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| Lobbying For Regions: strategies and steps |
Wednesday 17 September 2007 9am to 4.30pm
Facilitated by:
Dr Graham Starr,
former federal Prime-Ministerial
Senior Policy Advisor and Lobbyist, and;
Mr Bruce Kingston, Bruce Kingston,
Consultancy
About the Workshop
This workshop identifies the key tasks of regional development and relates an update of the latest ideas and experiences about regional development from other practitioners and academics.
The Lobbying For Your Regions Strategies and Steps Workshop was first developed for and conducted at the Sustainable Economic Development for Regional Australia (SEGRA) Conference in 1999, and is now a regular feature at each SEGRA conference.
Importance of Influence and Lobbying
Regions are just one of the many stakeholders in an increasingly crowded policy arena seeking to influence government and corporate decision makers on a range of issues.
Seeking to influence decision-making is one of the prime activities of democratic societies and modern policy making. Influence is what decides if factories get built, levels of regulation, and the extent of government action. Influence is what stakeholders seek to exert over those making decisions about their interests. Influence is the currency of modern decision-making.
At the same time, the process of influencing and lobbying has changed. It is no longer just a matter of contacting elected officials, or responding to particular decisions by short-term ad hoc campaigns. Decision-making is now more transparent, the timeframes longer, and the issues more complex.
Effective lobbying is an increasingly sophisticated process. It involves many players, a range of institutions across several levels of government, understanding of key decision drivers, the need for rational argument, clever presentation and a long-term focus.
Regions have an urgent need to be more effective in influencing the decision makers and to be an integral part, not an afterthought, of decision-making. Regional interests need a stronger advocacy.
About the forum:
Seeking to influence and lobby decision makers has long been part of the democratic decision process, but lobbying has changed. Ad hoc approaches, reliance just on personal links, party affiliation, confrontation tactics no longer work . Successful lobbying requires a more complex strategic approach, better knowledge of decision making processes, greater deployment of researched argument and use of a number of sophisticated techniques in the public arena the corporate boardrooms an the structure of government.
The Lobbying for Regions: strategies and steps workshop was first developed for and conducted at the Sustainable Economic Growth for Regional Australia (SEGRA) Conference in 1999, and is now a regular feature at each SEGRA conference.
Content and topics:
Involving experts and practitioners from regions, government and special dedicated university regional research centre the Regional Economic Development Policy Skills will cover the following key topics:
Identifying the key decision makers in different policy;
Knowing the decision making process;
Understanding the critical decision making points for action;
Developing effective campaigns;
Using communication strategies;
Developing advocacy advertising;
Constituency building, alliances and mobilisation;
Choosing effective tactics (Cooperation legal resistance, non-compliance, redefining issues);
Using consultants.
Key Skills:
Organisational mapping;
Project planning;
Community engagement;
Partnering and Collaborating;
Using analytical tools;
Policy development.
Forum Format:
The Forum will be interactive in style with special keynote addresses and information sharing followed by focussed case studies and workshops so participants can access speakers and identify the skills they need to enhance their abilities in this area. Expert facilitators and provision of notes will ensure the Forum meets the practical needs of participants.
Who Should Attend?
For your region or organisation to be a serious player in affecting policy direction, and be better abled to influence decision makers, then you cannot afford to miss Lobbying for Regions.
The following workshops will be run this year at the SEGRA Conference:
The following workshops will be run at the SEGRA 2008 Conference:
Half day Workshops
Full day Workshops
Study Tours |
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