Case Studies / Government Funded Project

Award-winning Roadmap shows way forward for SA businesses

KEY information
GOVERNMENT FUNDED PROJECT
completed 2023

stakeholders
KANGAROO ISLAND BUSINESSES
INDUSTRY GROUPS + LOCAL BUSINESS HUB

Engaging and upskilling local business owners and operators

Opportunity

The Kangaroo Island business community has experienced some of the most severe disasters and natural hazards in its history. From drought and bushfires to COVID-19 closures, the extensive impacts led to both economic and social challenges including business closures, job losses, lost livelihoods, and a loss of community as people left the Island to find work.

To support the 738 local businesses in their recovery, Resilient Ready put forward a bespoke solution – the Kangaroo Island Business Climate Roadmap – to the South Australian Government to engage, upskill, and build the resilience of local business owners and operators.

Our approach

We embarked on a collaboration with the South Australian Department for Industry, Innovation and Science (DIIS) which offered in-kind support via their Office of Small and Family Business. This resulted in the Coordinator from the Kangaroo Island Business Hub playing a key role in all stages of the project. Resilient Ready delivery partner Professor Daniel Aldrich worked closely with Resilient Ready founder Renae Hanvin to drive the project.

In addition, the project was delivered with a local steering group consisting of businesspeople and industry leaders from the Kangaroo Island Business Association (KIBBA), Kangaroo Island Tourism Association (KITA) and Kangaroo Island Agribusiness Association (AGKI) and others.

We worked with 16 local businesspeople to share their lived experience, and were guided by the 38 business people who participated in data collecting workshops during which ‘climate’ became a unifying theme for participants, and the 738 local businesspeople who would directly and indirectly benefit from outcomes.

The roadmap was developed through a collaborative process that involved extensive engagement with the local business community, allowing them to share their experiences and insights about the challenges they faced and reducing risks.

In addition to online and face-to-face sessions for local business owners and operators, a ‘Risky-business mystery bus’ tour proved to be a unique and fun opportunity way to bring business owners together.

Participants were picked up from a central destination and driven to various locations before finishing at a restaurant or café for a meal. During the trip, participants completed surveys to identify the Roadmap topics that they felt would have the most impact.

The Kangaroo Island business community is well versed in understanding the impacts of disasters. Our digital Roadmap supports this community to take small steps to adapt where necessary to stay in business

Renae Hanvin
CEO + Founder at Resilient Ready

Award-winning solution for Island business community

Outcomes

We delivered an award-winning solution for the business people of Kangaroo Island, working with community representatives and local owners and operators to create a local and relevant tool, the Kangaroo Island Business Climate Roadmap.

The free digital resource sets the Kangaroo Island Business Hub up for an additional three years, sharing the stories of 16 local business people while embedding 16 risk reduction micro-learning module topics across the community.

We are very proud to share the Roadmap picked up the South Australian Resilience Australia Business Award and was also a finalist in the national Resilient Australia Awards 2023.

Months where Resilient Ready co-designed the tool with the local business community

Lived experiences filmed and included as module topics for the online tool

700+

Local Kangaroo Island businesses that can benefit from the free online tool