Gippsland & the Australian Innovation Festival

The Gippsland Innovation Festival, as part of the Australia-wide Innovation Festival, will celebrate the best in science, technology and manufacturing as well as in specific fields such as nurturing our young and the strong development of regional communities, the arts and our educational institutions. The festival has the backing of the federal ‘Backing Australia’s Ability’ program – it encourages and supports networking and business opportunities for participants in the areas of research, development and technology commercialisation, across all industry sectors.

Gippsland, in Victoria’s southeast lies between the Great Dividing Range and the coast. Latrobe City is a large population centre and Latrobe Events Manager, Janiene Ayre, involved her region successfully in the inaugural 2003 Innovation Festival. She saw the opportunity for all the Gippsland shires – approximately one third of Victoria – to unite and promote a strong Gippsland ‘brand’ and she spoke at length to Mayors and CEOs around the region. In 2004 several shires united for the festival and 5000 people attended.

In 2005 all Gippsland municipalities are supporting a combined Gippsland Innovation Festival and around 10,000 are expected to attend. There seems to be a recognition that today we live in a global village and one region is not going to achieve much alone. A wide range of events will take place between April 27th and May 15th across a united Gippsland:

(i)Inspiring Young Women
A forum that links successful business women, community leaders and young women – not a formal mentoring excercise, but an event that connects young women to the community, giving them a sense of what’s out there and inspiring them with a “can do attitude”. The group will consist of approx. 25 young women (15-17 year olds) invited from the Latrobe Valley Secondary Schools, plus leading women from the Gippsland community – an ‘outworking’ of the Gippsland Community Leadership Program 2005.

(ii) Churchill Island Art Market – Cape Woolamai
A market where photographers, sculptors, ceramic designers, wood and metal craftspeople and jewellers can come together in an environment where they are not competing with cheap imports and mass produced items that have recently flooded the market scene.

(iii)Biotechnology 2020 – a forum on what the future might hold for us
A community forum to discuss visions of biotechnology in the year 2020: the impact of biotechnical innovations on society; on health, environmental and agricultural problems; or will there be new, unforeseen problems to confront?

(iv) Innovation Showcase 2005 – Home and Community Care
A conference showcasing community-based projects that support individuals and strengthen regional communities through resource sharing, volunteer participation and recognizing and understanding diversity.

(v) Gippsland Education Leadership Program – Leadership Forum
A seminar that provides educators with an opportunity to study leadership from a business perspective. Three local leaders will share their knowledge and passion on innovation and leadership

(vi) Innovation in Livestock Exchange – East Gippsland Livestock Exchange
A schools showcase run by one of the most modern facilities in Australia. As an early adopter of the technologies required tracking stock movements through Australia, the exchange is running a special tour for Luck now Primary School during Store Cattle Sales showing students how the technology is applied. A live web cast of the tour will allow students in other classes and schools to do a virtual tour of the facility at the same time.

For further info contact Chris Buckingham:
Mobile – 0417 159 733
Email – got@otog.net