Who we are
We come together with open minds and hearts to connect, learn and change in times of escalating climate crisis.
The DisasterWISE Communities Network aims to address critical issues by creating a dynamic space for connection, learning, and community-led action. By fostering relationships, collaborating amongst diverse knowledge systems, and driving systemic change, DisasterWISE is an enabler for people to build stronger, just and thriving communities.
As a vital piece of social infrastructure, the DisasterWISE network provides a dynamic space for connection and transformative learning. Its primary objectives are to;
Cultivate broad and diverse connections,
Broker varying ways of knowing across the membership,
Amplify community voices as leaders in recovery and resilience dialogue,
Support pathways to inform wider policy and practice,
Advocate, promote and support community-led initiatives.
Our Principles
Connect
To build trusting relationships and establish connections within the broader eco-system by emphasising human-centric approaches, storytelling and collective healing.
Learn
To broker knowledge across the membership, learning by doing and embracing varying ways of knowing while challenging assumptions and bias through shared dialogue, dynamic governance and deep democracy.
Change
Amplifying community voices through story and participation as leaders, providing advocacy and support for community-led initiatives, and driving systemic change for stronger, just and thriving futures.
Values in Practice
First Nations First
First Nations First is a commitment to First Nations peoples’ knowledges, leadership and sovereignty in all decisions, actions, and knowledge systems. First Nations peoples’ ways of knowing, being, and doing hold deep wisdom in the interconnectedness of all things, including how to heal and care for Country. DisasterWISE acknowledges First Nations peoples as the world’s oldest surviving culture and prioritises their knowledge and diverse perspectives through active listening, relationship-building, and cultural awareness. We work to decolonise practices, engage in truth-telling, unlearn colonial biases, and advocate for strong allyship—walking together towards meaningful reconciliation.
Community-led
Being community-led means that our initiatives are shaped, driven, and led by the people closest to the context. This approach prioritises active participation and leadership, ensuring that community members identify needs, set priorities, make decisions, and take action. By harnessing local knowledge and strengths, we create opportunities for self-determination and build long-term resilience, ensuring that every initiative genuinely aligns with community’s aspirations and conditions.
At DisasterWISE, inclusivity is a unifying force that dismantles barriers and builds strength together. We create safe, accessible, and non-exclusive spaces that harness diverse perspectives to expand our collective knowledge. By challenging traditional hierarchies of knowledge, we welcome multiple truths and ways of knowing, acknowledging that every perspective is valuable. In honouring our Ways of Working, we embrace diversity, enabling communities to challenge divisiveness and drive resilient, transformative solutions.
Inclusivity
Reflexivity
Reflexivity calls us to look inward—challenging our assumptions and biases through a continual process of learning and unlearning—while striving for a sustainable and resilient future. By engaging in deliberate reflection, we adapt and refine our approaches to being and doing, ensuring our network's practices are ethical, deeply considered, responsive, and rooted in shared wisdom. This active dialogue with ourselves and our broader ecosystem enables us to evolve together.
Reciprocity is our commitment to fostering a balanced exchange of critical care, support, and knowledge. It’s about engaging in acts of mutual aid, where giving and receiving flow naturally through active participation and network support. Our trusted relationships are built on mutual respect and exchange, where learning is shared both ways, and every individual in our broader network benefits from collective growth and support. By nurturing sustainable, long-term relationships through ongoing respect and genuine engagement, we embrace scaling deep - prioritising depth of impact, strengthening trust , and ensuring that every interaction contributes meaningfully to our vision for the future.
Reciprocity
Generating hope is essential in sustaining momentum, to continue to see a possible alternative future for all. By sharing our experiences and engaging in deep empathetic listening, we explore these possibilities, opening brave spaces where every truth sparks transformative change. Embracing our lived and learned experiences as a catalyst, we fuel the journey towards a future defined not by our limitations, but by the promise of radical hope and the belief that an alternative, vibrant future is within our reach.
Generating Hope
People and
Process
This story begins with 12 people gathering online to co-create the national resilient communities learning network. We came from varying backgrounds with varying lived experiences across Australia – we are survivors, artists, storytellers, leaders, researchers, innovators and change makers.
Heartfelt thanks to the courageous co-designers that developed the foundations of the DisasterWISE Communities Network; Alison Stone, Kate Fawcett, Margaret Moreton, Steve Cameron, Scott Lamshed, Pete Williams, Sabrina Davis, Ronnie Ayliffe, Matt Campbell, Liz Hogan and Bridget Tehan.
Special thanks to lauren anseline, Inara Waldon, Frank Archer, Caroline Spencer, Steve Pascoe, Trevor Pearce and Aunty Vickey Charles.
