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This is a copy of the bushfire-related article entitled ‘ Bushfires:  Is the 2019/2020 bushfire season a portent for the future?’, which Chris wrote in January 2020 for the March 2020 edition of the Geography Teachers Association of Victoria (GTAV)’s quareterly magazine ‘Interaction’.  The GTAV link to this is https://www.gtav.asn.au/resources/interaction-current-issues, but this article can also be found here on this TorqAid link.

The article highlights the Emergency Response initiatives carried out during December 2019 through to January 2020, and the likely Recovery challenges which will emerge through the (2020) year.  It also includes some comments on likely future Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) initiatives, these including some related to Climate Change.  The GTAV article includes a number of classroom activities for Geography and other subjects.

Follow the link below for the Registration Form in word, which should be completed for the online Participatory Disaster Risk Management (PDRM) program.  This runs from the 27th July through to the 8th November 2020.

Note that the brochure for this online PDRM can also be accessed from the link below.

Currently Chris, working as the Baptist Union of Victoria (BUV)s Bushfire Recovery Adviser (BRA) is working with the BUV and the Baptist Unions in NSW & ACT to develop a practical training program for their bushfire-related Community Recovery Volunteers (CRVs).  These are people selected and trained up to provide ongoing informal support for bushfire-affected families from the 2019/20 Australian bushfires.  Currently, seven key area of training and orientation are being developed, these being:

• An understanding/overview of the 2019/2020 bushfires
• The importance of psychosocial and social restoration
• The need for effective coordination and information sharing
• The challenge facing people who’ve lost their homes, of living in temporary accommodation over the winter period
• The challenge of economic restoration, particularly for primary producers and small businesses
• The complications of effective interaction with affected folk, due to the Coronavirus COVID-19 lockdown
• The ongoing debate on the role of climate change on bushfires, and subsequent effective future disaster risk reduction (DRR) initiatives to ensure safer communities

Enclosed is a bibliography, updated in June 2020, which includes some key references to the Australian 2019/20 bushfire sesason.  These include a few essential background readings related to climate change generally.