The Organising Committee for the 2009 International Association of Community Development (IACD) and Community Development Queensland (CD Qld) Conference invite you to be part of the vision to establish “Building Community Centred Economies” as an internationally renowned conference, by sponsoring one of 50 Conference Scholarships.
The Conference will be held in June 2009 at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre in Queensland, Australia. It involves a collaboration between the IACD and CD Queensland, and the convening organisation Foresters Community Finance.
The local, regional and international reach of IACD will bring a diversity of program participants and delegates to Brisbane; while the CD Queensland network will harness local know-how, knowledge and networks in order to integrate the Conference into local communities surrounding the Conference venue. Foresters Community Finance is convening the conference and brings its expertise in community economic development into the conference development process.
This collaboration is an exciting opportunity to bring people together from local, state, national and international communities who have an interest in grassroots people-lead community development.
The theme ‘Building Community Centred Economies - Dialogue for Action’ encourages the sharing of knowledge and experience about creative and innovative local initiatives which aim to reclaim our livelihoods, our local economic spaces and our communities’ access to the resources necessary for life. There is more information about this theme attached with this letter.
It is the intention of the Conference Participation Subcommittee that not only community workers attend, to build their knowledge for the purposes of their
work, but also that community members have the opportunity to contribute, learn, build relationships and take this new knowledge and capacity back home.
Part of our role as the Participation Subcommittee is to ensure the participation of people from marginalised communities from within Queensland, across Australia and Internationally. We realise there will be many people interested in attending who will need assistance.
One way that the Conference Participation Subcommittee plans on building the participation of people from marginalised communities is to invite organisations like yours to sponsor one of 50 Conference Scholarships. These Scholarships will enable someone to attend the conference, who would not otherwise have the opportunity to do so.
ABOUT THE CONFERENCE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
How can I sponsor a Conference Scholarship?
There are two ways of sponsoring a conference delegate:
- First, you can cover the cost of one of 50 Conference Scholarships for which we are seeking sponsorship. We will administer the process on your behalf and link you with the sponsored person. This could be a good way of building links with people from interstate or international communities;
- Second, your organisation may wish to pay the registration for someone from your local community who would not otherwise be able to attend. In this case you are welcome to fund and organise that registration and let us know that it is a sponsored place. Conference registration forms and information will be available in the coming months.
Who is eligible for a Conference Scholarship?
People who do not have the financial resources to pay for their own registration and who are actively engaged in their communities, will be eligible for one of 50 sponsored Conference Scholarships. So, if you are interested in helping someone from a marginalised community to benefit from attending this conference, please keep reading!
The following list is not exclusive but illustrates the kinds of communities we hope can participate through this Scholarship program.
- Indigenous communities from Australia, the Torres Strait and internationally.
- Multicultural and refugee communities
- People with disabilities
- People who are homeless
- People from rural and remote communities
- People from urban slum areas
- Grassroots women, grassroots men
- And any other communities that are marginalised that we may not have listed here.
How will we identify Scholarship participants?
The Participation Subcommittee is closely connected with networks through CD Queensland, boarder Australian networks and the IACD network.
Once you have paid for the Scholarship and indicated which region and the kind of community you would like to support, the participation sub committee will connect with a community organisation, through these networks, who will be able to identify a Scholarship recipient.
The networks are made up of community organisations and community workers in direct contact with grassroots community members actively engaged in their communities.
Those local community organisations will assist us to identify the people who will be able to benefit from your Scholarship and take their new knowledge back to their community.
How much is a Scholarship and what does it include?
Conference Scholarship Packages (depending on flight costs):
- Brisbane local: $500
- Wider Queensland and National: $1,000 - $1,500
- Oceania Region: $2,000-$2,500
- World (Asia, Africa, Americas, Europe): $3,000 - $5,000
The Scholarship Packages will include:
- Conference registration
- Return flights, where needed
- Small local transport and food budget for any days the sponsored delegate intends to stay in Brisbane prior to or following the conference
- Visa Costs for international sponsored delegates
- Being billeted to stay with a local Brisbane resident in a billeting program
How will my sponsorship be recognised?
Your sponsorship of a Participation Scholarship will be recognised by a certificate that will be mailed to you; on a logo display board prominently displayed at the conference, which will list all Scholarship sponsors; and, in the Conference Program document.
Other ways of supporting the Conference – Billet a sponsored delegate
If you are living in Brisbane and would like to billet a sponsored delegate in your home for the duration of the Conference, please let us know!
Sponsoring a Scholarship is an important means to ensure the rich pickings of relationships, knowledge, ideas, learnings and new connections benefit communities in need.
If your organisation is interested in sponsoring someone from a marginalised community to attend the conference, please contact us and we will send you a Scholarship form. If you wish to sponsor someone from an international community please let us know as soon as possible, as passport and visa processing times can be quite lengthy in some countries.
Further details will be posted on the Conference (www.CDconference.com.au) and the CD Qld website (www.cdqld.org) as they come to hand. We look forward to hearing from you!
About the Conference
We are all aware of the links between the global economic system and growing inequalities between rich and poor, climate change and environmental degradation. The question is: what do we, in the community, government and corporate sectors, do about this situation? Answering this question lies at the heart of this conference.
Inspiring, thought-provoking and practical answers are being developed in local communities around the world and are supported by people of good will across all sectors.
Local food systems, community and social enterprises, social investment, strong and ethical local businesses, local energy production, fair trade opportunities, community gardens, corporate-community engagements, micro-finance institutions, local currencies and exchange systems, community banks and local credit unions, federations and consortia of non-profit organisations to leverage common good are just a few examples.
Initiatives like these are part of a growing movement towards the creation of community centred economies, improving the lives of many and ensuring the future of local environments around the world. All these avenues need to find their own voice and sustainability and be supported properly by governments and corporations. This movement is full of unlikely alliances, courageous conversations within and between sectors and explorations of how to work in the spaces between traditional disciplines and sectors.
