Mark DuckworthChief Resilience OfficerDepartment of Premier and Cabinet, Victoria

D11/22305

MAV and Resilient Melbourne Resilient Urban Communities Conference

Community cohesion and resilience

1 December 2015

Resilience Thinking

“It’s about understanding and embracing change, as opposed to striving for constancy”

Brian Walker & David Salt, Resilience Thinking, 2006 p.114

Victorian Society

Victorian society includes:• people speaking 200+ languages• people from 200+ nations• people following 120+ faiths.

More than 46% were born outside Australia, or have at least one parent born outside Australia.

Victoria’s increasing diversity

Victorian Population Diversity, Census 2006, 2011

2006 2011 Variation

Persons % Persons % Persons %

Australian born 3,434,171 69.6 3,670,937 68.6 236,766 6.9

Overseas born 1,173,205 23.8 1,405,330 26.2 232,125 19.8

Not stated 325,046 6.6 277,773 5.2 -47,273 -14.5

Total Victorian population 4,932,422 100.0 5,354,040 100.0 421,618 8.5

Born in MESC* 319,242 27.2 357,262 25.4 38,020 11.9

Born in NMESC** 853,963 72.8 1,048,068 74.6 194,105 22.7

Speak a LOTE 1,007,439 1,235,436 227,997 22.6

As % of total population 20.4   23.1

With a religion 3,374,700 3,623,796 249,096 7.4

As % of total population 68.4   67.7

* The UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Canada, USA and South Africa.** All other countries of birth, excluding the MESC and 'not stated'.

Resilience theory

Originally a scientific term: the property of a material to absorb energy when it is deformed elastically and then, upon unloading, to have this energy recovered.

Used by psychologists: from the 1970s to mean the ability of individuals (with a focus on children) to recover from trauma, crisis or cope with adversity.

Focus on individuals: What are the risks and protective factors that help define resilience in individuals?

Importance of social support systems: found or absent in: NeighbourhoodFamily and kinship networksIntergenerational supportsMutual self-help groups

This is not just an abstract issue

Building Resilience is to assist the communities of which we are all a part, to manage better adversity, uncertainty and disruption.•Resilience is about shared responsibility.•Resilience is not possible without the networks and links between individuals, communities, organisations, businesses and government.

What do we mean by Community?

•All communities are collections of individuals who choose to act towards each other in certain ways. The main ways this happens are through:– Communities of place: mainly by geographic

location but now including the virtual world;– Communities of interest: such as a common belief

system and including cultural groups some of which are formally acknowledged by government and citizens and others which have less formal networks.

Key Concepts in Resilience

Key Concepts:• Good functioning while under stress• Successful adaptation• Self-reliance• Social support• Social cohesion• Social capacity

Community Resilience – definition by US social worker Gary Bowen:

“The ability of a community facing ..adversity…to establish, maintain or regain an “expected” or “satisfactory” range of functioning that is equal to or better than prestressor functioning.”

Social Cohesion

• The Scanlon Foundation/ Monash University Mapping Social Cohesion study uses a social cohesion model which includes five domains:

• Belonging: Shared values, identification with Australia, trust. • Social justice and equity: equality of opportunity and trust in

institutions. • Participation: Voluntary work, political and co-operative

involvement. • Acceptance and rejection, legitimacy: Experience of

discrimination, attitudes towards minorities and newcomers. • Worth: Life satisfaction and happiness, future expectations.

Social Cohesion and Community Resilience Ministerial Taskforce (1)

• In May 2015 the Victorian Government announced the commitment of $25 million over four years to facilitate collective action across governments, community and academia to strengthen social cohesion and community resilience, and prevent violent extremism.

• Deputy Premier (Chair), Ministers for Multicultural Affairs, Police and Corrections, Youth Affairs and Families plus Chief Commissioner of Police, Chair Victorian Multicultural Commission, Chief Resilience Officer.

Social Cohesion and Community Resilience Ministerial Taskforce (2)

Key focus of the Taskforce is on how governments, communities, academics and other stakeholders can work together to:

• protect and enhance the social cohesion and resilience of our communities and society as a whole; and

• develop initiatives that help to prevent a small group of individuals, or networks of individuals, harming our cohesive society through violent extremism

•How we do this work is just as important as which initiatives we undertake.

• These are complex issues which require a high degree of collaboration and trust between governments and communities; between different communities; and between individuals and civil society.

The White House Summit on preventing violent extremism

The White House summit held in the United States in February 2015 emphasised that:  “Effectively preventing the spread of violent extremism in different communities requires localized, specialized, and expanded efforts, thus reinforcing the need to further empower youth, families, and women, as well as religious, cultural and education leaders, and all other concerned civil society actors, and to adopt tailored approaches, including those sensitive to local cultures and religious beliefs, to addressing this phenomenon.”

Sustained Behavioural Change

• Disaster resilience is a long-term outcome, which will require long-term commitment.

• “Achieving disaster resilience will require achieving sustained behavioural change, the results of which should be seen across a number of years and political cycles.”

• NSDR page3