Agenda

DAY ONE: Tuesday 7th December 2010

DAY ONE | DAY TWO

8.00 Registration and coffee

8.45 Welcome and speed networking session

Get to know your peers right from the start in this relaxed and informal speed networking session. Bring your business cards!

9.00 Opening remarks from the Chair

BIG PICTURE PERSPECTIVE

9:10 Demography and development: Regional cities through time

• An overview of Australia’s ten largest regional cities since 1950 and projecting growth to 2020.
• Applying regional demographic analysis:
• Forecasting demand for infrastructure
• Understanding the rural/urban cultural makeup
• Matching industry expansion with human capital
• The impact of an aging population on regional city development

Jeff Gilling, Social Researcher

10:00 What the federal government is doing to promote regional growth

• Direct stimulus for public works
• Increasing population through targeted migration
• Policy essentials for regional migration: managing the changing ethnicity and community concerns of regional Australia
• Effective federal-local government working relationships

10:45 Morning tea

11:00 Clustering: A proven method for achieving comprehensive development

• The origins of cluster theory and its Australian applications
• Identifying regional cities that could benefit from a clustered development
• Legislating for a clustered development
• Stakeholder management issues in clustered development
• Government
• Business
• Community

Professor Julian Lowe, Director, Centre for Regional Innovation and Competitiveness

NATIONAL CASE STUDIES

11:45 Victorian Ingenuity: Master planning south of the border

• Developing a state wide plan for growth: How Victoria’s unique geography has allowed a centralised network of regional cities
• You’ll love every piece of Victoria: Diversifying regional tourism initiatives
• Prioritising sustainability: State government initiatives for the development of sustainable energy industry

Executive Director, Regional Strategic Planning, Regional Development Victoria, Department of Innovation Industry and Regional Development

12:30 Break for lunch

1:30 CASE STUDY

• Bendigo: The very model of a modern regional city
• An analysis of Bendigo’s successful infrastructure ratio: what the town planners did right
• The wide ranging benefits of maintaining a regional finance industry
• Coffee shops and art galleries: the transformative power of sophisticated urbanites in a regional city

Nick Byre, Place Manager, City of Greater Bendigo

2:15 CASE STUDY
Shepparton: Managing regional growth

• Creating regional professional networks
• Maintaining a high rate of economic growth
• Identifying economic opportunities within the Shepparton area

Geraldine Christou, Economic Development Manager, Greater Shepparton City Council

3:00 Renewable energy in regional cities

• Renewable energy industry development
• Opportunities for Regional Cities
• Transforming regional transport networks

Matthew Wright, Executive Director, Beyond Zero Emissions

3:45 Afternoon tea

4:00 CASE STUDY
Albury Wodonga Health: Developing a comprehensive regional healthcare network

• Managing the demands of a changing demographic
• Infrastructure planning for a growing population
• Maintaining quality local staff

Dr Stuart Spring, CEO, Albury Wodonga Health

4:45 Closing remarks from Chair

5:00 End of day one

DAY TWO: Wednesday 8th December 2010

DAY ONE | DAY TWO

8.00 Registration and coffee

8.45 Welcome and speed networking session

9.00 Opening remarks from the Chair

9:05 A ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION
The National Broadband Network

• What the NBN means for Australia’s regional cities
• Strategies for avoiding the centralisation of digital service industry within larger cities
• Ending the tyranny of distance: How will the NBN influence regional demographics
• Alternatives to fibre: Examining the wireless option
• Examining the business case for government investment

John Stanton, CEO, Communications Alliance
Michael De Percy, Lecturer, University of Canberra

INTERNATIONAL CASE STUDY

10:00 Boulder Colorado: A proud American regional city

• Balancing sustainability with economic necessity: overcoming challenges of affordable housing
• Maintaining civic pride: keeping communities engaged
• Setting ambitious policy agendas at the local government level

Jane S. Brautigam, City Manager, Boulder Colorado, USA

10:45 Morning tea

INFRASTRUCTURE AND TOURIST INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT

11:00 The role of commuter rail in regional city development

• The current state of rail transit in regional NSW
• Towards a sustainable future: examining Countrylink’s strategic direction
• Identifying new opportunities for rail development

Greg Mcleod, Executive Director, Countrylink

11:40 Employment in regional cities, the possibilities and the problems

• Labour productivity, getting the most out of a regional workforce
• Staff retention strategies that work
• Unions, what unions? Understanding the role of unions in regional city labour markets

Paul Houlihan, Principal, First IR consulting

12:20 Break for lunch

1:20 Moving the Australian tourism industry into the 21st Century

• Market segmentation: Identifying specific regional qualities, and targeting the right sort of tourist
• Developing cost effective communication plans that work
• Strategies for engaging local communities, creating communities as destinations

Norm White, Principal, Advance Tourism

REGIONAL EDUCATION, ARTS AND ENVIRONMENT

2:00 Fostering regional cultural development: The Cultural Asset Mapping of Regional Australia Project (CAMRA)

• Using digital media to achieve cultural development outcomes
• Avoiding metropolitan cultural imperialism: Fostering local cultural expressions
• Quantifying the value of artistic expression on regional city development

Lisa Andersen, Senior Producer, CAMRA Projcet

2:45 Australian Government - Low Carbon Communities

• Summarising the Gillard government’s commitment to sustainable regional development
• Economic benefits of the program
• Mapping the programs expected roll out across regional Australia

Chief Policy Officer, Low Carbon Communities Program

3:30 Afternoon tea

3:45 Does Australia need regional universities?

• The role of a regional university
• The challenge of mounting teaching and research across multiple campuses
• The role of distance education
• Widening participation, social inclusion

Professor William MacGillivray, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Southern Cross University

4:15 A ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION
Developing regional universities

• Too many campuses? Mapping the performance of regional university campuses
• Strategies for attracting international students into the regions
• Maintaining the balance: ensuring that regional institutions do not spread themselves too thin
• Tafe vs university: examining the merit of TAFE offering high level degrees in regional cities
• Regional social inclusion: issues facing rural, indigenous students
• Contrasting the career aspirations of regional and urban university students
• Key issues in student support

Professor William MacGillivray, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Southern Cross University
Paul Culpan, CEO, Goulburn Ovens Institute of TAFE

5:15 Closing Remarks from Chair

5:20 Conference close