Disaster Risk Awareness Expo and Family Day

This is a community event for all ages with a free plant-based barbecue and Santa promising to visit to give out fire-retardant plants. There will be a drumming workshop, live music and a pollinator hunt with Amelie Ecology, and workshops on how to make plastic-free Christmas presents.

Throughout the day you can explore a wide range of options for creating safer and healthier communities, including eliminating plastics and hazardous materials in our environment, retrofitting to prepare for future extreme weather events, and practical emergency preparedness skills.

If travelling to the Planetary Health Centre via public transport, the 686G bus service operates every 20 minutes from Katoomba CBD to the entrance to the Centre.

Program

TALKS

10:00 - 10:30am - Firecoat: Redefining Fire Protection Through Innovation: Justin Rooney, Flame Security International

10:30 - 11:00am - How to build a Green Roof: Mark Liebman, Sustainability Workshop

11:00 - 11:30am - Learn how to protect your home from ember attack with Fire Halo inventor, Frank Inzitari

11:30am - 12:00pm - Build smarter with natural materials like hempcrete: Kirstie Wulf, Shelter Building Design

1:00 - 1:15pm - Launch of the Bushfire Retrofit Toolkit, University of Technology Sydney

WORKSHOPS

10:00 - 11:00am - Hands, Heart and Feet Drumming Workshop

11:00am - 12:00pm - Amelie Ecology: live music and pollinator hunt

10:30 - 11:00am - Asbestos – What You Can’t See Can Harm You - BMCC and Asbestos and Hazardous Materials Consultants Association (AHCA)

11:00 - 11:30am - Mould After Flood – From Damp to Dangerous - BMCC and AHCA

11:30am - 12:00pm - Beyond the Obvious – Other hazardous materials threatening community health: batteries lead paint, engineered stone and chemicals - BMCC and AHCA

10:00am - 4:00pm - Make your own plastic-free Christmas gifts with Boomerang Bags

12:00 - 1:00pm - Red Cross EmergencyRedi Workshop

12:00 - 1:00pm - Learn how to use a Thermal Imaging camera to help design cooler homes

2:00pm - 4:00pm - Bushfire Retrofit Toolkit Workshop and afternoon tea – University of Technology Sydney

STALLS

FIRECOAT: extreme fire protection coatings
Shelter Building Design and Hempcrete
Betty the Asbestos Education House
Australian Red Cross
Blue Mountains City Council’s disposal options for hazardous waste
NSW Fire & Rescue
RFS local brigades
WIRES: Assisting wildlife in disasters
Asbestos and Hazardous Materials Consultants Association (AHCA)
State Emergency Service (SES) Blue Mountains
Emertrix: emergency planning consultants
and more

If you would like more information on the event, or would like to host a stall, please contact planetaryhealthevents@bmcc.nsw.gov.au

We look forward to seeing you there!

FIRECOAT: Redefining Fire Protection Through Innovation - 10am-10:30am

Justin Rooney will discuss FIRECOAT — a revolutionary new fire protection coating designed to slow the spread of flames and provide valuable time during bushfires. Learn about its development, real-world applications, and how this breakthrough technology could help make our communities safer. Sample pots will be available and a new range will be launched including a flexible fire-protective covering designed for temporary use on windows, doors, poles, fences, vehicles, equipment and other small assets; and a product that can create a fire-protective barrier around your home and these assets.

Hands, Heart and Feet: Drumming Workshop: 10am-11am

This hands-on drumming workshop is a lively, uplifting interactive experience, with a focus on fun, wellbeing, collaboration, and inclusion. It is accessible across a range of ages, cultures and abilities, and no previous drumming experience is required.

How to Build a Green Roof: 10.30-11am

Learn how engineer Mark Liebman built a green roof in Blackheath and how it's successfully been reducing stormwater runoff, cooling indoor temperatures and increasing biodiversity.

Amelie Ecology: Live Music and Pollinator Hunt: 11.00-12noon

Dr Amelie Vanderstock is science communicator, musician and educator with a PhD in native bee ecology. Did you know there are over 2000 native bee species in Australia? In this interactive, family-friendly workshop learn how to transform lawn into paradise for native bees and other pollinators. Through games, theatrics, adventure and musical learnings you'll be introduced to the diversity of native bees, and learn about their needs.

Boomerang Bags: Learn to sew and create plastic-free Christmas gifts: 10am-4pm

Join Boomerang Bags and learn to sew plastic-free Christmas gifts including Boomerang Bags, lacy produce bags and cutlery pouches. All ages welcome!

Learn how to protect your home from ember attack with Fire Halo inventor, Frank Inzitari: 11.00-11.30am

Fire Halo is an affordable and permanent tool for helping to protect buildings during a bushfire flying ember attack. It was invented in Lithgow and featured on Shark Tank Australia.

Kirstie Wulf: 10 Tips to Build or Renovate for Sustainability and Resilience: 11.30-12noon

Join Kirstie Wulf, a building designer specialising in Hempcrete, natural materials, Passive House design, and bushfire-resilient homes, for an inspiring and practical talk on how to create buildings that truly work with nature.

Discover how to combine building science with the beauty and intelligence of natural materials to design comfortable, low-energy, and climate-ready homes. From understanding your site and building envelope to choosing breathable, carbon-storing materials like hempcrete, these ten tips will help you build or renovate for both sustainability and long-term resilience.

Perfect for homeowners, designers, and anyone passionate about building a better future — naturally.

Learn how to use a Thermal Imaging camera to help design cooler homes and gardens: 12.00-1.00pm

Dr Agnieszka Wujeska-Klause from Western Sydney University will share the latest research on reducing the impact of urban heat. In a short introduction, she will point out which materials warm surfaces and air, and the cooling benefits of shade. There will be time to get hands-on experience using a thermal imaging camera to identify what emits the most radiant heat and how it can be reduced.

Red Cross EmergencyRedi Workshop: 12.00-1.00pm

EmergencyRedi workshops support people to learn about preparing for emergencies and take steps towards building their individual and household resilience.

Bushfire Retrofit Toolkit Workshop: 2.00-4.00pm

Learn how to make informed decisions about protecting you, your family and your home. You will have the opportunity to work on case study properties in small groups and ask the team questions about your own property.

Many thanks to the University of Technology, Sydney for their support of this event!