Following many months of disruption and uncertainty on a national and global scale, the ARLF has successfully completed sessions for multiple leadership programs involving participants from across the nation coming together in shared experiences.
Whilst I am very proud of the work our team has done over the past 12 months – designing and managing hub-based learning environments – it has been very rewarding to bring cohort participants together again for face-to-face learning.
Over recent months, program participants of Milparanga, TRAIL, Agribusiness, ARLP, and Rimfire Resources Introduction to Leadership Program have come together around the country for experiential learning in real-life contexts after which we welcomed new graduates to our alumni network from three of these programs.
We are now also well into the planning stage for the largest single initiative ever undertaken by the ARLF since its inception and the development of the ARLP – the Future Drought Fund (FDF): Drought Resilience Leaders Program (DRLP). Here’s a short recap on the project:
- An initiative of the Commonwealth government as part of the broader FDF objectives
- The purpose is to create a network of resilient, courageous and influential leaders committed to the prosperity and sustainability of rural, regional and remote Australia
- To create a groundswell of people to lead, inspire and navigate change within their agricultural communities. It is a collaborative and community led initiative targeted at young and emerging leaders who will have the opportunity to:
- Develop contemporary evidence-based leadership and resilience skills and improve drought and environmental literacy through the development program
- Apply for Community Extension Grants to pay their learnings forward with the development of ‘public good’ projects and
- Establish deep leadership networks to influence transformational change
- A parallel mentoring program for farmers will further support innovative approaches to production, land use and business management.
Our recent focus has been with consortia and delivery partners in the design phase of the project as we work towards program commencement in May. This project is a significant undertaking and is an opportunity to improve the way we think and act in terms of community resilience. We have recruited new team members to support this work and welcome Kylie Jegou, Marzanne Els and Jess Sargent to the team. Kristy Frahm, Rebecca Wilde, Catherine McGufficke will also join the project team in the coming weeks.
Next week, ARLP Course 27 will converge on Canberra and the NSW South Coast for their Connection and Mobilisation session and Milparanga 8.2 will head to Townsville, Qld and immerse themselves in the Eddie Mabo story as a context to learning.
Matt Linnegar, Chief Executive
