The title of this episode – Bouncing Forward – was inspired by a concept shared by Paul Ryan the founding director of the Australian Resilience Centre, and a global leader in resilience, adaptation and transformation practice.

Paul Ryan, founding director of the Australian Resilience Centre, and a global leader in resilience, adaptation and transformation practice.

Paul has been hosting a webinar series on Resilience, with the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority, and the term ‘bouncing forward’ surfaced in the first webisode, in a discussion on how people have been adapting to COVID-19.

Paul joins us today for a ‘Conversation over a Cuppa’ as we look deeper into this idea of ‘bouncing forward’. The term stems from the notion that the popular belief about resilience being our ability to ‘bounce back’ is a flawed concept. This is because when we go through a traumatic experience such as the bushfires and current pandemic conditions, we come out the other end with lived experience and knowledge that we previously didn’t have. It is not only improbable, therefore, but impossible to return back to the state we entered the experience with.

Instead, resilience can be associated with our ability to ‘bounce forward’. What can we learn from the experience, adapt to, and build into our lives going forward?

Have a listen to the episode on how this concept of ‘bouncing forward’ can help us build resilience in ourselves and the communities we’re a part of. If you are a Spotify user, you can click here to listen to the episode on Spotify.

My interview with Paul can also be viewed below.

Thank you for listening!

If you enjoyed this episode, we encourage you to have a listen to our other ‘Take me to the river’. Click the button below to see a full list of episodes.

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