Crisis to Calm
Our Story: Youth-Led Solutions for a Disaster Recovery and Resilience
Crisis to Calm began as a response to a critical gap identified through early collaborations with the Australian Red Cross: the lack of recovery and preparedness programs designed specifically for adolescents and young adults. As climate-related disasters grow in frequency and intensity, young people face heightened risks of long-term mental health challenges, yet they are rarely invited to shape the solutions meant to support them.
Recognising this, our team launched an exploratory project titled Strength After Disasters, aimed at understanding young people’s experiences of disaster across Western Australia. Using a qualitative approach, we engaged over twenty-one participants to uncover their preferences for mental health support and recovery resources. What emerged was a clear message: co-designing with young people is essential to ensure that post-disaster mental health initiatives are targeted, accessible, and engaging.
Crisis to Calm is the result of this process—an intervention built with young people, for young people, to foster resilience, connection, and preparedness in the face of a changing climate
FAQs
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Qualitative research is all about listening to people’s stories and understanding their experiences. Instead of using numbers and surveys, it uses interviews, group discussions, and open-ended questions to explore how people feel, think, and respond to things - like disasters!
In Crisis to Calm, we used qualitative research to hear directly from young people across WA about what recovery should look like for them.
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Co-design means creating something with the people it's meant for, not just for them. In Crisis to Calm, this means young people helped shape the program from the beginning.
They shared their ideas, experiences, and what they thought would actually help after a disaster. Instead of adults guessing what young people need, co-design makes sure their voices lead the way.
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We recruited a team of six young people from across Western Australia, all of whom had lived experience of disaster.
Together, the team met online and engaged in a series of workshops facilitated by the research team at Curtin University. Through group discussion, they shared their stories, made decisions about design and format of the program, and event wrote a policy brief!.