Regional Leaders Summit 2025

This is your invitation to gather with your peers from across Australia and workshop solutions to better navigate, negotiate and land the best outcomes for your community in the shift to renewable energy.

Over two days, 70 rural and regional leaders working in or alongside local government, regional development and communities will gather in Newcastle NSW. They’ll share stories, lessons and experiences that help create and maximise opportunities and limit risks.

The Summit is an extension of the successful Regional Leaders Network that the Renewable Energy Alliance (RE-Alliance) has been hosting for over 18 months now - an online monthly deep dive into learning and sharing experiences. Leaders in this network tell us they find huge value in hearing what’s happening across the country, connecting with their peers and gaining learnings they can take back to their regions and implement to improve community outcomes, industry behaviour and more.

If you’re a regional leader who wants to help your community get the most out of the renewable energy shift, you don’t want to miss this!

Event Details & FAQ

Is the event a good fit for me and my organisation/Council?
The Summit is a workshop-orientated event for rural and regional leaders wanting to learn more about leading communities through significant large-scale renewable energy planning and development. You might be involved in:

• Local Government, including elected representatives, executive leadership team or staff from economic development, strategy, planning, community development.

• Associated local government organisation such as a joint organisation of councils or a regional development organisation.

• Community-based group active in the shift to large-scale renewables and involved in local decision-making or leadership around renewable energy development.

We're aiming for a diverse mix of 70 rural and regional leaders from a range of locations and organisations.
In addition, we're inviting a small and strategically selected group of trusted "observers" from government, industry bodies and active not-for-profits. Having observers hear firsthand from rural and regional leaders on issues, barriers, creative workarounds and practical solutions will increase awareness, understanding and open the door for changes in engagement, policy and behaviour. 
If you’re interested in being an observer, get in touch by emailing thomasen@re-alliance.org.au.

Program overview
In addition to a daily plenary session, there will be a series of concurrent sessions offered that you can choose from. 
These sessions will be a mix of practical workshops, case studies and open discussions led by people like you, rural and regional leaders who are willing to share their stories of experimentation, success, lessons from failures, and everything in between. There will also be a number of expert presentations weaved into the program.
Presentation, workshop and discussion topics are likely to include:

• Understanding renewable energy project development processes

• Identifying local government levers of influence

• Anticipating and managing impacts of development

• Housing and workforce accommodation

• Benefit sharing, options and frameworks

• Training and workforce opportunities

• First Nations agreements, engagement and benefit sharing

• Renewables and biodiversity

• Engaging your community 

What do tickets include?
Tickets include all Summit activities and fully catered meals:

• Tuesday 5 August 2025, 9am-5pm

• Tuesday 5 August 2025, evening canapes and drinks 5-8pm

• Wednesday 6 August 2025, 9am-5pm

Choosing the right ticket
To keep the event as affordable as possible, we have created a tiered ticket pricing structure. Ticket categories should be selected based on:

• The balance of your organisation's ability to purchase tickets,

• Local government area size and population, and

• The number of full time equivalent staff at your organisation. 

Tiers are exhaustible so we appreciate your honesty with regards to appropriate ticket selection. The terms and conditions outlined below explain our policies around monitoring ticket selection and purchases.
Where possible, we recommend bringing 2 people from your organisation to the event to build your organisation's capacity. This is also the maximum number (2) from each organisation we can accommodate.

Why do we need this event?
The lack of recognition and support for rural and regional leaders is a material issue and in some places, hindering the delivery and local value created in the shift to renewables. 
It’s not uncommon for rural and regional leaders to express feelings of overwhelm and isolation. The sheer volume of information to digest and work to implement, on top of business as usual, is massive.
We have designed the Summit in collaboration with a network of rural and regional leaders in the energy shift, alongside an advisory committee of experts in the shift and regional development. Our hope is the Summit will build confidence, networks, skills and understanding among this essential cohort of practical, solutions focused individuals.
This in turn will lead to regions that are stronger, more networked and better equipped to support their communities through the challenges and opportunities brought about by the energy shift.

What will we do with the Summit insights?
We will synthesize and share general Summit themes to demonstrate the need for a better approach moving forward that centers regional leadership in local energy shifts. No individual Council will be identified, without prior consent, in discussions with media and other external parties, post event. The synthesis produced will be shared widely, including with attendees. 

Host organisation
The Renewable Energy Alliance (RE-Alliance) is hosting the Summit, supported by an Advisory Committee made up of members from leading organisations in regional development, local government and energy shift including the Community Power Agency, Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal, Projects JSA, Regional Australia Institute and The Next Economy.

Venue
Newcastle City Hall is an iconic and accessible venue located in the heart of Newcastle NSW. For more information, visit the following websites:

• Transport and accommodation information

• Accessibility information

Financial support
We don’t want cost to be a barrier to attending the Summit, so we are offering financial support packages to a select number of rural and regional leaders. Please get in touch if you’ll need financial support for travel and accommodation expenses to attend the event by emailing thomasen@re-alliance.org.au.

Terms and conditions
To ensure the Summit's purpose is fulfilled, RE-Alliance reserves the right to: 

• Monitor and query ticket purchases.

• Refuse participation and refund tickets where we choose to do so. This could be for a number of reasons including ensuring a balanced geographic representation of participants or allowing more space for an underrepresented stakeholder.

We know many stakeholders are interested in the event's outcomes and insights. We will synthesize and share these freely and broadly post event.