CEO Rhonda Hardy accepted the award, which recognised the City’s commitment to helping build community resilience through innovative partnerships working with residents to prepare for emergencies and natural disasters.

“This award is the result of many years of hard work from various teams and individuals across the organisation,” Ms Hardy said.

“Coupled with our vision to collaborate with key partners to help share educational information with the community regarding preparing for an emergency event, we’ve seen phenomenal results in the community from our awareness campaign.

“Congratulations to category finalists City of Stirling and City of Swan for their amazing initiatives – it’s wonderful to see so many great programs being developed to build community capacity and boost resilience over the past year.”

The City’s collaborative engagement activities created networking opportunities between neighbours, community services and community members. It also provided reassurance that there are other people within the community, who like themselves, are proactive, informed, and vigilant of their surroundings and who have prepared their property and family in the event of bushfire. The greater the number if prepared properties improve the resilience of the community.

The team partnered with local SES and Bushfire brigades and Bushfire ready groups, WALGA, and a number of state government agencies. Key messaging focussed on promoting year-round property preparedness.

Ms Hardy said empowering residents is a top priority for the City.  We have seen a fantastic take up of all the opportunities we are now offering for residents to upskill their knowledge to better protect their properties.  After seeing what has occurred around us in nearby localities we need our residents to be disaster ready and we will continue to do all we can to provide support and assistance.

“We continue to challenge ourselves to think outside the box to raise awareness and build strong community relationships,” she said.

A key element of the City’s preparedness initiative was the creation of two mixed-media videos sharing practical suggestions for both large and small animals prior to emergency events along with a dedicated social media campaign that rolled out across the City’s channels.

Overall, the City’s bushfire preparedness community engagement project supports and reflects the broader key priorities for creating a disaster resilient community that is better equipped to manage risks as they arise.

More Information

Find more information on the City of Kalamunda’s bushfire and storm preparedness initiatives here or visit youtube.com/CityofKalamunda to view the mixed media videos.

Find out more about Local Government Professionals Community Development Awards