Greg Brown

Preferred presentation format: Presentation

Affiliation(s): University of South Australia

Title: Dr. Greg Brown Position: Senior Lecturer Organisation: University of South Australia Contact email: greg.brown@unisa.edu.au Contact phone: 08 8302-3110

Keywords: community values, community resiliency, quality of life

A long-standing presumption holds that the survival of rural communities depends on the sustained flow of resources from the landscape (e.g., agricultural products, timber, minerals, forage). This narrow view of rural communities often fails to account for ecological, social, and economic variability embedded within natural resource production systems. Community “resilience” is the ability and capacity of a community to adapt to changing conditions. A relationship exists between a community’s quality of life (QOL) and its resilience because communities with perceived high QOL are able to attract significant social capital (e.g., leadership and volunteerism) to resolve community issues. Using research findings from studies in the U.S., the relationship of between rural communities and their regional landscape is explored. The most resilient communities are those that have strong civic leadership, a diverse economy, a strong sense of community (social cohesion), and abundant special places. It is suggested that if rural community quality of life is emphasized rather than “guaranteed” access to natural resources, the role of extension may need to be expanded from one of providing technical natural resource expertise to building community social capital.

Key learning points:

• Community quality of life is increasingly driven by amenities, not commodities
• Community resiliency consists of four major elements
• Community values can be identified mapped on regional landscapes
• To sustain rural communities, the role of extension may need to be expanded from one of natural resource expertise to social engineering.