The Meeting Post
Edition 1 – May 2008
Welcome to The Meeting Post!
Welcome to the first edition of The Meeting Post – an electronic newsletter for stakeholders with an interest in developing and implementing strategies for regional Australia. It is intended to enhance the opportunities for networking and information sharing amongst regional economic development practitioners, industry, government and research partners within the regional economic development policy community. It will include issues raised in peak conferences, new policy and planning initiatives, product development and best practice case studies. The Meeting Post will also feature cutting edge projects from within the economic development community. The newsletter reaches a national and international readership of over 16 000. To ensure The Meeting Post evolves in the direction of readers interests, we welcome your feedback and contributions.
Kate Charters
SEGRA Secretariat
From the Minister's Desk
Regional Development for a Sustainable Future
The Rudd Labor Government has a new direction for regional Australia, one that strengthens communities and helps them to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
The mines, farms, factories, ports and tourism in our regions have helped build our economic prosperity – generating 65 per cent of the Australia's export income.
The Rudd Labor Government has strong plans to invest back into regional communities and help secure prosperity. They include:
- Providing $17 billion over five years from July 2009 in the national road network;
- Implementing our Better Regions election commitments to build and renew community infrastructure;
- Establishing Infrastructure Australia – an independent body to audit nationally significant infrastructure and guide public and private investment;
- Investing up in a National Broadband Network;
- Establishing a $12.9 billion water investment program;
- Investing in new child care centres and additional child care assistance; and
- Setting up a $500 million Housing Affordability Fund.
Recently, I also fulfilled another election commitment to establish Regional Development Australia, a new network to facilitate engagement with regional communities. This will overhaul the network of Area Consultative Committees and enable the government to talk directly with regional communities.
My message to regional Australia is clear – this Government will bring fresh ideas and a new approach to harness the potential of our regions.
The Hon Anthony Albanese MP
Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government
Feature Article
New Regionalism
Dr AJ Brown,
Senior Lecturer and Senior Research Fellow, Law School, Griffith University
New as an adjective before regionalism can sound tired and anachronistic. Nonetheless regionalism is firmly back on the agenda with local government amalgamation in Queensland and much discussion about the nature of the connection between economic development and size of local government. Add to this the election of a new federal government, talk of new deals between state, federal and local governments, and potential constitutional recognition of local government, and questions about the future of regional governance are suddenly regaining real currency. Dr AJ Brown, as Senior Lecturer and Senior Research Fellow, Law School, Griffith University, has published widely on how we might work towards a more 'regional' federation, and carried these issues into the Prime Minister's 2020 Summit last weekend. To read Dr AJ Brown's keynote address Reshaping Australia's Federation: The Choices for Regional Australia, since also republished by the Australasian Journal of Regional Studies and the national magazine Public Administration Today, visit the SEGRA website.
Professional Perspectives
Key guiding principles for regional development
Robert Sveen,
Principal Point of Contact Environment Industry Council and Department of Economic Development
There is no one model that is universally accepted that explains regional performance or a single policy instrument or regional intervention that determines best practice. In regard to policies aimed at promoting effective regional development common themes emerging within the Australian and the international literature have been divided into streams of policy networks, policy instruments, network governance, learning communities, and new economies. It is argued that it is at the regional level where connections between community viability, economic development, and environmental integrity are best understood, and best planning decisions are made.
The following key guiding principles are reproduced from a report by Robert Sveen regarding structures to coordinate and broader promote an area's regional development. The study area is southern Tasmania however there are also ideas here of interest to other regions.
- Principle of Local Capacity and Ownership. Harness the capacity of local leaders and entrepreneurs by enhancing human capital. Each region's most valuable assets are the ones they already have.
- Principle of Well-Integrated and Stable Governance. All levels of government, business, education and the community work together to create a vibrant local economy through a long-term investment strategy of vision and inclusion. This new role of governance overcomes policy silos and improves coordination among policies at different levels.
- Principle of Wired Communities. Invest in technology that supports the ability of local business to succeed and provides open access to information and resources.
- Principle of Enabling. Shifting from government in control of the directing of services to the role of enabling and facilitator of services.
- Client-focused Principle. View the world through the eyes of the clients, be they ratepayers, individuals, families or communities. Target local economic development to promote jobs that match the skills of the residents, improve skills of low-income individuals, address the needs of families and insure affordable housing, transport and child-care.
- Principle of Solidarity. Devolution of service planning and delivery to the local level.
- Principle of Partnership. Using cross-sectoral approaches to address social opportunities and problems through building social capital.
- Principle of Businesses as the Key Drivers of Economic Development. Instruments include small business incubators, entrepreneurial training, export promotion and capital access.
- Principle of Endogenous Development Strategies, Industry Clusters and Innovation. Non-metropolitan regions can profit from the success of regions with large talent pools by offering a diversity of lifestyle and open space recreational opportunities.
- Principle of Place. Developing a single-face of government at the local level and build on the comparative advantage of a particular region rather than competition within regions.
- Principle of Living Communities. Regions should have multidimensional land use patterns that ensures a mix of uses, promotes walking, bicycling and transit access to employment, education, recreation, entertainment, shopping and services.
- Principle of Sustainable Development. A unifying framework to attain inter-generational equity of social and environmental outcomes.
- Principle of Evaluation and Evidence-based Policy. Develop a learning community through culture of ongoing evaluation.
Reference Sources available
Red lights and Green lights in cluster development
While cluster development is increasingly a mainstream economic development strategy around the world, it remains an art. For those actively engaging in the process of cluster development, Cluster Navigators have drawn on their own experiences in highlighting a number of green lights and cautionary red lights.
Reinforcing Green Lights in the process of cluster development
- On initiating a cluster intervention, move early into action. Establish small scale projects that quickly offer benefits to the clusters stakeholders, rather than yet more analysis and workshops. It is not too difficult through a workshop process to quickly identify some 'low hanging' fruit and engage. Avoid paralysis-by-analysis; SMEs in particular have a low tolerance for delay and will fall away.
- Develop a portfolio of projects, spreading the pay-offs and the risks.
- Ensure there is a trained cluster facilitator in place, a person who is a comfortable networker, able to build bridges between diverse stakeholders.
- Nurture and support the front-line facilitators; bring them together regularly to share their valuable experiences.
- Empower the private sector, encourage business to take the lead with short-term, self-destruct task forces; not committees in perpetuity.
- Build collaboration on multiple fronts: clusters and supply/value chains, hard & soft networks
Caution: Red Lights in the process of cluster development
Expecting short term results; resource for a two year minimum. Ideally 5+ years. Removing clumps (local agglomerations of isolated firms with little trust between them) and addressing clutter (unaligned public agencies / donors, each second guessing the needs of a cluster, working with individual firms in isolation) requires perseverance.
- Over analysing published statistics; use surveys to gather the very necessary hard data.
- Being parochial over cluster boundaries; the functional region of a cluster may well extend over local political boundaries
- Viewing cluster development as a static process; new clusters emerge from the more traditional: Nelson is New Zealand's 'seafood capital', it is also now a centre for marine engineering and marine lawyers.
- The clustering initiative remains 'owned' by the public agency; whilst a public agency often starts a clustering initiative, ensure that it is handed over. Who does the cluster belong to?
- The cluster's development agenda is being decided by a few, perhaps an 'old boys network', the 'usual suspects' or a public agency. Ensure that a transparent decision-making process involving the stakeholders from across the cluster is needed.
- Having a narrow development agenda. Clustering initiatives resourced by technology agencies tend to be R&D intensive; those resourced by export agencies tend to over focus on internationalisation and supply chain links. Ensure the development agenda is broad enough to cover the scope of the cluster.
For further information about cluster development please visit clusternavigators
Best Practice
Congratulations to the following winners in the category 'Innovation in Regional Development' sponsored by the Australian Government Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government.
Sarina Sugar Shed – it's the only one of its kind in Australia!
This miniature sugar processing mill and distillery has only been open since September 2006 and is already enjoying remarkable success and exceeding expectations.
The Sarina Sugar Shed project was born when it was realized that an increasingly large number of tourists and visitors to our region wished to visit a sugar mill and distillery to learn and experience more on the Australian Sugar Industry however, were unable to do so, due to workplace health and safety issues at larger mills. The project comprised the construction of a replica sugar mill on a considerably reduced scale but sufficient to give visitors an amazingly instructive insight into the milling process of sugar cane. We believe the Sugar Shed delivers a very educational experience and much more. The Sugar Shed increases the appeal of our luscious sugar cane region to the domestic and international markets.
The Sugar Shed is growing to become a major tourism attraction in the Mackay Region with visitors coming from all over the world and is yielding a number of benefits to the region and the local community in terms of employment creation and flow on benefits to businesses and the general community.
For further information visit www.sarinasugarshed.com.au
Marketing Far North-West Tasmania to Potential Investor
In 2006 Circular Head Council in far north-west Tasmania launched its first Regional and Economic Profile. The Profile was intended as a reference work for the municipality, with the key aim of increasing awareness of what the municipality had to offer to potential investors.
The Profile has 20 sections focusing on aspects of the community including schools, real estate and housing, communications, infrastructure, soil and land capability and climate. Council staff utilised their networks to promote the publication in Australia and overseas. The Profile was provided to potential agricultural investors at the New Zealand Fieldays® event in 2006 and 2007. Fieldays® is the largest agricultural event in the southern hemisphere attracting more than 100,000 visitors annually.
Work has begun on the second edition of the Profile. It will include more photographs along with an overall information update. The second-edition has a tentative web release date of July 2008 with print copies available towards the end of the year.
For further information visit Circular Head Council.
Regional Futures
Why Scenarios? Why SEGRA 2008?
Oliver Freeman, Director
The Neville Freeman Agency
Oliver Freeman writes …
Futures thinking creates the capacity in us to 'reperceive' the present by making us open to new ways of looking at familiar issues and new challenges. We learn from the future and respond differently to these challenges as a result.
Regional and local governments work at the cross roads where the uncertainties of the future engages with the traditions of the past to create, we hope, a bright and shiny present.
A futures focus impacts on everything we do and is not a casual add-on.
So what has been happening in the world which encourages SEGRA to develop its interest in futures thinking?
The first thing might be the increasing importance of the impact of uncertainty on everyday life. It seems to be harder to anticipate and predict how things may turn out as the recent experiences we have of climate change, economic downturn and global terrorism suggest. How prepared, for example, were Queenslanders for the dramatic reduction in the number of local councils?
The second is the dramatic increase in our connectedness with each other in Australia and between Australians and the rest of the world. The days of cold war blocs, the Commonwealth and rural vs. city-centric living have gone. We see everything everywhere, all at the same time.
These broad social changes are marked by events. The demolition of the Berlin Wall; the sub-prime mortgage crisis; 9/11; the APEC meeting in Sydney; Facebook.com; the mobile technology explosion; and of course the Australian Federal Government's 20/20 initiative.
In the welcoming address from Kevin Rudd for the Australia 2020 initiative, in addition to the promotion of futures thinking as an essential component of national growth and development, the PM also identifies 10 categories which are useful umbrellas under which to capture approaches to the future.
These I have collected under the data clustering protocol which we use at the Neville Freeman Agency.
NATURE
- population, sustainability, climate change and water
- future directions for rural industries and rural communities
SOCIETY
- a long-term national health strategy – including the challenges of preventative health, workforce planning and the ageing population
- strengthening communities, supporting families and social inclusion
- options for the future of Indigenous Australia
POLITICS
- the future of Australian governance: renewed democracy, a more open government (including the role of the media), the structure of the Federation and the rights and responsibilities of citizens
- Australia's future security and prosperity in a rapidly changing region and world
ECONOMICS
- future directions for the Australian economy – including education, skills, training, science and innovation as part of the nation's productivity agenda
CULTURE
- towards a creative Australia: the future of the arts, film and design
TECHNOLOGY
- economic infrastructure, the digital economy and the future of our cities
The significance of the 2020 initiative and its relevance Regional Australia cannot be under-stated.
Futures-thinking is now a mainstream political activity.
At SEGRA 2008, we will be looking at how the world has changed since our meeting in Wollongong and how a futures focus can help us today.
See you in Albury!
For further information about regional scenario planning please visit the SEGRA website.
Events
SEGRA, Albury NSW, 18-20 August 2008
Sponsor
Host Region
The SEGRA 2008 Planning Committee is seeking submissions from dynamic regions from across Australia to showcase their own regional achievements and know how at the SEGRA 2008 conference being conducted in Albury, NSW 18-20 August.
"The 12th SEGRA conference will give special attention to regions that can demonstrate creativity, collaboration, connections and commercialisation in their policy and management strategies and programs to generate sustainable regional economic growth." Kate Charters, SEGRA Secretariat, said today.
The Sustainable Economic Growth for Regional Australia conference has an enviable reputation for bringing together government, business, regional development practitioners and researchers from across Australia to discuss and debate critical and emerging issues around the ongoing social, economic and environmental well being of regional Australia and Australians. With the combination of national and international experts on topics such as the economic future for regional Australia, indigenous business strategies, the place of regional Australia on the political agenda, and the largest national gathering of regional economic development practitioners, SEGRA is a major annual forum for advancing real and practical strategies.
This year, the conference program will include on the ground examples of the new, cutting edge, expected, unexpected and successful outcomes from regional case studies. SEGRA 2008 will offer delegates the opportunity to generate new ideas, problem solve and build new networks and connections with exposure to over 300 delegates.
Please note that concurrent sessions and forum speakers must be registered and paying delegates of SEGRA.
Key agenda items for SEGRA 2008 include:
- Regional Australia and the National Agenda
- Delivering Sustainable Economic Development
- Tools and Models for Regional Development
- Successful Case Studies – the different and unexpected
- Climate Change – adaptation and mitigation
- The Role of Cities in their Regions
- Public Private Partnerships
- The Challenges of River and Corridor Towns
- Successful Projects from Regional Australia
- Key Actions within High Performing Organisations
SEGRA provides the opportunity for delegates to discuss their own ideas in a conference setting where boundaries can be drawn more widely and constraints viewed from a range of perspectives. To present your creative solutions please see the attached brochure and registration form or visit the website www.segra.com.au/segra.
Tourism Futures, Gold Coast, 2-4 June 2008
Consumer trends and the latest marketing and technology innovations will be showcased at the Tourism Futures conference on the Gold Coast from June 2 to 4.
Leading US tourism industry guru, Philip Wolf - President of renowned market analyst PhoCusWright - will address the conference and take part in several workshops and seminars over the three days at the Crown Plaza Royal Pines Resort.
"Philip Wolf is in a class of his own. He has an extraordinary insight into consumer trends and the impact of the internet and new technologies on the tourism industry," says Tony Charters, Tourism Futures convenor.
Other sessions include 'Making a Good Property into a Great Property' and hot topics such as investment and development, management trends, staff and training and climate change and eco-tourism.
For a full program and registrations go to the Tourism Futures website.
Climate Change, 1 day workshop, Albury NSW, 20 August 2008
Associate Professor Peter Waterman
Professor Bob Miles
Understanding the environmental, social and economic dimensions and responses for adapting to climatic variability and change is a critical issue for regional Australia. Adaptation needs to be mainstreamed into local and regional development policy, plans, programs and projects of governments and business. The Regional Climate Change Adaptation Workshop aims to show how this can be done. To register, please visit the SEGRA website.
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