Nerida and I have just had a really interesting week working with the Sydney Metro CMA and the Lachlan CMA. We were fortunate enough to spend time with both groups in their regions, Parramatta for Sydney, and Young for Lachlan. In both cases we were running workshops focussing on WHY we do what we do, narrative techniques, the power of story, and how to use social media to reach new and ever expanding audiences.
We had expected there to be vast differences between the two CMAs, however, apart from the contrasts of a highly urbanised community, to one that was more dispersed across a wider geographic area, we mainly found similarities. The similarities we found were in the passion and commitment of CMA staff to the work they do, and their openness to learning about how to connect even more effectively with the communities they work within.
Perhaps the most enlightening moment for all involved came when we asked people WHY they do what they do? In both workshops the responses were the same – a belief in the need to protect and care for our environment, combined with a desire to ‘make a difference’. We were delighted to see people reconnect with their reason for doing what they do – knowing what you believe in is vital to sustaining yourself and those around you – it is why we do what we do and why the ARRC exists.
Siwan
We are so pleased that the Australian Stream Management Conference is making a comeback in 2012 – there has been a big gap in the calendars of natural resources management professionals without this event, so we are very happy to announce that the ARRC is going to be a part of this revamped occasion in February 2012.
The conference will be held in our home town of Canberra, with the River Basin Management Society and the Catchments Australia Foundation hosting the event. The ARRC will be running workshops that link to the conference theme of ‘Managing for Extremes’ with some of the questions being asked over the two days including:
Does successful management of stream systems lie in managing for the extremes?
What are these extremes, and how do we predict and plan for them?
What are the implications for ecological communities and monitoring and evaluation programs?
How do we engage with communities and elected leaders to discuss these issues?
The ARRC will be exploring this topic in terms of what skills do we, as natural resources management professionals, need to ‘manage for extremes’. How can we best support and facilitate positive environmental and social outcomes in the face of these future challenges?
Place the dates 6-8th of Feb 2012 in your diary and we look forward to welcoming you to lovely Canberra!
Siwan & Nerida 
Recently I have been discovering some of the most amazing story sites in Australia. In particular, I have been impressed by the number of stories being collected in the rural sector.
I heard about this one on Radio National (I spend a lot of time travelling in and out of Canberra by car). HEYWIRE is a space and a competition for young people from regional Australia. This is where young people can share their stories and opinions, and find the news that affects them. Some of the winning stories are very powerful and really leave you struck by the impact of living in rural communities.
The other one is Place Stories. I joined this community a while ago as it gets used quite a bit by the Natural Resource Management sector. Place Stories has two main parts:
- PlaceStories Software – a Windows program for managing digital media (images, text, audio) creating digital stories and publishing (locally or to the web). The PlaceStories software is provided free for registered members to download and install on a standard PC (XP or Vista). (Such a pity you can’t use it on a Mac without installing Parallels).
- PlaceStories Communities - customised websites – sub-domains of the main PlaceStories portal. Each PlaceStories community has tools to support private and public communication of members including digital storytelling, messaging, chat, forums, blogs, news pages, events calendar, group email.
Another one is the Northern Territory Library Service Community Stories project. The funding for this project was a result of the Northern Territory Library winning the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation 2007 Access to Learning Award. Funds from the award are being used to enhance the delivery of library services and programs to remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory.
Also, the Australian Centre for the Moving Image community stories about people which is a selection of autobiographical short films made in the Digital Storytelling workshop program at ACMI.
There are a multitude of these sites in Australia and it would be wonderful to have a single access point to find them. In the meantime just enjoy the stories – some of these are incredibly memorable.
Nerida
Yes, it has been a while coming but we now have available all the powerpoint presentations, with audio so you can listen to the ‘pearls of wisdom’ that were shared at the Knowledge for Managing Australian Landscapes: The Legacy of LWA conference. Melissa Gabelle, one of the team here at the ARRC, has been working to ensure that this important record of most memorable event is not lost – thank you Melissa for all your efforts! Please pass this link on to anyone you think might be interested in the Knowledge for Managing Australian Landscapes: The Legacy of LWA conference proceedings.
Siwan
We are delighted to be heading to Longreach to run two one-day workshops focusing on connecting through conversation (Day one), communication and creativity (Day two). Desert Channels Queensland is hosting the event, which will be held on the on the 15 and 16 of November. We welcome anyone who would like to attend to contact Roelie Hartwig (roelie.hartwig@dcq.org.au) or call 07 4652 7812 for more information. Read more about the Longreach Workshop.
This is an example of how the ARRC can work with organisations to tailor a workshop for your region – think about it and give us a call! Siwan
Tags: Communication, Conversation, Creativity, Desert Channels, Information and knowledge management, Knowledge management, Natural resource management, Stories, Storytelling, Training, Workshop
Events, Narrative and story | Siwan Lovett | 
11:16 am | 
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