Using an ecological model to guide transformative place-based pathways to regional business disaster recovery

This article reports on findings from two case studies conducted in South Australia that explored regional business recovery pathways following the Black Summer fires (2019/2020) and the COVID-19 pandemic. We used Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory of human development to analyse data from 18 interviews with small business owners.

We found that the linkages between systems are where the most effective support occurs and yet these linkages are often missing, under-resourced and captured by unhelpful definitions of resilience and self-reliance. We explored the complex mix of supports that already exist in communities, as well as supports delivered by different levels of government, to provide insights regarding the types and timing of these supports.