Ben Ollington’s research aims to develop an understanding of, and new approaches to, landscape design and planning in disaster risk reduction relating to bushfire. It will contribute to and integrate landscape-specific measures into disaster risk reduction and urban planning, particularly in the case of bushfire in Victoria.
The study began with an analysis of current policy and regulatory measures to determine their capacity for nature-based responses to risk reduction. Then, utilising emerging knowledge such as the idea of fire-adapted communities, the research will investigate potential measures that could be incorporated into planning policy to build social and ecological resilience. This will be realised through a design response in a spatial location with the hope of applying the framework to different locations over time. Ultimately trade-offs will occur, and these will be explored to determine whether the findings can be developed into a model/scenario/recommendation to be utilised across different localities.
Ben currently works as a research assistant for the Bushfire Design Guideline joint project between the University of Melbourne, CSIRO and Country Fire Authority.
