Locally-led model helps Basin communities devise new ways of living, working, and “staying in the places they love”

The One Basin CRC’s Water Futures project works alongside river communities across the four states to contribute to and understand how communities are adapting to changes in climate variability and water availability across the Basin. Led by social researchers from the University of Sydney, the project is backing five initiatives chosen by communities in Berri (SA), Mildura (Vic), Wilcannia and Leeton (NSW), and Goondiwindi (Qld) – tackling issues as diverse as schools-based water monitoring, co-governance of lakes and wetlands, and First Nations water rights.

The Revive and Thrive Collective, based just outside of Berri in South Australia’s Riverland, is one such initiative. Professor Amanda Howard, who co-leads the project with fellow University of Sydney sociologist A/Prof Margot Rawsthorne, says: “In Berri, there’s an urgent need to find new activities to employ people outside of irrigated agriculture, which is becoming more challenging as water prices rise and income from some crops falls. You don’t have to do much detective work to realise how much people love this area, and how important it is to find something that will keep the town vibrant, generate new businesses with fewer water needs, and help people stay in the community they all love.”

Practically, projects that partner with Water Futures are connected with a PhD or community researcher and then provided with initial seed funding to launch their initiatives. The project structure entrusts each community with agency over funding use, enabling them to identify and target enterprises that address their specific local needs.  The goal is that the Water Futures case studies, like here in Berri, will provide models of local social processes that can be adapted to other communities around the Murray–Darling Basin, helping to strengthen towns and regions already responding to changes in climate and water availability.

Revive and Thrive

In a region more often associated with searing droughts and sprawling vineyards, the accumulating piles of pre-loved furniture, tools and sports gear at the Cleanaway waste station in the Riverland are an unlikely monument to progress. But if the founders of the joyously titled Revive and Thrive Collective have their way, this rapidly growing collection of “one man’s trash” may really point the way to many others’ treasure.

The waste transfer station outside Berri is the site of an ambitious initiative to tackle the region’s longstanding reliance on irrigated agriculture and ever-present garbage challenges with a project that not only repurposes old possessions, but helps people find new purpose – in particular, people living with disability and others whose situations have denied them the stability of regular employment.

Revive and Thrive is the latest of the five action research sites that are part of the Water Futures project – spreading the centre’s support beyond the rivers and farms of the Murray-Darling Basin, and into the homes of ordinary people whose lives and livelihoods are increasingly challenged by economic insecurity.

It’s a testament to how social innovations and water-conscious enterprises can be truly community-led and owned, once they’re given the conditions to flourish.

Deeply trusting connections

The latest project in Berri began when Julie Ahrens, convenor of local charity Our Town Berri, introduced the former CEO of Regional Development Australia Murraylands and Riverland (RDAMR) to Jordan Beech, the inspiring young head of disability support provider, Riverland Active. According to Julie, the concept of Revive and Thrive – with its clear environmental, economic, and social synergies – sparked an “immediate and deeply trusting” connection that blossomed when they partnered with the Water Futures team.

“Having this level of trust between a group of great people who want to do something meaningful for their community, with funding that they can guide themselves, is gold,” says Julie. “And then having [One Basin researcher] Kelsy Burns walking alongside us, saying ‘have you thought of this?’ or ‘who can help us with that?’… This kind of connection and communication is critical to true, place-based community work.”

“It’s all incredibly exciting,” says Jordan Beech, whose inclusive pop-up café in Berri has also been an instant hit with locals. “Ultimately, our goal is to create a meaningful and sustainable workplace where people with a disability feel a sense of purpose, enjoy coming to work, and are paid well for the work they do – while also contributing to waste reduction and positive outcomes for the wider community.

“Cleanaway have been wonderfully supportive and have already helped us find an incredible range of materials – nine out of 10 of which we can repair. Right now, we have 10 NDIS participants undergoing training and working two days a week, but we’ll slowly ramp this up to a full-time operation.”

For Kelsy Burns, who’s providing support to the Water Futures projects in both Mildura and Berri, the trust that’s inherent between One Basin’s project leads, local agencies, and community groups and volunteers, adds up to a potent recipe for community development.

“In Berri, we’ve survived the Millennium Drought, Covid, floods, collapsing industries, and water restrictions. But we know that people are our strength, and we need to work together to find alternatives and be brave enough to face up to the future.” Julie Ahrens, Our Town Berri

For more on the Water Futures project click HERE

Read about the Wilcannia-based case study HERE

Hero image: The team running Revive and Thrive on their Open Day, marking the launch of the facility in Berri.