| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 68.44 |
| Liaison | William Van Ausdal |
| Submission Date | July 9, 2024 |
Flinders University
IL-67: Innovation C
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.00 / 1.00 |
Name of the innovative outcome, program, or initiative:
Does the innovation represent a new, extraordinary, unique, ground-breaking, or uncommon outcome, program, or initiative that addresses a sustainability challenge and is not covered by an existing credit?:
Narrative and/or website URL providing an overview of the innovation:
Flinders University experts have developed a drought resilience toolkit with strategies that can assist regional communities and farmers ahead of time.
The Drought Resilience Mapping and Assessment Toolkit (DRMT) represents a transformative approach to assessing the resilience of human systems in surviving and recovering from drought events. Most preparations for drought have looked at for example water conservation, enhanced crops and soil conservation, but little work has been done around the underlying resilience of rural communities. Central to the toolkit's innovation is its holistic approach, encompassing social capital, economic capital, locational capital, asset capital, and preparedness capital.
Drought is different from natural disasters like flood, fire or frost, as drought can a last very long time and is unpredictable in when it ends. This makes planning for drought resilience difficult. The DRMT serves as a practical, low-cost aid in identifying optimal strategies to support farmers, townships, communities, and businesses with preparing for future drought. Central to community well-being are robust social networks and informal community-based groups, whose significance is often overlooked in drought resilience assessments. Professor Paul Arbon, Director of the Torrens Resilience Initiative, underscores that resilience to prolonged drought hinges on the collective resilience of its community, emphasizing the toolkit's holistic perspective.
Developed by Professor Roberta Crouch, Professor Paul Arbon, and their team at the Torrens Resilience Initiative (TRI) and the College of Business Government and Law at Flinders University, the DRMT was collaboratively created through interviews, community focus groups, and assessments of community assets in Crystal Brook, Orroroo, and Loxton. Economic reports tailored to each community supported the toolkit's key economic indicators. The team is now working with communities to implement the toolkit, e.g. with the District Council of Loxton Waikerie: https://cosmosmagazine.com/people/society/strategies-survive-drought/
Optional documentation
Additional documentation for this credit:
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