Anna Kennedy-Borissow joins us to discuss her PhD research into creative recovery projects in Australia. Anna is an arts manager, academic and theatre maker and currently a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne where she is researching the interplay of arts practice, community wellbeing and emergency management. 

Anna’s work addresses a gap in what is historically a lack of academic research in this field. By examining the extent to which arts participation builds resilience in disaster-affected communities and identifying the underlying factors that contribute to the success of creative recovery initiatives, she is working to establish an evidence-base to inform future developments in policy and practice.

In this conversation, Scotia and Anna discuss: 

• The challenges and opportunities around definitions and terminology when working in an emerging field of research. What is creative recovery and how is the term used across different disciplines, industries and locations? 

• What current research can show about the specific ways arts programs contribute to individual and community wellbeing following a disaster and how Anna’s research framework seeks to observe trends across different communities that can be relevant to other communities who engage in creative recovery in the future

• The importance of timing and sensitivities required when working with disaster-impacted communities to reflect on their experiences

• The role and importance of rigorous research as an advocacy tool to influence policy frameworks and funding decisions 

Further reading:

Performing Creativity, Culture and Wellbeing

https://www.cawri.com.au/pccw2023 

Creative Recovery Network Case Study Library 

https://creativerecovery.net.au/resources/ 

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