Ensuring Australia experiences an equitable recovery from recent disasters and proactively reduces disaster risks and adapts to climate change takes large-scale future-looking investment. This requires capacity building in areas such as our capabilities, competencies, governance and on-ground interventions. The Enabling Resilience Investment (ERI) approach is a planning and analysis process, underpinned by integrated analytical capabilities and expertise, which incorporates value creation and systemic risk mitigation into the design and delivery of current and future investments. The ERI approach is used to generate place-based risk mitigation options along with fundable opportunities that create value (i.e. beneficial outcomes such as jobs, infrastructure, social cohesion, economic activity and incomes) for communities in cities, suburbs and rural and regional Australia.  In doing so, the approach supports communities, regions and economies to recover, transition, and develop towards sustainable, well-adapted and disaster-resilient futures.

The ERI approach is a collaboration between CSIRO and Value Advisory Partners (VAP), with the University of Adelaide also making significant contributions to the work. Over the coming years, the tools underpinning the ERI approach will be further developed, as well as demonstrated and tested, in a range of strategic place-based case studies. A locally led, place-based approach will be taken to support identification, design and development of investment cases for projects (for example, development of public and private assets) in an integrated manner and across a range of public and private stakeholders. The aim is to support both the ‘bottom up’ locally led approaches with ‘top down’ state and national approaches to support harmonising across these scales, building capability and competencies across all of these levels and sectors. These projects will:

• develop scalable tools, processes and guidance to support the allocation of capital to investments that are resilient and suited to a changing climate
• address the absence in foundational data platforms and supply chains and investment mechanisms required to underpin a national resilience investment environment
• build competencies of leaders and decision makers to identify, assess and manage systemic risks and opportunities.

The first two place-based studies are Bega Valley and Port Adelaide Enfield (see case studies).

Update note on the current status of ACS funded components of the work, including Bega Valley and Port Adelaide Enfield

The Port Adelaide Enfield and Bega Valley place-based projects were funded in the period January – June 2021 as priority projects by the Australian Government in the aftermath of the Bushfire Royal Commission. The intention through the period of the priority project funding – as indicated by Prime Minister and Cabinet, Emergency Management Australia (EMA) and the emerging National Recovery and Resilience Agency (NRRA) – was to roll these projects into the Climate and Resilience Services Australia (CARSA), which later became known as the Australian Climate Service (ACS). Planning for this began in earnest in March 2021. With the establishment of the NRRA in May 2021, and the ACS in July 2021, planning this component of the work fell under a project called Resilience Investment Assessment (RIA).CSIRO was asked to limit any ongoing work in the case studies to forward planning while the establishment of ACS was completed. In December 2021, the projects were approved by the ACS Customer Committee to continue for 4 years. However, in March 2022, the funding was again paused to accommodate further ACS planning and a change in priorities. This update note will be revised once the final funding decisions are made.

Our team works in an ethical, collaborative way, forming partnerships with stakeholders to co-design and co-learn about how to move into the emergent, disrupted future. Find out more about our work by exploring our case studies.

For an introduction to the ERI approach

 

Enabling Resilience Investment Framework

The Enabling Resilience Investment (ERI) Framework provides the over-arching framing of the engagement, assessment and learning activities, methodologies, and processes that make up the approach. These components help individuals at any level or stage of decision making to address their gaps in knowledge, reveal important tensions and trade-offs in value priorities, and create governance that generates a wider set of adaptive options and pathways. This framework of processes, assessment methods, tools and guidance supports users to generate and explore future options and pathways that stay adaptive to change and resilient to disaster. ERI tools, products and services are now available.

Refer to recent case studies for further information about application of the ERI Framework.