The Creative Recovery Network evolved from a pilot project funded by Arts Queensland and Australia Council following the 2011 Queensland floods, which brought artists together with impacted communities in the Lockyer Valley, Ipswich and the Cassowary Coast to support their recovery process through arts-based programs.

The pilot project included a national forum that brought together diverse representatives from community arts and cultural development, government and disaster services, who enthusiastically supported the formation of a national body dedicated to providing resources, training and a community of practice for those wanting to utilise arts-based programs within disaster preparedness, response and recovery.

The Creative Recovery Network was formed in 2014 and in 2016, received four-year organisational funding from the Australia Council, the Australian Federal Government’s arts funding and advisory body.

Underpinned by community engaged practice, we advocate for the use of arts-based processes in each phase of the disaster management cycle in order to:

Prepare and imagine

• Add value to existing community preparedness activities, deepening a relational, people-centred approach to community resilience
• Utilise arts-based methodologies to ensure layered and equitable community engagement
• Bring creative perspectives to problem solving and future thinking

Respond and Care

• Create safe and inclusive spaces that cushion the impact of trauma and upheaval during a disaster
• Mitigate the shocks and strains of disaster impact by providing ways to express the unimaginable

Recover and Adapt

• Develop place-making opportunities that promote cohesion, connectedness and strength for a hopeful future
• Support wellbeing and identity through creative, participatory practices that bring community members together
• Reduce isolation among marginalised communities and individuals