Increasing pressure on the environment, our people and our organisations has contributed to long-term negative outcomes for all. Workforce productivity reduces in the face of increased stress and burnout is not as rare as we would like. In many communities our land is struggling to cope with pressures on water, issues of managing waste and the conflicts between development and preservation priorities. Climate change and the associated increases in weather volatility puts pressure on communities to deal with natural disasters and, in others, the slow burn of sea level rise, increased aridity and fauna extinction is a challenge for leaders in communities.
While sustainability and sustainable development are at the forefront of strategy and planning, for many pieces of the puzzle, it may be too little, too late. Instead, the agenda must shift to regeneration and regenerative development. In some instances, including some environmental matters, communities and employees, we have to go beyond sustaining what is now and replenish what was there or create something entirely new. This is the challenge of regeneration.
But despite these challenges, there are local governments across the state who have risen to the challenge and are actively seeking to introduce regenerative measures. Some are well advanced, others just starting off.
This conference seeks to look beyond the next ten years to consider the longer-term challenges local government and the communities we serve will face. Through future thinking and mega-trend analysis, delegates will have an opportunity to explore what we are to on track to be, what we could be and what we need to avoid being, as we approach the middle of this century. Because what we choose to do now, will have a significant impact on that future that our children and grandchildren hope to enjoy.
Join LGMA in 2018 to refresh your mind and body and consider what your community, the land and the people need from our organisation in the future.
