LGMA National Congress and Business Expo 2012

What will local government need to be in 2020, 2030.. 2050? What are the issues local government is going to face in 10, 20, 30… 50 years time? How, can and in fact should local government, both elected members and officers, move from a position of stewardship to leadership, how will this shift from stewardship to leadership take place.

Theme and Streams

Reframing local futures; from stewardship to leadership

The theme for the 2012 National Congress is based on the ‘futurist’ concept. The CPC considers the 2012 National Congress should be aimed at future-casting, asking congress delegates to imagine what local government will need to be in the future.  It will challenge participants to consider a shift in their role as stewards to leaders and identify local needs and drive solutions to address them. It will prompt delegates to ask the question – is my local council and is my local community ‘future-proofed’?

Streams

Consideration of the theme and subsequent 'streams' was set within the context of recent events community and world events:

-natural disasters and extreme weather events;
-federal Government’s Climate Change Framework and the introduction of carbon pricing in July 2012;
-debate around technology, NBN and the groundswell of support for open government and government 2.0;
-debates relating to workplace literacy and workforce skills shortage;
-budget cuts for local government in the context of the UK and the ever-lingering Global Financial Crisis.

For these and many other reasons the 2012 National Congress has called for us to look at framing the conference around global and national issues with local solutions, local knowledge and local leadership.  Therefore the streams for 2012, and the cross-cutting themes relevant to these are as follows:

-Regional futures - collaboration, governance, resourcing/servicing and