Partner organisations
This project is funded by the Australian Research Council and supported by the University of Sydney, Queensland University of Technology, Australian National University, Telethon Kids Institute, Menzies School of Health Research, Hunter Medical Research Institute, NSW Health, Jagun Alliance Aboriginal Corporation and Wilya Janta Housing Collaboration.
Status/timing
The project commenced in July 2022 and is funded to June 2026.
What does the Project focus on?
The Healing Country project weaves together traditional knowledge with environmental and health data into community-owned digital story-data maps. Utilising participatory mapping processes, local communities will highlight their stories of changes to country, layered with quantitative data to identify priority health issues. The project will implement and evaluate community co-designed adaptation strategies to address community priorities. We aim to:
- respectfully gather traditional knowledges and community experiences to document from a local perspective, environmental changes that have and are occurring, and the impact this has on Aboriginal community wellbeing.
- co-develop interactive story-data maps that combine community knowledges and stories with environmental and health data for broader knowledge exchange.
- using these multiple information sources, bring together relevant system stakeholders and community to co-design and implement mitigation and adaptation strategies embedded within an evaluation and monitoring framework (local community resilience plans).
What type of project/study?
This co-design project uses mixed methods in a participatory research approach.
What do we expect to achieve with this project when complete?
At a local level, the project seeks to address a global challenge: empowering communities to respond to the risks posed by climate and other environmental change, simultaneously strengthening social and cultural determinants and addressing health inequity. We aim to add new generalisable knowledge about Aboriginal-led systems change processes to address environmental and health risks that embed Indigenous knowledge, leadership and participation in planning for positive change. For each local community site, the project will deliver tangibles to community members including employing community-based researchers, developing online story-data maps of traditional knowledge with relevant environmental and health data, and co-designed Community Climate Action Plans addressing local mitigation and adaptation strategies to adjust to the impacts of changing environments on community health and wellbeing.
Project Updates
The Healing Country Bundjalung Gathering 2024
- Summary Video
- Summary Report
- Agenda Booklet
- Presentation by Carl and Jimmi – Ways of Storytelling
- Presentation by Kerrie – What stories do the data tell us
- Presentation by Thom and Kate – Telling stories with data
Resources
Additional information on the project is available on the HEAL Network website and the CRE-STRIDE website.
