Save the Date: Portals to Place - 4-7 May 2026

What Does Resilience Mean?

There's a question that keeps coming up. What does a truly resilient, thriving community economy look like in a remote place? It's a question that lies below the surface of everyday life here on the Island, and it tends to surface when the seasons change and visitors leave, when decisions are made about flights and barges, or when the conversation turns to the lack of housing or the shortage of workers.

It's a question that has been raised and discussed at many levels. Few may be aware that in 2019 a report identified a critical social and economic tipping point for the island. It suggested that by 2025 there would not be enough people of working age to support the services the Island needed. The report suggested that the Island required 479 workers for a sustainable economy. At the last census the number of workers was 424. The predicted impacts of falling below this threshold included an increased reliance on fly-in, fly-out workers, businesses closing because there was insufficient market for their services, a decreasing pool of tradespeople, more pressure on volunteering, and people working multiple jobs. Does that ring true?

While the report painted a worrying scenario, data is one thing but lived experience is another. These predicted outcomes are visible, yet there is little to suggest that this place is grinding to a halt. Community spirit, generosity, kindness and gratitude is what shows up every day. Life goes on, people adapt, and new ways to overcome challenges emerge. What I have observed is that this Island and its communities have a special relationship to change. These challenges can't be solved by consultants from away, but by adaptation, creative problem solving, and the slow persistence of the local communities.

This incredible resilience is to be celebrated. When I first started the Islander Way journey, people would tell me "This Island has a complex history, but we're still here." Then after a pause... "This is my home and there is nowhere else I could possibly be. This Island has a hold of me." I heard similar reflections again and again, and it got me thinking how the rest of the world could actually learn something about resilience from this place.

While government workers spend time trying to understand what resilience is, and write policies to build resilience, I learned that resilience is personal, it's deep, it's not something that governments can soluntioneer and scale. Resilience is experience, connection, and local knowledge. It's tried and tested. It's where care for people and place is woven into everyday interactions and decisions, where the place and the community are relationships that are cared for, not things to be managed.

And this brings me to the reason for this post - it's to claim a date, and to extend an invitation.

Why We're Hosting a Gathering

The Furneaux Collective is hosting a small gathering on 4-7 May 2026. It all started from the Islander Way. But I'll be upfront with an acknowledgement. The Islander Way began with a moment of controversy:  Perceptions of overtourism, marketing that didn’t feel like it genuinely represented the community,  and heaven forbid, consultants from away! Those who stayed the course, saw something beyond the same old self-reinforcing loop of consultants coming up with solutions and then disappearing. The journey brought energy to projects that the community cared about - waste, walking trails, island culture, and a food network - to name a few. (That pesky consultant also stayed!)

But something else has been quietly growing here on Flinders Island since the Islander way finished in 2023. The Furneaux Collective is a community-led effort rooted in the simple idea that the future of this place belongs to the people who love and care for it. The Furneaux Collective is a not-for-profit incorporated association that was established out of the Islander way, born from the idea that all these community-led initiatives needed a home, an organisation to champion them collectively. The community also needed its own voice, and what this looks like is evolving. It takes time to establish a new entity, create a team, establish a working culture, set up processes, to flesh out a plan of action and mobilise.  But it’s time to share the next steps with you.

About the Gathering

We're inviting you to come and learn about what has been happening, but also to reflect on things like resilience, community, and a love of place. This is not some big new project, but honest work in progress, full of the texture and complexity that community building involves. So put a date claimer in your dairy for 4-7 May 2026.

This gathering is about holding up and celebrating the remarkable talent, ingenuity, and lived wisdom that already exists right here,  and exploring how that can become the foundation for future flourishing. The people doing the most interesting, grounded work to nurture their communities are often not the ones on the conference circuit. They're here. Working quietly, heads down, with deep knowledge of this place and its communities. We want to make space for that knowledge to be seen, shared, and honoured.

The Journey So Far

The journey so far has been driven by a purpose and it has been messy, and is still-unfolding. There are other communities who are also searching for their own way, and have asked how they also create a healthy relationship that honours place and people. So we are inviting you to participate, ask questions, and leave feeling connected and inspired. We are also inviting a few people from other communities and places who are quietly doing their own community work so we can share and learn together.

This gathering is for everyone. Whether you're a local who's been part of this story from the beginning, or someone travelling from elsewhere who is hungry for real, grounded examples of place based, community-led work. There is a place for you here at our gathering. Come with an open mind. Come ready to listen as much as to share. The most powerful ideas in how to steward special places and care for the community might just be growing quietly in a small island community at the edge of the world!

We will be sharing more in the coming days and weeks. So please sign up so we can keep you in the loop.

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Note: In this post I share my own thoughts and reflections based on work conducted on behalf of Place Ecologies. The ideas shared here are not necessarily those of the Furneaux Collective.