In 2017 we conducted a survey of CFA’s Brigade Community Safety Coordinators. One of the main findings was the desire for more training opportunities in community engagement.
It is therefore exciting to launch the “Building Capability in Community Engagement” training for CFA members, developed under the Victorian Government’s Safer Together program.
Together with DELWP, CFA is giving Community Engagement training to staff and volunteers who will benefit from it most: our people who are at the frontline, interacting and engaging with communities.
Priority one under Safer Together is “Community First”. By building our people’s capabilities to help them better engage, we can help Victorians make more informed decisions, plan and share responsibility for their safety.
Some of our volunteer members got a taste of the training when it was piloted at the State Community Engagement Forum held in Creswick recently, with around 270 members from CFA and SES taking part. Those who participated overwhelmingly reported an extremely high level of satisfaction with the experience, and the skills learnt.
Moving forward, there will be three levels of training on offer:
Level One - Basic Community Engagement (one day workshop)
Level Two - Community Development (one day workshop)
Level Three - Experiential Facilitation (two day workshop)
There will also be a ‘train-the-trainer’ package to support delivery of Level One and Level Two training to selected members, which provides a sustainable mechanism to enable ongoing skills development in community engagement into the future.
The official launch of the Level One: Basic Community Engagement training will take place at Marvel Stadium, Docklands on Wednesday, September 19. The training will be highly interactive, involving practical activities, information and idea sharing with peers from other agencies. It should mark the beginning of building your community engagement toolbox.
If you regularly interact and engage with communities and want to build skills and confidence in engaging, this training is for you.
Date: Wednesday, September 19
Time: 9:30am - 4:30pm
Location: Marvel Stadium, Docklands (formerly Etihad Stadium).
Click here to register your interest for the workshop.