What to expect at the Social Impact in the Regions 2024

Delegates at September's Social Impact in the Regions 2024 conference will share, learn, and advance the conversation about place-making. Over three days we will explore topics in economic and community development, innovation and entrepreneurship, social enterprise, personal leadership and sustainability, policy, advocacy, and more.

To help you prepare, we provide this deep dive into the conference program, which includes over 50 speakers representing 65 organisations who will work with delegates across 44 keynotes, panels, masterclasses, and breakout sessions.

Conference overview

The conference program is strategically positioned over three days, with an additional special opportunity on the first day. We created an interactive network map on the online platform Kumu to help you explore the speakers and topics. It can be helpful to view this as a network map and imagine a few hundred delegates added to the map to underscore the value of random and intentional collisions inherent to events.

The Dunghutti Express

The first conference activity actually happens before the first day with the #SIITR24 Dunghutti Express where delegates can travel from Sydney to Kempsey via train on a dedicated carriage. The train departs from Sydney on 3 September at 11:40am. Over the journey, you will mingle with other delegates and partners including Social Enterprise Council of NSW & ACT (SECNA) who will facilitate an experience about social impact connection, learning, and engagement. The carriage will also be joined by two Dunghutti Elders from the Macleay Valley and includes a catering package provided by a social enterprise and other material to guide your journey.

From personal experience, some of the most memorable experiences in conferences have been in the extra activities before and after the conferences, be it plane flights, bus rides, or boat trips. There is something about sharing an experience in a novel environment with others with interests in collective impact. You cannot help but develop ideas and create unique opportunities. You will not want to miss this. You can register here .

Delegate audience and experience

The conference will provide direct connection with a collection of leaders in one place you might not otherwise have access. You will also connect with others to apply new ideas for practical action. Delegates go by a range of titles, including government policy makers, philanthropic funders, community and ecosystem builders and practitioners, university researchers, impact investors, business leaders, industry executives, service providers, entrepreneurs, and many others.

As a delegate, you can expect a few experiences. First, you will be challenged and inspired with new ideas and examples. While the conference is a safe place to learn and advance ideas, it is not a place for status quo and conventional approaches. The challenges and opportunities facing regions are significant and immediate and require bold provocations.

Second, you will be informed to action. The aim is to build on the buzz of networking and new content into practical, measurable outcomes that can be applied in organisations and communities. The conference includes a 12-month follow-up support for delegates and their communities for practical application of connections and initiatives developed in the conference.

Third, you will have fun and be refreshed. Those in field often view their work as a vocation as much as a profession. Delegates come with a portfolio of roles and projects, balancing impact and funding for personal and business sustainability. As we make progress and impact through the conference, there is also space to reflect, rejuvenate, and reconnect.

Finally, the conference is part of a bigger picture to advocate for systemic change. The challenges facing regions are complex, embedded, interconnected, and interdependent. They are also larger than any one individual, program, or institution can solve. We will be using the insights and outcomes from the conference to inform white papers and advocacy work to advance policy alongside the work of established industry bodies and groups.

The conference is also part of a broader impact framework where we measure ourselves against five outcomes:

1. Provide clarity and understanding - provide a shared understanding through content and information about trends, theory, ideas, maps, practices, models, and examples.
2. Make connections and connectivity - including within local communities and boundary-spanning across community groups, regions, and industry.
3. Build capability and capacity - through applying new skills and access to networks and ideas for sustainable funding models
4. Enable collaboration for purpose - making connections that enable progress towards shared visions of collective impact
5. Support advocacy and promotion - raising awareness of systemic challenges, lessons learned, and exemplar case studies for support, influence, and change

Conference structure

From the start of the conference on Day One, the scene is set with the current state of regional investment and policy with a global, national, and local perspective. The masterclasses that follow provide deep dives into opportunities for investment, advocacy, and place-based design and community-led development. The day ends with inspiration and investment opportunities with the annual social enterprise pitchfest leading into a welcome networking event to connect with speakers and other delegates.

Day Two opens with an update on the Ready Communities framework and the recent work in Ready Macleay which included themes for CBD activation, Creative industries, Agriculture communities, Housing and infrastructure, and Youth pathways.

The update is followed by keynotes and a panel with leaders from diverse perspectives on advocacy and amplifying regional voices. The inspiration from these sessions support delegates as they head into a range of breakout sessions on topics including collaboration, governance, evaluation, main street activation, entrepreneur self-care, personal strengths, grant writing, housing, and regional showcases. The day eases into a time that includes a wellness activity, speed networking, free time, and theme conversations before the evening's Gala Dinner.

The morning of the final Day Three of the conference grounds the conversation in understanding regional challenges before deep conversations for local impact leveraging the insights from the previous two days.

See you there!

If you are involved in place-based development or social impact more broadly, it would be great to see you in Kempsey this September. The conference is part of a national movement at the intersection of annual impact events and place-based programs . If these relate to the work you do, come along with like-minded leaders to be inspired, connect, learn, and advance the conversation for real impact.

If you are attending, please drop a comment and share with others. If you would like to attend and need support, please connect and we will see how we might support.