The annual 3 day Leading in the Central West Community Leadership Program is coordinated by Leading in the Central West and delivered by Blue Wren Connections. 2024 will be the 9th year for the program. Skills Blue Wren Connections has been integrally involved in the co-design, development and delivery of the Community Leadership Program since its inception. The skills that Blue Wren Connections brings to the program include.
- Program development (including activities and budget)
- Coordination of meetings and information systems
- Promotion of the program and design of flyers, social media and literature material
- Funding applications
- Workshop design, content co-design and delivery
- Workshop coordination and logistics, evaluation,
- Understanding of community culture and needs.
The annual 3-day workshop incorporates understanding personality types, navigating change, values, leadership styles, communication and community development, action learning sets.
The program is based in alternating towns throughout the region and includes a wide diversity of people-age, sector, background, culture, experience-who are committed to learning and making the most of this opportunity for the benefit of themselves and others.
Previous workshops include:
- 2016 Blackall/Tambo
- 2017 Barcaldine
- 2018 Winton
- 2019 Longreach
- 2020 Windorah
- 2021 Blackall
- 2022 Barcaldine
- 2023 Ilfracombe
The Leading in the Central West program has been running successfully for 9 years. A number of learnings have been identified by Blue Wren Connections and the volunteer group managing the program.
- Effective and useful information management systems are a necessity,
- It is important to identify and connect with facilitators who are the right fit for region,
- Relationships are key to success,
- Making time to build relationships and connections is important for co-design,
- The ongoing peer mentoring and peer support is integral to the longevity of community development,
- The alternative workshop locations have led to a shared language across region,
- Inviting participants across range of sectors breaks down silos across sectors and industry and results in cross pollination across sectors.
