Eight stories, many climate adaptation conversations

Before communities can adapt to a changing climate, they need a language for talking about it.

“People don’t wake up in the morning thinking about climate adaptation. Yet governments are developing disaster adaptation plans that may influence where homes are built, how infrastructure is managed and how communities reduce risk.” 

Dan Etheridge, Engagement Director, Living Lab Northern Rivers

Governments, planners and researchers may use the term “climate adaptation”, but it’s not something most people discuss over breakfast, at school drop-off or with their neighbours.

In the Northern Rivers, however, communities are already grappling with the realities of climate adaptation. In Lismore, five people lost their lives in the 2022 flood events. 

More than three-quarters of local businesses were affected, thousands of homes were damaged and entire neighbourhoods inundated. Beyond the physical destruction, the floods left many people feeling uncertain about their future.

Recovery raised difficult questions about where and how communities should rebuild, and how they could prepare for future climate risks.

Living Lab Northern Rivers was established in the aftermath of the floods to develop projects that combine local knowledge, lived experience and expert insight to inform decisions about the region’s future. 

Adaptation Stories is one project.

“We could see a looming and growing disconnect between communities on the ground and the planning processes envisioned to make those communities more resilient and better prepared for disasters and other impacts of climate change,” says Dan Etheridge, Living Lab Northern Rivers’ Engagement Director.

Working in collaboration with the NSW Reconstruction Authority, Living Lab Northern Rivers developed a series of eight short films, each offering a different perspective on adaptation.

“We deliberately chose community members who could spark conversation: a farmer, a regenerative futurist and her daughter, members of a community dance troupe, a First Nations artist,” Dan says.

“We hoped to prompt as many people as possible across the community to pose the questions to themselves: What is adaptation? And what does it mean to me?”

A gift, not a consultation

Dan has spent two decades working at the intersection of communities, design and disaster recovery. Before joining Living Lab Northern Rivers, he spent a decade helping lead community rebuilding initiatives in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.

Most engagement processes ask communities to do something: fill in a survey, attend a workshop, provide feedback or share their views, Dan notes. Rather than asking people for answers, Adaptation Stories gives people permission to sit with their own questions.

“Often, in engagement processes, there is a goal of extracting information. But this project was what we call ‘a give’. Our goal was to give our community something without any expectation,” Dan says.

Bringing the stories to life was a creative team including producer Zerina Millard, director Poppy Walker, cinematographer and editor Paul Daley, and composer Andy Walker.

The eight Adaptation Stories are freely available online:

• Nickolla Clark (Byron Shire): Arakwal Bundjalung artist Nickolla Clark reflects on the lessons that Country can teach us about resilience. 
• Joe Leven (Richmond Valley): Cattle farmer Joe Leven explores how working with natural systems can strengthen farming and resilience. 
• Alex Torney (Lismore): Theatre maker Alex Torney shows how creativity, community and the arts can help people navigate change. 
• James Foster (Ballina): Environmental consultant James Foster applies lessons from sailing and disaster recovery to business strategy. 
• Carmen and Rosie (Tweed): Regenerative futures practitioner Carmen and her daughter Rosie explore how young people can turn climate anxiety into inspired possibility. 
• Sprung! (Ballina): Members of the Sprung ensemble reimagine how stories are told in the aftermath of disaster. 
• Greg Daley (Kyogle): Nursery owner Greg Daley discusses adaptation through regeneration and connection with nature. 
• Cara McLeod (Clarence Valley): Community leader Cara McLeod explains how co-design and deep listening can strengthen social fabric.

“Our hope was that someone would ask a family member at the breakfast table: ‘Have you heard about climate adaptation? What do you think about it?’”

Dan Etheridge, Engagement Director, Living Lab Northern Rivers

The credits roll, the conversations begin

The eight short films were screened at community events across the Northern Rivers, accompanied by local panel discussions and examples of adaptation projects from around the world.

Long after the credits rolled, community members stayed behind to share ideas, ask questions and discuss what adaptation might mean for their communities.

“After every screening, we had to tell people, ‘Sorry, we have to wrap up. They’re kicking us out of the hall.’ People wanted to keep talking.”

What began in the Northern Rivers is now spreading further afield. As the NSW Reconstruction Authority develops disaster adaptation plans in the Central West and Hunter regions, the Adaptation Stories model is helping new communities start conversations about their future.