2024 Community Engagement Summit - Sydney
The Community Engagement Summit 2024 was an incredible gathering of passionate professionals and innovators, held at the iconic Manly Town Hall. The event brought together local and state government representatives, academics, consultants, and engagement software developers, all sharing insights on how to create meaningful community connections.
Attendees were treated to a dynamic lineup of speakers who covered a range of topics—from best practices in public consultation to cutting-edge tools for community engagement.
Networking opportunities were abundant, with participants making valuable connections during breaks and the post-event drinks by the beach. The atmosphere was vibrant and inspiring and definitely one to remember!
Attendees left with fresh perspectives, new tools, and a renewed sense of purpose and motivation for community engagement.
2022 Community Engagement Summit - Sydney
24 & 25 November 2022, Rydges Sydney Central
Our 2022 Summit traversed the fictional ‘Land of Community Engagement.’ 2022 was a two-day journey navigating the hurdles of a modern-day community engagement practitioner. Our speakers and facilitators guided us through emerging engagement techniques, such as deliberative democracy, to equip attendees with the skills to work with outraged communities and uncover the benefits of utilising emerging digital technologies.
As stakeholders do battle over conflicting ideas, our summit was designed to show you how to engage groups and build consensus. We Heard and learnt from industry experts; who analysed each step and guided us through their experiences.
Our Summit was created and delivered by Community Engagement practitioners who know that each day we face new and often complex challenges.
Delegates walked away with a fresh and exciting outlook on community engagement and the opportunities available to connect with the wider community and how to manage differences in communities.
2019 Community Engagement Summit - Sydney
The 2019 Community Engagement Summit in Sydney was an energising two-day event that brought together professionals from across Australia. Building on four successful years, the summit featured interactive sessions, hands-on learning, and plenty of networking opportunities.
Day 1 kicked off with insightful discussions on co-designing infrastructure and local government challenges, followed by a unique “World Café” and a “Placemaking Walk-Shop” that got attendees moving. The evening wrapped up with networking drinks and a summit dinner.
Day 2 featured a lively Great Debate on the future of cities, along with sessions on education and sustainable infrastructure.
Attendees walked away with practical tools, fresh perspectives on collaborative engagement, and a deeper understanding of how to tackle real-world challenges. They also made valuable connections and left inspired to implement new ideas in their communities.
2018 Community Engagement Summit - Perth
16 & 17 October 2018 | Novotel Perth Langley
Emerging trends in engagement was a key focus for 2018 Western Australia Summit where some of the best in the business reflected on the previous 12 months and provided detailed insight into their predictions on where the industry was headed. Sessions were detailed and informative and covered emerging techniques as well as engagement strategies across industries. Digital and virtual engagement was also a hot topic with a focus on new and emerging technologies. Interactive demonstrations of digital engagement, virtual and augmented reality were presented by leaders in the field who are leading the way in a fast-growing digital landscape.
Delegates at the Summit were treated to a real insight to professional advancement within the industry. Hearing from some of the industries movers and shakers, the diverse panel took delegates through the paths and trajectories that a career in this industry could offer. This led well into group sessions and afforded delegates from both private and government sectors the opportunity to collaborate and knowledge share in open forums.
In Western Australia, possibly more so than anywhere else in Australia, community engagement often has a regional and remote focus, industry leaders shared their successes and real-life examples on how to best battle the push back and how to reach those in geographically challenging locations and more importantly how to engage with this community group when they are reached. The sessions also took delegates through the process of engaging with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities.
2018 Community Engagement Summit - Sydney
19 & 20 September 2018 | Mercure Hotel Sydney Australia
New and emerging trends in community engagement was a key focus for the 2018 Community Engagement Summit, Sydney, where some of the best in the business reflected on the previous 12 months and provided detailed insight into their predictions on where the industry was headed. Sessions were detailed and informative and covered emerging techniques as well as engagement strategies across industries. Offering something for everyone the 2-day Summit focused on digital trends, new methodologies to engagement and challenging communities such as CALD.
Digital and virtual engagement was also a hot topic with a focus on new and emerging technologies. Interactive demonstrations of digital engagement, virtual and augmented reality were presented by leaders in the field who are leading the way in a fast-growing digital landscape. Delegates were treated to first hand insight from the notable Dr Naseem Ahmadpour, Lecturer from The University of Sydney and Scott Warren, Senior Project Manager at Elton Consulting, who both discussed emerging trends in engagement and their views on where the design of technologies will take us as professionals and how to best engage with communities, especially those across geographic hubs. Their insight proved invaluable, both having extensive experience in this area. Scott discussed his ability and desire to lead a team of community relations professionals who are committed to working collaboratively with stakeholders and establishing a genuine relationship with the communities in which they work. This encouraged delegates to discuss career progression and professional advancement opportunities.
The sessions also took delegates through the process of engaging with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities which is imperative in Australia as there are so many multicultural hubs and of course, rural and remote communities who are often impacted greatly by new programs and upgrades.
2017 New South Wales Community Engagement Summit
3 & 4 August 2017 | Novotel Sydney on Darling Harbour
The 2017 Community Engagement Summit was designed with the belief that contemporary, high quality professional development for engagement practitioners is the cornerstone of delivering even better outcomes for communities. The 2-day Summit attracted amazing key note speakers each who understand, first hand, the transformations on how we deliver engagement strategies and activations to communities.
Challenges and Opportunities in Community Engagement delivered by co-chair Darius Turner responded to concerns and challenges felt by delegates. It also set the scene for other group learning sessions where topics included The Next Generation Engagement Project led by Kirsty O’Connell and Building trust and developing relationships delivered by Matt Hill. There was a continuation of theme from challenges and opportunities to the human emotion and how to tackle empathy throughout community engagement strategies. Key notes such as ‘engagement marketing tactics to influence heats and minds’ delivered by Dion Castle and ‘Leading with Empathy’ by Daniel Murray reiterated to delegates the need to ensure our frameworks and plans are delivered with empathy and the people living within our communities in mind.
Day 2 had a focus on building communities covering real life cases such as ‘How we engaged over 50,000 young people per month in less than 18 months’. This fascinating and real case was delivered by Rowan Kunz, Founder, Art of Smart Education.
2017 Western Australia Community Engagement Summit
13 & 14 July 2017 | Novotel Perth Langley
The 2017 Western Australia Community Engagement Summit allowed delegates to revisit the basics and advance their knowledge through lived opportunities both via informative group sessions and through peer to peer collaborations. Day 1 revisited topics that may have become dormant as delegates progressed throughout their careers. Topics such as ‘Listening to the Voice of the People; Community Engagement 101’ delivered by Lyn Dimer was well received by delegates and acted as a refresher, reminding delegates of the key principles of community engagement. This topic allowed delegates to get back to basics and think about the people, the stakeholders and the importance of listening and looking before acting. This was a perfect inroad to the address by Dr Catherine Pattenden ‘Look (and listen) before you leap – identifying your internal and external influencers’. This timely reminder was praised by delegates.
Once the basics were covered, advancements to technologies was the hot topic and more importantly how to best utilize these technologies to engage with communities. In a digital world, advancements to technologies have allowed us as professionals to communicate more readily throughout the engagement process and surveys have become a popular medium through the community engagement process. Deanie Carbon gave her top 10 tips for writing a survey, this information was invaluable for delegates. New approaches to community collaboration was the theme of the summit, which did not disappoint with Digital Placemaking and Public Participation a key theme on day 2.
2017 Queensland Community Engagement Summit
30 & 31 May 2017 | Mercure Brisbane
The 2017 Community Engagement Summit was designed with the belief that contemporary, high quality professional development for engagement practitioners is the cornerstone of delivering even better outcomes for communities. The 2-day Summit attracted amazing key note speakers each who understand, first hand, the transformations on how we deliver engagement strategies and activations to communities.
Throughout day 1 we heard from a range of speakers with a focus on planning, data and mapping. Stephanie Wyeth delivered a fascinating address ‘Tactician or Technician – Delivering Value through Engagement’ whilst Laurel Johnson discussed the necessities of community mapping for transport. In a fast paced, urban world with so many transport and facilities updates these topics were of particular interest to delegates.
Day 2 was more ‘emotional’ with key notes such as ‘engagement marketing tactics to influence hearts and minds’ delivered by Dion Castle and ‘Leading with Empathy’ by Daniel Murray who reiterated to delegates the need to ensure our frameworks and plans are implemented with empathy and delivered the people living within our communities in mind. Delegates raved about the coverage of topics and relevance to the landscape which they work.
2017 Victoria Community Engagement Summit
23 & 24 May 2017 I Novotel Melbourne on Collins
The 2017 Victoria Community Engagement Summit was action packed from start to finish with a clear theme throughout. Digital trends, collaboration and collaborative neighbourhoods were buzz words throughout the 2-day program and a hot topic both through formal sessions and during group break out time. From smart cities to digital placemaking, Associate Professor Martin Tomitsch took delegates through new and emerging trends in the digital space and provided expert knowledge on how to make technology work for community engagement.
Throughout day 1 we heard from a range of speakers with a focus on planning, data and mapping. Stephanie Wyeth delivered a fascinating address ‘Tactician or Technician – Delivering Value through Engagement’ whilst Laurel Johnson discussed the necessities of community mapping for transport. In a fast paced, urban world with so many transport and facilities updates these topics were of particular interest to delegates.
Day 2 was more ‘emotional’ with key notes such as ‘engagement marketing tactics to influence hearts and minds’ delivered by Dion Castle and ‘Leading with Empathy’ by Daniel Murray who reiterated to delegates the need to ensure our frameworks and plans are implemented with empathy and delivered the people living within our communities in mind. Delegates raved about the coverage of topics and relevance to the landscape which they work.
2016 Community Engagement Summit Sydney
10 & 11 November 2016 I Mercure Hotel
Labelled the New Era of Engagement, the 2016 Summit showcased the most cutting edge and contemporary concepts and case studies of community engagement across a number of industry sectors in Australia. The 2-day Summit was designed with the delegate experience in mind, with simple approaches to enable delegates to replicate and implement their new learnings into their own organisations. The 2016 Summit really led in the way opening delegates up to a world of new technologies and digital enhancements.
Change and digital transformations were the buzz words of day 1 with Joel Fredericks from The University of Sydney discussing the use of digitally augmented pop ups and how we can maximise digital transformations to transform the ways we engage with communities. Joel delivered real-life case studies which were interactive and a perfect in road to group sessions where virtual technologies were explored and applied by delegates. The 2016 phenomenon of the Pokemon Go had nothing on the Summit’s virtual treasure hunt. A real life, hands on experience afforded delegates the opportunity to put into practice what they had learned and highlighted the available mediums and opportunities to engage communities through new and emerging digital technologies.
Throughout day 1 we heard from a range of speakers with a focus on planning, data and mapping. Stephanie Wyeth delivered a fascinating address ‘Tactician or Technician – Delivering Value through Engagement’ whilst Laurel Johnson discussed the necessities of community mapping for transport. In a fast paced, urban world with so many transport and facilities updates these topics were of particular interest to delegates.
Day 2 was more ‘emotional’ with key notes such as ‘engagement marketing tactics to influence hearts and minds’ delivered by Dion Castle and ‘Leading with Empathy’ by Daniel Murray who reiterated to delegates the need to ensure our frameworks and plans are implemented with empathy and delivered the people living within our communities in mind. Delegates raved about the coverage of topics and relevance to the landscape which they work.