Supporting our regions’ next leaders
Photo credit: Red Earth Community Foundation
In July 2022, the Red Earth Community Foundation hosted the inaugural Red Earth ‘Cultivate our Future’ leadership forum in Murgon, Queensland.
Delivered by the Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal (FRRR) through the Future Drought Fund’s Networks to Build Drought Resilience Program, the forum aimed to create opportunities for the Burnett Inland community to take an active part in creating solutions for the future.
It was the first region-wide forum of its type and encouraged participants to connect and contribute to building resilience in the Burnett Inland.
The initiative featured guest speakers, panel discussions and workshops.
The event’s panel of national thought leaders included Natalie Egleton, from FRRR; former State and Federal MP Prof. Dr John McVeigh, the executive director of the Institute for Resilient Regions; Bega Cheese executive chairman Barry Irvin and Dr Chad Renando, from the Rural Economies Centre of Excellence.
Red Earth Community Foundation Chair, Georgie Somerset said, ‘people in the Burnett Inland are exceptionally community-focused and events such as this bring together like-minded people’.
‘You can only build resilience one person at a time. People must own their future. A resilient community is one that works together through the good and tough times.
‘Resilient communities are those that have the internal connectivity between people so that they can solve their challenges and know where to find the information to become resilient’.
The region knows a thing or two about resilience, after recently coming out of an extended drought period and then experiencing multiple floods.
‘Our community is highly skilled at adapting to the environment around us and we can co¬design the future together’, Georgie explained.
The forum was an extension of the established Red Earth Community Leadership Program, which has more than 200 alumni in the local region.
New and established local leaders took part in sessions across the day and attendees walked away with actions and felt empowered to take ownership of their and their communities’ resilience.
Inspired by the forum’s success, Red Earth Community Foundation co-hosted an Innovation and Ecosystem Action Group ‘Hub in the Pub’ event at the Carrollee Hotel, Kingaroy on 15 September 2022 with South Burnett Regional Council.
The successful event featuring Ag Tech start-up CEO and Black Box Co. founder Emma Black attracted a diverse audience including innovation, entrepreneurship, agriculture and industry representatives.
A second ‘Hub in the Pub’ is planned this year.
Since the Forum, other activities include a formal report on the event and ongoing research and future planning by its eight working groups.
The Red Earth ‘Cultivate our Future’ leadership forum will make a return in 2023.