Living Lab Northern Rivers
When the biggest flood in modern Australian history hit the Northern Rivers in 2022, a group of locals decided it was time for a new approach to disaster recovery. They called themselves Living Lab Northern Rivers. Their goal? To create a place where locals, governments and universities could address the root causes of vulnerability.
Projects delivered:
Giving voice to a community-led recovery revolution.
"This is the team to have in your corner! Fireside distilled our ambitions, messages and audiences into a beautifully crafted narrative strategy. We now feel energised, match-fit and ready.”
- Megan Louis, Design & Delivery Lead, Living Lab Northern Rivers
The challenge
Living Lab Northern Rivers had emerged from the devastating Lismore floods with groundbreaking ideas about collaborative disaster recovery, but lacked the narrative framework to communicate their vision effectively. Their website buried their compelling origin story deep in the copy, while their social media channels duplicated content across platforms without targeting specific audiences.
The organisation needed more than messaging tweaks - they required a complete communications overhaul. With diverse stakeholders from local communities to government officials, international academics to industry partners, LLNR needed tailored messages for each audience and clear channels to reach them. Without this strategic foundation, their innovative approach to community-led resilience risked being misunderstood or overlooked entirely.
How we solved it
We started with a comprehensive three-hour storytelling workshop, diving deep into LLNR’s world to understand their goals, challenges, and the diverse audiences they needed to reach.
Working closely with their team, we helped them discover their story: Living Lab as "the place where problem solvers and solution finders meet." We connected their powerful flood origins to their collaborative vision, giving them language that actually made sense to everyone from local farmers to government ministers.
Our 18-month Action Plan gave them confidence and clarity. We built them a roadmap for reaching everyone from local residents to government officials, each through the channels that actually worked. We helped position their founders as experts in community-led recovery and created frameworks for events, media engagement, and building ambassador networks.
Most importantly, we gave them a clear path forward. Living Lab went from struggling to explain what they did to having a toolkit that could rally government support, attract expert collaborators, and mobilise their community. They transformed from a group with big ideas into an organisation that could articulate why those ideas mattered - and make them happen.
Here’s what we learned:
Here’s what we learned:
- When they’re given the right tools, ordinary people can lead the way on the big issues affecting us all.
- Three hours in a small room can deliver 18 months of crystal-clear direction.
