Resilience Plan
Client: A National Company
ResilientCo was engaged by a national company to deliver a Community Resilience Plan to be implemented across all its assets. The Community Resilience Plan aimed to identify the shocks and stresses that impact the ability of the assets to service the community, while also developing responses to manage the impacts. How we did it: • To help shape the plan we considered the socio-economic, environmental, and governance landscape of the organisation through the lens of Community Strengthening, Climate Adaptation and Resilience and Emergency Management. • We held a workshop with the client to help identify and prioritise the chronic stresses and acute shocks likely to impact and shape the client’s assets, as well as the community supported by those assets. • Using this work as a foundation, the client developed goals and objectives aligned with its community resilience pillars, existing sustainability strategies, and the identified stresses and shocks. Community Resilience Plans require organisations to relook at the way they operate, as well as how they directly or indirectly influence the surrounding community.
Emergency Management Planning
Client: Local Government and Agencies
Legislation was introduced by the Victorian Government in 2020 to provide greater cohesion through integrated arrangements for emergency management planning in Victoria at the state, regional and municipal levels. As part of the new legislative requirements, ResilientCo was able to facilitate the development of the Mornington Peninsula Municipal Emergency Management Plan 2021-24 and North West Metropolitan Regional Strategic Fire Management Plan in conjunction with the agencies and municipalities with roles to play in each. In each separate project, the respective Committees undertook a process to explore the emergency and fire-related challenges, risks and opportunities in their areas and with ResilientCo developed actions that provided a coordinated approach to managing these risks. The design and production of plans is part of the end to end strategy development service offered by ResilientCo, with the ability to provide clear and engaging documents. In the case of both Mornington Peninsula Shire and North West Metropolitan Region, the final product is an approved and well-designed publication that looks good and complies with legislative requirements.
Exercising to Test Structures and Systems
Client: Bass Coast Shire Council
When we design an exercise for local government and corporate clients, we’re looking for the most plausible, worst case scenario that will stretch participants and the structures running. As part of a suite of work we undertook for Bass Coast Shire Council, we ran an interactive, in person exercise using a scenario that tested its emergency management, crisis management and business continuity functions. Depending on the size and nature of a disaster or crisis, organisations might need to run one, or all three functions as part of the response. If these functions are designed separately without integration, a response to an incident potentially causes internal and external confusion, reputation damage and/or less cohesive support for the community. In this case, we developed the exercise including locally relevant injects designed to involve the broader organisation. The procedural documentation developed with them previously, a survey before and after the exercise, and observations during it provided an overview with actions for the team to work through.