Living Lab Northern Rivers opens their new exhibition 'Working With Nature' this week in their Lismore shopfront space, giving visitors the chance to learn more about flood mitigation strategies. 

The timing of this exhibition is no surprise. Soon after the 2022 floods, the Federal Government announced $11.2m in funding for the CSIRO to build detailed hydrodynamic models for the Northern Rivers catchments, and the Living Lab believes that it is critical for our community to understand this process and be invited to participate.  

‘While we know that the 2022 floods took many things away, we recognise that they also bring new opportunities.’ says Dan Etheridge, Director of Living Lab Northern Rivers ‘One such opportunity is the chance to rethink how we manage our landscape to mitigate the natural flooding events that have always been a part of the Northern Rivers. The CSIRO models will be a powerful tool that will help us better understand how to mitigate flood impacts in our region.’ 

Visitors will have the opportunity to learn about the types of flood mitigation strategies available, and a range of local and international case studies. The exhibition combines local knowledge with technical expertise, and has been created through collaborations with UTS Sydney, Landcare Network Australia, Jagun Alliance and Richmond River Keeper. 

(Living Lab Northern Rivers 'Working With Nature' exhibition. Photo: Elise Derwin)

Working with nature is open each week Tuesday to Thursday, 1 - 4pm, through until the end of July. You will find the Living Lab at 11 Woodlark Street in the CBD, closer to Molesworth Street on the left-hand side heading toward Fawcett Bridge.

In addition to the exhibition, the Living Lab Northern Rivers will also be hosting a series of talks and day field trips. For more about these events visit llnr.com.au .

The first exhibition, Look Ahead, which provided a glimpse of possible future strategies for rebuilding and recovery in Lismore and the Northern Rivers Region through examples of real projects from around the world that address flood resilience, can still be viewed online, click this link.