Local Government Regional Economic Development Meeting
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Local Government Regional Economic Development Meeting Friday 12th October 2012 Summary Attendees Shenal Basnayake ( Cassowary Coast) Joy Wii ( Tablelands) Katrina Houghton ( Cairns) Angelo Finocchiaro (Cairns) Peter Boyd (Cairns) Darlene Irvine (FNQROC) Margaret Darveniza ( Advance Cairns) Apologies Fiona Brady ( Cook) Glenys Pilat ( Tablelands) Anne Cunningham Reid (Tablelands) 1. Purpose of Regional Economic Development group. The group discussed what they saw as the purpose of the group and identified: • Cross pollination of ideas and activity • Identification of opportunities for leveraging each other’s strengths • The establishment of a process to provide information that can be fed into the collaborative group and out to the individual Councils • Establishment of contacts and provision of education that can result in building the capacity of both Council offices and Councillors • Collection of whole‐of‐region data and information and the ability to coordinate to access funding • Providing recognition and credibility for the work of economic development staff, giving them a voice • Encouraging and supporting the development of a whole‐ of‐ council approach to economic development • Facilitating linkages with other economic development agencies including Qld govt, regional development organisations 2. Regional reports The following initiatives/issues and opportunities were discussed by the respective representatives Cassowary Coast Cassowary Coast has a 5 year economic development plan that is based around a 5 pillar approach – copies are available at http://www.cassowarycoast.qld.gov.au/web/guest/economic‐development‐plan Currently working on: • Regional Investment Strategy to be a sub strategy to the TNQ Investment Strategy. Some funding to develop collateral to support this • Master plan for Mundoo aerodrome, this is a 20 year strategic plan for this Council asset • Workforce development – particularly within the transport industry • Provision of events including Business awards • Commercialising the natural environment • Disaster risk system review • Cassowary Coast community hub project Tablelands Current opportunities include: • Workforce and training issues through Tablelands Industry Workforce Group. Interest in promoting the area as a “region of choice” and attracting lifestyle workers and professionals • New business and industry growth and diversification esp around agriculture and tourism • Encouraging innovation and entrepreneurialism • Transport within and ex the Tablelands • Carbon economy / sustainability/Bio based industries and tropical expertise • Telecommunications and the opportunities presented by the NBN • Need for small business support • Developing an investment prospectus and promoting the region • Facilitating capital raising • Promoting a regional identity and brand Cairns Currently working on • China Engagement strategy – investment opportunities and city readiness for visitors • Innovation awards and the general promotion of innovation as an economic driver • Industry Development particularly film, marine, tropical expertise • Facilitating the economic Diversification Fund which provides $180k in grants of up to $30k for economic projects by groups outside of Council that benefit the Cairns region • Local area programs for Babinda and Port Douglas economic development • RV strategy • Managing contracted organisations eg Advance Cairns, TTNQ, TPDD • Providing business/ economic information eg website, snapshot, impact assessment tool, econ id • Events and sister city relationships Cook (as updated by Darlene – to be confirmed) Current opportunities include: • Renewable industry energy • Strengthening and diversifying tourism and agriculture • Mining – transport issues surrounding this • Resolving land tenure • Lifestyle attraction for population growth Yarrabah (As updated by Darlene – to be confirmed) • Jetty and water taxi Wujal Wujal • The river crossing and associated access issues Advance Cairns • Monitoring and reviewing the TNQREP • Regional Investment through the major strategy which has both promotional and de‐risking components, China Engagement, Attracting resource companies to headquarter, FIFO • Regional Brand development and implementation plan • Advocacy for major regional issues • Business Enterprise Centre providing small business support across the region • Skills Formation Strategy looking at Workforce issues and solutions 3. Objectives/ Action Plan The attached document describing alternative approaches to working together was tabled and discussed The following common issues were identified and actions agreed • Investment Attraction ‐ Need to pursue clarification of Councils role within the Regional Investment Strategy and collaborate to develop effective and aligned processes • Data and Information ‐ Agreed that there is a need to be able to measure, communicate and use accurate economic information. Investigate common tools and the cost of joint purchasing eg SGS and Economy id or Remplan Actions a. Map what we have in terms of data and data sources b. Get quotes for Econ id, Remplan and the expansion of the CRC Economic Impact tool (SGS) – for discussion at next meeting c. Engage The Cairns Institute to explore how they can assist d. Events calendar‐ identify an appropriate calendar of events to be promoted and used e. Develop tools to assist economic development staff to build the capacity of Councillors and other local government staff in terms of Economic development its nature, impact and the resources required Developing a considered position on the relationship between economic development and tourism and how this might operate in local government f. Communication mapping – understanding who else is working in the field , their roles and responsibilities 4. Conclusion and next meeting December 6th 10 o’clock for morning tea for a 10.30 start until 2.00 pm Kingsford Room level 3 Cairns Regional Council, Spence Street, Cairns Attachments – Regional Development Environmental Scan (list of RD organisations) Ways of working together Cooperation, Coordination, Collaboration: Asking the Hard Questions Misty D. Goosen For those of you who know me, you might believe I enjoy asking the hard questions, and I guess I would have to agree. I believe that asking hard questions lends itself to brainstorming and selecting potentially powerful solutions, moving groups one step closer toward their goal. In addition, I believe it is necessary to continue to ask hard questions even after the goal has been accomplished to successfully maintain excellence in our work. Let’s face it, the needs of children and their families, as well as the workforce that supports them, continues to change and evolve and therefore requires constant vigilance. Ours is always a work in progress and is not for the faint of heart. So you may ask, what is the hard question to ponder today? Here it is: “What is the difference between coordination, cooperation, and collaboration, and why is it important as an early childhood professional to understand the difference?” In retrospect, this is probably a series of hard questions but give me an inch… you get the point. Why is it important for early childhood professionals to understand the difference between coordination, cooperation, and collaboration? There is no easy answer. Early childhood professionals often find themselves working within a group (or groups) that erroneously define themselves as “collaborative”. Using the wrong term to describe the group doesn’t seem to be that important. However, groups that call themselves “collaborative partners” when in fact they are merely coordinating or cooperating often confuse and frustrate most, if not all, of their members. Understanding the difference between the words coordination, cooperation and collaboration is taxing because they have often been used interchangeably. Indeed, if you “Google” this question you will find that there have been many attempts to clarify these words (albeit vaguely), and many continue to seek better answers. After reviewing several on-line dictionaries, I found out why that may be so. All three of our “C” words include, “working together” in their primary definition. However, each word varies slightly on who is working together, and what they might be working on. Merriam-Webster Online (2009) further defined our “C” words as follows: 1. Coordination: the harmonious functioning of parts for effective results 2. Cooperation: to act together or in compliance for mutual benefit 3. Collaboration: a) to work together jointly, especially in an intellectual endeavor; b) cooperating with or willingly in assisting an enemy of one’s country, especially an occupying force. The first two definitions were probably no surprise; however, the definition of collaboration may have been a bit eye opening. Being the “pot stirrer” that I am, I would argue that this definition can and does apply to our work in early childhood, but I will get to that later. Before we go there, lets first take a closer look at coordination and cooperation, and discuss why most of our work may actually be falling within these two models of working together. As stated previously, Merriam-Webster Online defines coordination as the harmonious function of parts for effective results. Work that is coordinated involves more than one person, includes shared objectives, requires an understanding of personal roles and responsibilities, and is generally overseen by someone (e.g. coordinator). There is a general assumption that there