Charged Landscape

LGSC have launched their new arts initiative, ‘SculptED’ on the Port Fairy Rail Trail. Following on from the success of the Ngattanwar Mural by Adnate, SculptED aims to encourage and support the development of a series of sculptural artworks across the Great South Coast region.

The initial sculpture is the culmination of a project led by LGSC 2015 Alumni Brendan Rea, Emma Mahony, Ann Cunningham and Gareth Colliton. In October 2015 expressions of interest were sought by the project team and from a number of high caliber applications local artists Becky Nevin and Jon Dixon were engaged to complete the initial sculpture.

The inaugural artwork titled ‘Charged Landscape’, has been installed on the Port Fairy to Warrnambool Rail Trail, a short walk from Regent Street. Comprising of eleven granite boulders embedded with glowing discs, the sculpture represents the stars of the Milky Way, and refers particularly to the Emu in the Sky constellation. Within the glowing discs are approximately 30 different pictures, representing the multiple histories of the site.

Becky Nevin spoke about the concept behind the work as being an investigation into lesser-known aspects of the site.

“This artwork has been conceived as a way to recognise the many overlapping histories of the Port Fairy Railway site and the broader Port Fairy community. We have created an overarching concept that allows us to represent these different aspects in a cohesive artwork; the Emu in the Sky from Australian Indigenous astronomy and a collection of images embedded in the ‘stars’ of the sculpture. These represent knowledge shared with us from local historians, Aboriginal Elders, geologists, ecologists and fishermen”.

The project was achieved with seed funding from the Hugh Williamson Foundation and financial support the Isobel and David Jones Family Foundation, The Gall Foundation, Warrnambool City Council, Glenelg Hopkins CMA. Generous in kind support was provided by WAG, Bamstone, The Port Fairy to Warrnambool Rail Trail Committee, Gunditjmara Co-op, and The F Project.

Next time you are in Port Fairy take a short walk along the Rail Trail (from Regent Street entrance) and experience ‘Charged Landscape’ both day and at night.

This project was supported by Glenelg Hopkins CMA, through funding from the Australian Govenment’s national Landcare Programme.

Building resilience and leading choicefully

The 2016 LGSC cohort were literally blown to Port Fairy’s Community Service Centre for their second Leadership Skills session with lead facilitator Corrinne Armour. Once again, the future leaders were taken up onto the balcony to look down assess their personal capacities as leaders, project managers and pillars of resilience.

The day was filled with reflections on the program thus far, the strategies of choiceful leadership and establishing project management skills in anticipation of the up coming 2016 Leadership Great South Coast community projects.

Choosing resilience was the final take home message of the day, identifying that an upset is simply an opportunity for growth. Different strategies were identified to assist the cohort in developing their own resilience as leaders. A powerful and touching way to finish for the term break.

With projects being hot topic, it was fitting that the day concluded with the Launch of the 2015 Project Group ‘SculptED’ sculpture along the beautiful Port Fairy to Warrnambool Rail Trail (see our Gallery Page). A wonderful achievement for this hard working group!

The future leaders would like to thank Corrinne Armour for fabulous facilitation and Moyne Shire for hosting us.

Future Leaders Meet Local Politicians and Futurist

The 16 future leaders of the LGSC Program got to meet with and hear some exciting new developments and challenges which confront the Great South Coast Region of Victoria.

During the event the LGSC participants got to meet and ask questions of Ms. Karen Foster, Great South Coast Group Executive Officer, Ms. Roma Britnell, Member for South West Coast, Cr. Colin Ryan, Mayor, Moyne Shire, Great South Coast Group Chair, Mr. Andrew Mason CEO Corangamite Shire, Great South Coast Group Director.

At the start of the event the group heard from Ms. Karen Foster who gave a run down on the Great South Coast – Regional Strategic Plan which set forth the future strategic direction of the Great South Coast Group for the 2014 – 2019 period.

Thereafter, the LGSC participants got to hear from and ask questions of the panel members, during the discussion participants were informed about priority projects such as the “Beyond the Bell’ a program designed to increase school retention rates.

The event was facilitated by Mr. Mike McAllum, Futures Architect from the Global Foresight Network who spoke about the future directions of leadership based on a Futurists perspective. He also stressed to the future leaders of the LGSC that “some of the best leaders always have time…time to speak to people and time to think”. He also challenged the participants to “challenge yourself and to think strategically and laterally. Think Big!”

Jarrod Clarke

Thanks to Corangamite Shire for hosting us.

Future leaders learn hard truths about ethics

Future leaders of the south west confronted the realities of ethics as part of the Leadership Great South Coast Program. As the sixteen leaders embark on their twelve month leadership journey, they spent their first program day exploring their moral compass and its place in the workplace.

Professor Greg Wood, Deakin University, facilitated the day providing an in-depth analysis of ethics in leadership. Wood introduced the term ethical leadership, which conjured up terms such as moral, compassion, values, respect and trust. Through analysing case studies from the automobile industry, it was demonstrated that when faced with ethical dilemmas, doing nothing is not an option. The group were provoked to consider where they themselves would draw the line in their leadership journey.

Simon Illingworth, former Victoria Police Sergeant, spoke of his personal experiences of exposing corruption within the police force. Illingworth inspired the group to stand up for their beliefs and to take a moral high ground. He also offered insights into the high costs you may pay to do that. Illingsworth’s engaging and thought-provoking stories had the room hanging on to his every word. Key take-home messages for the group were that ‘courage is key to good leadership’ and that ‘leadership is not tested when you are winning, it is when you face the big issues’.

The Program Day was an eye-opener for the group as they began to understand the importance of ethics and how this impacts their professional lives.

The group wish to thank Professor Greg Wood and Simon Illingworth for sharing their stories and expertise and Warrnambool City Council for sponsoring the day.

Carly Garonne