From fake news to drought, social media and climate change - Lismore will soon see leading experts discussing challenging issues when a free virtual Community Resilience forum comes to Lismore.

Hosted by Farmers for Climate Action, the forum on June 9 invites the whole community to join in with experts in Australian media and trauma recovery.

It’s part of a new program aimed at building resilience and hope in rural and regional communities and develop the strength and resources to face the challenges of climate change.

Farmers for Climate Action is a group of farmers and rural leaders working to ensure farmers and regional communities are a key part of the solution to climate change.

At the forum, journalist and academic at Deakin University Professor Matthew Ricketson, who writes about Australia’s media, will discuss how social media is being used to stoke division within communities and what people can do to ensure they are not taken in by fake news.

Professor Ricketson said he was looking forward to talking with people from the Northern Rivers region about the recent shutdowns at local and regional news outlets across Australia and what the loss of those publications meant for the public’s understanding of important problems.

“The impact of recent cuts and closures in regional, rural and local news outlets is dire,” he said.

“Fewer newspapers means fewer journalists digging up stories, meanwhile social media is being used to spread misinformation about a number of issues, including climate change.”

Farmers for Climate Action chief executive Wendy Cohen said that regional communities such as Lismore and the Northern Rivers region have had a very difficult few years, and that the forum aims to bring people together to develop strategies to face the challenges that lie ahead.

“Rural and regional Australians have an extraordinary capacity for coming together and tackling challenges as one,” she said.

“It has been a tough few years, with communities facing drought, bushfires and COVID-19, but we want to bring people together to identify and pursue the solutions that will make them stronger, more resilient against climate and economic threats, and help alleviate the threat of climate change.”

Other featured speakers include clinical psychologist Rob Gordon.

Anyone who is interested in joining this free, online forum can register their details at https://www.farmersforclimateaction.org.au/bairnsdale_2020_forum