Our students have recently been involved in an amazing collaborative project facilitated by local artist Karen Revie, creative director of The Holographic Lounge. Floodscapes is a flood awareness project consisting of three short films that deliver key safety messages to the local community, including the danger of flood waters, how to make a pet emergency plan, and how you can help your community stay safe. The Floodscapes project videos were created as a shareable community resource, based on the idea that people increasingly turn to social media to learn about what to do in emergencies.
In consultation with City of Launceston and SES, Floodscapes project leader Karen Revie involved students from Invermay Primary School, Launceston Big Picture School and the meenah neenah Aboriginal Cultural Education Program in creating these important community resources. Our schools are located directly in Launceston's flood zones and students have first-hand experience of the impact of floods after being evacuated during the devastating 2016 Launceston floods.
The Floodscapes video production involved students creating drawings that were then animated onto background footage from the 2016 floods. Auslan translations were filmed by student interns from Big Picture School, this inclusion helps to ensure that the films are accessible to people with hearing impairments.
The team worked with the Council's Emergency Management Coordinator, Bev Allen, who provided valuable consultation to the Floodscapes project developing the original flood safety messages with SES, visiting schools during the workshop phase and speaking to the media about the importance of the project. It was a true collaborative effort and a great project for the community by the community.
Active learning partnerships within the community provide a lasting sense of belonging and purpose for our students. It allows them to form meaningful connections with mentors, and they are empowered by the opportunity to be messengers for our city, sharing their knowledge in authentic ways.
The Floodscapes team have been interviewed multiple times by local radio and television news outlets speaking about the meaning behind this project, what they’ve learned and the roles people played in this collaboration.
This real-world project has seen students’ confidence, ownership of learning, and the desire to produce meaningful work increase exponentially. As Karen Revie aptly points out, "Young people are the future leaders of the community ... It is much more effective when you have children educating adults, so we deliberately put the power in their hands."
The project was funded by a City of Launceston community grant, and the three short films will be used for awareness
campaigns, and during emergencies. The films debuted in May at
the Breath of Fresh Air Film Festival held in Launceston and are now available on the City of Launceston and TasALERT websites.
The Floodscapes team were winners of this year's Resilient Australia Schools award at a state level and will now proceed to the national awards facilitated by the Australian Institute of Disaster Resilience.
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| Screenshot from one of the short films, Pet Wise |
In consultation with City of Launceston and SES, Floodscapes project leader Karen Revie involved students from Invermay Primary School, Launceston Big Picture School and the meenah neenah Aboriginal Cultural Education Program in creating these important community resources. Our schools are located directly in Launceston's flood zones and students have first-hand experience of the impact of floods after being evacuated during the devastating 2016 Launceston floods.
The Floodscapes video production involved students creating drawings that were then animated onto background footage from the 2016 floods. Auslan translations were filmed by student interns from Big Picture School, this inclusion helps to ensure that the films are accessible to people with hearing impairments.  |
| Artist Vicki West (meenah neenah cultural education program) supporting students as they create art for the films |
The team worked with the Council's Emergency Management Coordinator, Bev Allen, who provided valuable consultation to the Floodscapes project developing the original flood safety messages with SES, visiting schools during the workshop phase and speaking to the media about the importance of the project. It was a true collaborative effort and a great project for the community by the community.
Active learning partnerships within the community provide a lasting sense of belonging and purpose for our students. It allows them to form meaningful connections with mentors, and they are empowered by the opportunity to be messengers for our city, sharing their knowledge in authentic ways.
The Floodscapes team have been interviewed multiple times by local radio and television news outlets speaking about the meaning behind this project, what they’ve learned and the roles people played in this collaboration. This real-world project has seen students’ confidence, ownership of learning, and the desire to produce meaningful work increase exponentially. As Karen Revie aptly points out, "Young people are the future leaders of the community ... It is much more effective when you have children educating adults, so we deliberately put the power in their hands."
 |
| Karen Revie with Invermay Primary and Big Picture School students |
The Floodscapes team were winners of this year's Resilient Australia Schools award at a state level and will now proceed to the national awards facilitated by the Australian Institute of Disaster Resilience.
This is the first video, Waterwise, which explains the danger of entering
floodwaters:
The second video in the Floodscapes Flood Awareness
series, Pet Wise, provides information on how to keep pets safe in times of flooding:
The third video, Community Wise, is about the shared responsibility to look after each other to keep our community safe:
Media Links about Floodscapes Project:
Newspaper article: Flood Tragedy Inspires Students to Create Community Art with Purpose
Newspaper article: Flood Tragedy Inspires Students to Create Community Art with Purpose
