What would it look like like if different phases of emergency management were approached as an interconnected whole? How might the arts alleviate trauma and support communities in disaster management? What is missing from Australia’s royal commission into the response to the recent bushfire season? What is a community-led recovery and how do we achieve it? How do we recognise and celebrate the contribution of women in emergencies and ensure more diversity in representation when it comes to decision-making?Scotia Monkivitch speaks with Amanda Lamont to unpack these timely questions around Australia’s approach to disaster management and look at how we can build a better future to manage the complexity associated with multiple intersecting disasters.Amanda is a specialist in stakeholder engagement, partnerships and relationship management, with a focus on disaster resilience and disaster risk reduction.Her experiences spanning the corporate, government, legal, humanitarian, not-for-profit, research and community sectors in Australia, the UK and the US have positioned Amanda as one of the leading thinkers and change-makers in crisis preparedness.Whether in her capacity as a volunteer firefighter, a lawyer, an international aid worker or co-founder of the Australasian Women in Emergencies Network, the constant thread through Amanda’s career is her deep passion for social justice and her immense capacity for leadership to make improvements to people’s lives.Scotia and Amanda cover a lot in this conversation, among the topics they discuss are:* The overlap of phases in the disaster management cycle and how previous notions in the traditional ‘preparedness, response, recovery’ framework no longer apply as each phase is so complex and interconnected. * The “cascade of disasters” facing many communities dealing with compounded effects of drought, bushfire recovery and preparedness and now Covid-19, and the learning experience provided by this intersection of multiple disasters. * The lack of emphasis on preparedness and mitigation in Australia’s Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements and why this gap is significant to our future planning. * How the arts can alleviate suffering, bring people together and play a key role in memorialising traumatic events for a community. * How we measure “impact” - looking beyond the metrics of property numbers to allow for the complexity of broad, far-reaching impacts a disaster can have on a community. * The notion of “community-led recovery”, what does it mean and how do we achieve it? * The impetus behind forming the Australasian Women in Emergencies Network, the importance of diversity in representation and the current gender gap in positions of senior leadership in the emergency management sector.

Episode webpage: https://creativerecovery.net.au/in-conversation/References and further reading:Australasian Women in Emergencies NetworkThe Blacksmiths’ Tree: https://www.treeproject.abavic.org.au/index.htmlRoyal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements: https://naturaldisaster.royalcommission.gov.auBushfires in Australia - Promoting Resilience Down Under, MYD Global interview with Amanda Lamont: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIxllRl402cAFAC TV Interview with Amanda Lamont: https://www.facebook.com/AFACnews/videos/509672163123345/Promoting Disaster Resilience in the Land Down Under, MYD Global interview with Amanda Lamont: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXwdV8bgd1U