@article {bnh-2103, title = {Community-led bushfire preparedness in action: The case of Be Ready Warrandyte}, number = {113}, year = {2015}, month = {08/2015}, institution = {Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC}, address = {Melbourne}, abstract = {

This report presents key findings from a case study of Be Ready Warrandyte (BRW): a community-led bushfire preparedness project that was undertaken by the Warrandyte Community Association between May 2012 and June 2015. The project was described as:

{\textquotedblleft}A self-help, community-led project to develop tools and resources to help our community to be safer and more able to deal with the risk of bushfires. The project{\textquoteright}s goal is to have more Warrandyte households with effective bushfire plans{\textquotedblright}.\ 

Be Ready Warrandyte is notable for being an award-winning, community-led preparedness project, and for involving a high degree of collaboration between local community volunteers, local government and the Country Fire Authority (CFA), all of which were represented on its committee of management. It is an example of a key type of non-traditional emergency volunteering: extending volunteerism.

In the context of the Out of Uniform project, non-traditional emergency volunteering is any type of volunteering that is: 1) focused on emergency prevention, preparedness, response, or recovery, and; 2) involves volunteers who are not traditional emergency volunteers affiliated with established emergency management organisations (EMOs).

Extending volunteerism occurs when a voluntary organisation that does not have an emergency or disaster management role extends its activities into that area in response to an event or an increase in risk awareness [2]. This is the case for the Warrandyte Community Association (WCA) whose primary goal is to {\textquotedblleft}promote community life{\textquotedblright} and {\textquotedblleft}defend the character and heritage of the township{\textquotedblright}\ 

The goal of this case study was to better understand the key characteristics, processes, activities and outcomes of the Be Ready Warrandyte project. It was not intended as a project evaluation. It did not seek to objectively assess the project{\textquoteright}s success. Rather, it sought to learn from the experiences and perspectives of those involved in the project. It therefore provides insights into the potential opportunities and challenges for undertaking community-led initiatives through {\textquoteleft}extending volunteerism{\textquoteright} in emergency preparedness that are suggested by the {\textquoteleft}on-the-ground{\textquoteright} experiences of Be Ready Warrandyte participants.

The findings will be valuable for emergency management organisations that are moving towards more localised, community-based and partnership approaches to community safety and engagement.

}, issn = {113}, author = {J Whittaker and John Handmer} }