Introduction  by Jenny Cameron

Projects Showcased

Reviewing the Conference Themes by Katherine Gibson

Outcomes

 

Stories of Success from Rural and Regional Australia was an event that used video-conferencing technology to link community, academic and industry speakers from around Australia.  Four centres - Gippsland, Newcastle, Shepparton, and Central Queensland - were linked for an afternoon conference and workshop designed to highlight the many positive projects underway outside big cities. 

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STORIES OF SUCCESS FROM RURAL AND REGIONAL AUSTRALIA: A VIDEOCONFERENCE, TUESDAY 10 NOVEMBER 1998

The video-conference
Local people told of their efforts at overcoming the damage wrought by restructuring and closures by taking the initiative in innovative ways.  Speakers from each region showcased their project, explaining where the idea had come from, how they'd got it off the ground, how they'd resourced the work and what it had achieved. The speakers were followed by a workshop activity. The regions went off line, broke into small groups to discuss the presentations and brainstorm how existing community assets - human, physical, business, institutional - could be utilised in community building activities that enhanced the social, economic and environmental attributes of regions. Finally, the centres linked up again, reported back on the workshop outcomes, and discussed ways of building connections across regions to enhance the processes of community building and the mobilisation of existing assets.

The linking of people across different communities and regions was a fantastic success. 

At the end of the conference we asked people what they had got out of the afternoon. Here's a sample of what they said:

STORIES OF SUCCESS FROM RURAL AND REGIONAL AUSTRALIA: A VIDEOCONFERENCE, TUESDAY 10 NOVEMBER 1998

Non-metropolitan regions and rural Australia are currently on the agenda. This has been brought about by a whole range of different processes and events in recent years. Often the focus, especially in the media, is on the problems that beset the bush. Today however we’re going to hear about some of the exciting and innovative projects that people are working on in Australia’s regions and rural areas. Many of these projects address the problems that seem to dominate discussions.

The projects twelve that will be showcased this afternoon have a number of common characteristics - 4 that I can think of.

1. They are primarily concerned with social, environmental and ethical issues. They seek to address questions like ‘what would help to make this a better community to live in?’, ‘how could we make this a more sustainable community and region?’. The economic element of the projects flows from this initial focus on what some might call the non-economic.

2. The projects that we’ll hear about are tapping into and working with the assets and resources that already exist in regions and communities - whether these be human or physical. In some cases this involves uncovering the hidden worth of something - or someone. This process of valuing or revaluing is taking place in terms of the social, environmental, ethical and economic contributions of people and physical resources.

3. Many of the projects build across differences between people, differences like age, politics, race, life-style, and so on. This process of bridging differences is creating new understandings and new connections between people.

4. Finally some of the projects are shaping new forms of community. As our experience of living in place changes we are seeing innovative forms of community building happening across ‘the tyranny of distance’. Spatially dispersed communities are developing around shared interests and concerns. These new formations work alongside locally-based communities.

So, why is an event like this, focusing on stories of success from regional and rural Australia, important?

At the moment there is a sense that many rural areas and non-metropolitan regions are looking for an injection from outside for the thing that will make them healthier and function more efficiently and more effectively. The focus is on what regional and rural Australia needs from big business and from big government to set it right. The approach we’re taking this afternoon is to look at the things that rural and regional Australia are already doing right. We’re focusing on the positives, on the projects that have been initiated from within regional and rural areas to address current issues and problems.

At the moment regional and rural areas are talked about in terms of whether they are successful or crisis-ridden. This success or otherwise is measured in economic terms - the level of investment that is flowing into an area, the value of the produce that is being exported, the number of overseas markets that are being tapped into. The assumption is that economic success breeds social success. In research we have done in regional communities over the last 2 years we’ve found that this is not the case. In economic terms some regions might seem as if they are doing better than others. But people’s sense of social well-being and their level of concern about their communities are similar - whether they are living in so-called winner or loser regions. In other words, the issues for regional communities cut across differences that might be measured in economic terms.

It is our hope that this afternoon we can start from our different situations and begin a conversation that addresses issues that are common to us all. It is our hope that we can learn from the projects and initiatives that are being developed.

So to begin our conversation we are going to hear from community and industry speakers about the twelve projects. We’ll start with Shepparton, and from there we’ll move on to Newcastle, and then come back to Gippsland. After a break and a workshop activity we’ll link back up to hear from each of the three regions and also from Central Queensland.

Citation details
This paper can be cited as follows:
Cameron, Jenny, 'Introduction',  Stories of Success from Rural and Regional Australia: A Videoconference, 10 November 1998 [online]. Available at: http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/projects/cep/projects/videoconf.html

What we have heard about today is in stark contrast to the dominant images of rural and regional Australia that are currently in circulation. These images foreground problems--the bush is "running on empty" (as the story in last Wednesday’s Australian was headed), or rural and regional areas are in desperate need of rescue by government assistance or big business investment (the message of the Australian Financial Review's account of the recently published State of the Regions Report by the National Institute of Economic and Industry Research).

Today’s stories indicate that the bush is not empty of ideas, initiatives and innovative projects, and that support for existing initiatives rather than rescue of the helpless victims might be a more appropriate way to go.

We have heard about a range of projects that are all contributing to regional and rural economic development--but they are not the sorts of projects often highlighted in economic and regional policy.

Perhaps this is because their primary goal is located with a social and environmental concern, a community initiative or an aesthetic valuing. The economic outcome is just that--an outcome of other processes more immediate to communities.

When measured by the usual indicators of ‘economic success’ some of these projects might appear small--in terms of the total employment generated, value of turnover, annual profits, volume of goods produced and so.

But what these measures of economic success miss is the rich network of social, environmental and economic relationships that these projects both tap into and give rise to. If you like, their multiplier effect is not limited to narrowly defined economic indicators.

The reverberations of these projects are felt throughout the community. They enhance the rich tapestry of social life, build new social interactions and connections and celebrate our environmental heritage.

In our workshop today we have an opportunity to reflect on how projects such as these--and many more that you may know of--

build upon the existing assets of an area,

contribute to processes of community building, and

produce social and environmental outcomes as well as economic outcomes.

We have a chance to think about how economic considerations can be tamed, how the ‘economy’ can become our servant--not our master.

And we have a chance to imagine new ways of relating within communities and across communities in different regions. One outcome of this might be that we are better prepared in our negotiations with big business and big government.

What I would like to do now is to pull out some of the themes that connect each of projects presented today.

One important aspect of each project is that it builds upon the existing assets of an area whether it be human, physical, business or institutional assets.

What’s exciting about some of the projects is how they take something at hand of seemingly little value and incorporate it into a new process of valuing. For example, in the Latrobe Valley, Woodworx takes abandoned or waste timber and utilises it in a process that gives value to the work of retrenched workers and unemployed youth. In the Hunter Valley the connections that are being built between farmers and restaurateurs involves a revaluing of local produce that builds upon the distinctive qualities of the local environment

Another innovation is the way that some projects are building new partnerships based on the existing assets of an area. The Food Technology Cadetship in the Goulburn Valley, for example, brings together educational resources and large corporations to provide new opportunities for young people in a region where many young people are leaving. The Pathways Project in Newcastle builds upon the resources of a large corporation, existing educational institutions and the skills and initiative of workers who are soon to be retrenched from the steel industry

The projects all contribute to some form of community building. We can see this happening in a number of ways

One of the inspirational qualities of today’s presentations is how they are building communities of understanding across personal differences. The Study Circle Project and Mirboo North Newspaper Cooperative are great examples of this and so are the Fig Tree Community Garden and Rumbalara Football Netball Club.

Another way that communities are being built is across space. Here we are seeing the emergence of new forms of community centred , for example on care of the environment in the case of the Community Surface Drainage Scheme. Another form of community is emerging out of market connections across a region. Home Paddock offers support for farm-based producers throughout South Gippsland, the Regional Industry Clusters Project in the Hunter Valley brings small and large producers into a new network.

Many of the projects showcased are enhancing community and environmental well-being. The Radcon Sawmill in South Gippsland, for example, initially addressed an environmental concern and has grown to become a source of employment in a small town thereby contributing to community sustainability

What all these projects illustrate is the way in which goals that have meaning to communities are the focus, goals such as

keeping young people in rural areas

valuing and redirecting the skills of retrenched workers

maintaining and developing new avenues of communication and connection in the community

caring for land and ensuring its sustainability as a resource

All these goals have economic as well as social and environmental outcomes. In fostering these so-called non-economic goals

new enterprises and new forms of enterprise are emerging

new products and innovations are being produced

new and different markets are being created, AND

a diverse range of economic relationships are being recognized as crucial to the functioning of rural and regional economies.

 

What we are going to ask you to do in the workshop is to reflect on

1. Other examples and potential for building upon the existing assets within your region

2. Other examples or potential for community building within your region, and

3. Opportunities for building connections of support across our regions

Human (eg. individuals, associations)
Physical (eg. environmental resources)
Business (eg. small business, large business)
Institutions (eg. educational institutions, government departments and authorities)

Building community across personal differences in place
Enabling development of community across space
Enhancing community and environmental well-being

New enterprises
New products
New markets
New economic relationships

New communities built
Existing communities strengthened
Environmental concerns addressed

 

Citation details
This paper can be cited as follows:
Gibson, Katherine, 'Reviewing Conference Themes', Stories of Success from Rural and Regional Australia: A Videoconference, 10 November 1998 [online]. Available at: http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/projects/cep/projects/videoconf.html

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STORIES OF SUCCESS FROM RURAL AND REGIONAL AUSTRALIA: A VIDEOCONFERENCE, TUESDAY 10 NOVEMBER 1998

Outcomes

At the close of the videoconference we asked participants if there were any ideas about other activities that they would like to see followed-up.  Here are some of the replies:

The Community Economies website is the direct outcome from the videoconference. It is the most accessible way the Community Economies project felt it could contribute to people's wishes for networking, information and encouragement.

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