Context The Clarence Country Universities Centre provides supported study spaces for regional students enrolled at universities elsewhere. The CUC model addresses the access barriers relating to geographic distance from tertiary campuses, the cost of relocation, and the loss of local talent to metropolitan centres. In the early engagement we discussed how the CUC might benefit […]
Case study 2025 lifelong learning Read More
Context The Clarence Valley is the largest LGA on the NSW North Coast, with approximately 69% rural zoning. As the agri-food powerhouse of the region, the region is home to around 1,000 primary producers, over 3,800 employed across the agri-food economy, and approximately $438 million in output making agriculture the LGA’s largest export sector. The
Case study 2025 Food systems Read More
Context Youth Futures in Grafton was a of strength to be recognised. While there were of youth engagement and wellbeing common to other regions of youth outmigration, limited post-school pathways, and service access, youth inclusion in Grafton was also embedded in community life in ways that surprised us. The Jacaranda Festival engages young people as
Case Study 2025 Youth Futures Read More
Context Grafton has approximately twelve op shops, six on each side of the river. These op shops range from large institutional operations to smaller church-attached shops and independent operations. Each faces shared challenges: managing product intake, educating the community on what to donate, measuring collective impact, managing waste, and sustaining volunteer capability. These challenges are
Case Study 2025 The Grafton Op Shop Collective Read More
Context When we began talking to people in Grafton about social enterprise, the concept was largely unknown. The term did not resonate. Religious institutions face a governance and investment challenge in transitioning traditional participation alongside significant physical assets and community presence. Social enterprise – alternative revenue generation through assets and services that remain aligned with
Case Study 2025 Social enterprise and grafton cathedral Read More
Context There was a distinct difference in conversations during the first months of engagement about the difference in perceptions between Grafton and South Grafton. These perceptions were supported by data with South Grafton having 20% lower property values, a younger demographic, and slower property development growth rates. Conversations focused on main street vitality and community
Case Study 2025 – South Grafton Mainstreet Activation Read More
Context Grafton did not have a recognised backbone organisation or a recognised need for one. When we asked leaders where they would go for support to make a collective impact, the most common answer by default, not by design, was council. Topic-specific networks existed but were seen to operate in silos. Leaders working on social
Case study 2025 – Grafton Chamber of Purpose Read More
The 2026 Ready Communities Impact and Action report – Regions in Transition outlines a range of ways to create sustainable change in regional communities. The following highlights examples across Australia in the area of events and festivals as catalytic platforms. Events and festivals serve as catalytic platforms for regional communities in ways that extend beyond
Events and festivals as catalytic platforms Read More
The 2026 Ready Communities Impact and Action report – Regions in Transition outlines a range of ways to create sustainable change in regional communities. The following highlights examples across Australia in the area of structured collective impact models including establishing backbone organisations. Collective impact provides a structured framework for cross-sector collaboration around complex social issues,
Structured collective impact models including establishing backbone organisations Read More
The 2026 Ready Communities Impact and Action report – Regions in Transition outlines a range of ways to create sustainable change in regional communities. The following highlights examples across Australia in the area of physical hubs, education hubs, third spaces and regional precincts. Physical hubs, third spaces, and regional precincts provide built infrastructure through which
Physical hubs, education hubs, third spaces, and regional precincts Read More