Regional Wealth Building Program

Regional and Economic Development via Community Wealth Building: Practitioners Program

Pathways to inclusive and thriving regions, communities, economies, industries and enterprises

About the Program

This program brings together leaders and practitioners from government, regional development and community development organisations who can envisage a thriving, prosperous and resilient future for their region and want to make it a reality using Community Wealth Building.

Community Wealth Building is a fast-growing regional and economic development field that aims to:

Strengthen our regions and local communities - by increasing local development outcomes from economic and social activity in the region
Create an inclusive economy – by adopting more inclusive forms of economic development that build wealth and prosperity for everyone
Enable plural ownership of the economy – by empowering local people to invest in, have ownership and a stake in the local economy, infrastructure, land and enterprises
Make financial power work for local places – by harnessing and redirect existing capital and wealth back into the regional economy
Anchor industry, enterprises and jobs locally – by increasing enterprises and employment opportunities that are anchored locally and reinvest in the region and employees
Create diverse, stable, resilient and adaptive local economies and communities – through regional and individual asset building and wealth diversification
Build deep commitment to the long-term aspirations of the region - through financial and personal investment, participation, connections and relationships.

This proven approach brings real benefits to local towns and people, tangible improvements in economic, social, cultural and environmental outcomes, and a growing number of places across the world are adopting this approach.

The program will provide you with detailed knowledge and understanding of regional and economic development via community wealth building benefits, strategies, processes, tools and examples. The program provides a strategic and operational foundation to apply different strategies based on location and context. You will hear from local and international leaders and practitioners’ applying this model. Focusing on capability building through work and project-based application, you will apply your learning and develop your skills on real issues in your region, such as changing economic opportunities, declining populations, youth unemployment, social disadvantage. You will define the opportunities, benefits and pathways to implementing community wealth building and workshop the challenges with a growing practitioner’s network.

Who Should Participate?

This course is designed for local government, regional development and community development leaders and practitioners seeking to build a deeper understanding of regional and economic development via community wealth building, build skills and confidence to play your part and mobilise others to create an inclusive region and economy.

Benefits, What’s included?

✦ 6 self-directed modules including short videos, articles and resources

✦ 4 facilitated online practice & experimentation workshops

✦ Online connection of participants during and after the program

✦ Access to a growing Practitioner’s Network of peers from across government, business and community

✦ Access to the ‘Common Wealth Course’ for the duration of the program

✦ A facilitated Offers and Needs Market at the completion of the course to share what we need and what we have to offer to make building inclusive and cooperative regions easier for us all

Course Content

Modules include:

1. Introduction to community wealth building: key concepts and principles, benefits

2. Strategic objectives, choices and options for regional and local implementation

3. Key considerations & factors in cwb initiatives & projects

4. Select issues addressed through community wealth building

5. Policy settings in Australia

6. Activation Strategies

Outcomes

As a result of this program, you will:

✦ Transform your perspective and thinking about regional and economic development

✦ Understand the key principles, strategies, approaches and tools to apply community wealth building to regional and economic development

✦ Learn from thought-leaders and change-makers from Australia and internationally.

✦ Be exposed to real world examples of community wealth building

✦ Apply learning to priority issues in your region

✦ Collaborate with and create a network of practitioners to support each other during and after the program.

Format

The program runs for two months and includes a combination of self-directed learning, group learning and workshops and applied strategic or operational impact.

Foundational Knowledge

The foundational knowledge is organised across 6 core modules, released in stages across the duration of the program. Each module includes short videos and written resources on key topics.

2. Practice and Experimentation

Capability to apply new learning and skills is practiced and developed over 4 workshops with program participants and facilitators.

3. Strategic and Operational Impact

Throughout the program participants will work on a community wealth building scenario of their choosing. Ideally this will be relevant to their work, and will enable participants to deliver immediate strategic and operational value to their organisation and region.

Mode of Delivery

All modules and workshops are delivered online using Zoom and Slack to enable people to participate right across Australia. Workshops are informal, interactive and multi-sensory to enable participants to get to know each other, build connections and learn in different ways. Course materials are available two weeks before each workshop to enable pre-reading and preparation.

Schedule

Program schedule		Key dates
Program commencement	Official start of the program	16/8/2021
Meet and greet & course overview session	Optional	18/8/2021 12.30-1:30pm AEST
Module 1 released	Self-directed learning	18/8/2021 – 24/8/2021
Workshop & Experimentation Session 1	Applying learning from module 1	25/8/2021 12.30-2pm AEST
Module 2 released	Self-directed learning	25/8/2021 – 31/8/2021
Workshop & Experimentation Session 2	Applying learning from module 2	1/9/2021 12.30-2pm AEST
Module 3 & 4 released	Self-directed learning	1/9/2021 – 7/9/2021
Workshop & Experimentation Session 3	Applying learning from module 3 & 4	8/9/2021 12.30-2pm AEST
Module 5 & 6 released	Self-directed learning	8/9/2021 – 14/9/2021
Workshop & Experimentation Session 4	Applying learning from module 5 & 6	15/9/2021 12.30-2.30pm AEST
Learning Harvest	Presentations of individual projects and peer discussion/feedback.	TBC

Price

Ethical Fields has a sliding scale for pricing to support capacity building and reflect different capacities to pay. Ethical Fields receives no external financial support and is reliant on sales to deliver programs like this. Your contribution through your ticket supports building the field and indigenous students via Humantix.

Indigenous leaders and organisations $550 plus GST and booking fee

Community leaders not affiliated with an organisation $550 plus GST and booking fee

Not-for-profit organisations $750 plus GST and booking fee

Government officers, consultants and business practitioners $950 plus GST and booking fee