SUPPORTING COMMUNITY HEALTH AND PANDEMIC RECOVERY IN THE OUTER NORTH OF MELBOURNE
SOCIAL IMPACT ADVISORY & STRATEGY • ENGAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY • TRAINING & CAPACITY BUILDING • FACILITATION
During the whirlwind of the COVID-19 pandemic, Matilda led a team tasked with supporting pandemic recovery in the diverse, peri-urban local government area of the City of Whittlesea.
She undertook recruitment and led a team of six community impact and development professionals in responsive and proactive pandemic recovery projects. Matilda worked across all council departments inform the municipality’s Pandemic Recovery Plan, which was adopted unanimously by the Administrators holding responsibility for Council during this period.
Her team also worked to uplift the engagement capacity of the entire organisation; to fulfill the requirements of the new Victorian Local Government Act in deliberative engagement, especially in preparation for their first deliberatively developed Health and Wellbeing Plan, Budget and Council Plan.
In addition, Matilda and her team developed a series of fact sheets profiling different areas of the municipality and their community resources, challenges and social determinants for community recovery for inclusion into health and wellbeing planning process.
Matilda then went on to play a significant senior role helping to design and facilitate the deliberative engagement the City of Whittlesea undertook to support their new Council Plan (and the associated Municipal Health and Wellbeing Plan) development in 2021. Leading through a lens of community health and wellbeing, Matilda brought the process a deep understanding of the requirements of the Victorian Local Government Act, and other relevant legislative requirements, - as well as best practice community engagement planning. This, coupled with the above resources created by Matilda and her team helped to build the capacity of the community members taking part in the participatory engagement process and the deliberative process, including a participatory budgeting exercise.
