Disaster awareness with Future Feast schools program

STUDENTS in the region are taking part in a unique learning experience as part of a region-wide flood preparedness campaign.

Northern Rivers Performing Arts (NORPA) is delivering Future Feast in Schools, embedding disaster awareness through storytelling to foster curiosity, connection and creativity.

Professional artists in drama, dance, and visual and video arts will lead hands-on workshops exploring themes of disaster, resilience and renewal, drawing on students’ lived experiences and hopes for the future.

The responses will contribute to NORPA’s broader creative work, Dinner Party at the End of the World, inspired by local responses to natural hazards.

NORPA artistic director Julian Louis said it was an opportunity for students to unleash their imagination on a challenging subject.

“The idea of climate change is often abstract and hard to understand, but this gives young people the chance to express themselves among friends and peers in a creative endeavour about real events and issues that affected them and their school,” Louis said.

Workshops will be held at Broadwater, Empire Vale, Stoker’s Siding, Main Arm and Palmers Island public schools.

Minister for Recovery Janelle Saffin said the program harnesses young people’s skills and voices to better prepare them for disasters.

“This program shows our young people they have the power to create a more resilient Northern Rivers and build the kind of community they want to live in,” Saffin said.

For information, visit norpa.org.au/future-feast