A heartfelt welcome by Kaurna and Narungga woman Aunty Rosalind Coleman set the scene and we were inspired by her encouragement to see and value the connection between our personal growth and experiences and the work we do in and with our communities. 

“I have the fire in my belly & I will continue pursuing my dreams & the dreams of my community. I am living my passion. I am shining my light, and I will continue to speak my truth.”
- Aunty Rosalind Coleman

Some galvanising words shared with us by The Australian Centre for Social Innovation’s Aboriginal Lead and Aunty in Residence Alawa/Mara woman Aunty Vickey - included “relationships, relationships, relationships” and “wanky white words” which were quickly adopted by the group as reminders to say what we mean and to keep people are at the heart of social change.

"Our society’s focus on outcomes has narrowed our understanding of data, everything is data, testing, trying, noticing, learning and listening is all working with data. We just aren’t conforming, we aren’t conventional."
- Kangaroo Island Our Town Team Member.

Through sharing stories about our most significant learnings along the Our Town journey we pulled together some important reminders for us all to hold when working with our communities:

• Ditch the elevator pitch in favour of deep listening

• Move at the speed of community

• Say what you mean - (ditch the wanky white words)

• Build capability in everything you do (and with everyone you meet!), and

• The power of ‘the ripple’ in building a community movement

We had conversations where we went deeper into shared challenges and opportunities but held space to look at the big picture as well. In an ‘on the couch’ session hosted by Our Town Cummins’ Guardian, Emma Gale, Jess Dart, Founder of Clear Horizon, Carolyn Curtis Chief Executive The Australian Centre for Social Innovation and Niall Fay Chief Executive Fay Fuller Foundation explored how we continue connecting up our current pieces of work with our future vision and offered some new tools for how we can sit in a ‘visionary’ space with community to map the future of this work. 

As Our Town moves into our sensemaking season for the final part of the year we’re looking forward to bringing together and understanding our impact across 2023 and using this to springboard into all that 2024 could bring.