December 2017
IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
  • CEO Update
  • Annual Report & AGM
  • Collective Impact Symposium -  20 Feb 2018
  • December 2017 Show-n-Tell
  • Collective Impact Initiatives in SA
  • Strategic Learning
  • Thank you to our student placements
  • Social Media
CEO UPDATE


As 2017 draws to a close, the Together SA team has reflected on the development of the Collective Impact movement in South Australia this year.  So much positive work, progress and potential.

On December 12, more than 30 representatives from 11 of our state's Collective Impact initiatives came together to share learning, to ask questions about common barriers to Collective Impact work and explore opportunities for deeper collaboration.  It was an inspiring event.

And we certainly have our work cut out for us in 2018, with 1 in 8 people living below the poverty line, 1 in 5 women experiencing domestic violence and 1 in 4 children born each year the subject of at least one notification to the child protection system - in SA alone. Despite our best efforts and significant resourcing, we finish 2017 with these sobering statistics.

I believe that hope is a renewable resource. The Collective Impact community in South Australia will persevere and grow, because the alternative of maintaining the status quo is not an option. 

Collective Impact requires you and your agency to think differently, and to change. Liz Weaver from the Tamarack Institute in Canada has a call to action for partners to change just 10% towards a common agenda, informed by reliable data, embedded in a balance of best practice and innovation, with community informing both the definition of a local complex social problem and the creation of approaches to generate sustainable change.

Collective Impact emerged in our state five years ago.  As advocates for this innovative framework, it is time to come together reflect on past achievements, learn from current practice and plan for the future of Collective Impact in South Australia, together.

Together SA is hosting our state's first Collective Impact Symposium on Tuesday 20 February 2018. The event will feature international speakers, Australian Collective Impact thought-leaders, South Australian practitioners, community leaders and a Collective Impact Expo.  Our question to you all is - just what will it take to create sustainable, community-led, systemic and cultural social change in our communities?

We are thrilled to have Sir Nigel Richardson from Child Friendly Leeds return to Adelaide to present at our Symposium. Nigel was here in 2016, and we look forward to taking a deeper dive into the implementation of the Child Friendly Leeds framework - just how did they achieve such long-lasting, city-wide, positive results?

At Together SA, we envisage a future where we work together in deep collaboration, with a common agenda driving culture and system change for the ultimate benefit of all South Australians.   We believe that taking a collective approach to these difficult and challenging issues can affect the type and scale of change South Australia is looking for.  Most importantly, it can be change that is led by local communities.

I wish you a wonderful festive season, and hope you return in January reenergised and ready to continue our important work, together.

Sandra Robinson 
CEO, Together SA  



TOGETHER SA AGM / Annual Report

In October Together SA released it's 2016-17 Annual Report at our AGM. We are proud to share the evolution of both Together SA and Collective Impact in South Australia. 




                             

On 20 February 2018 Together SA is hosting SA's first Collective Impact Symposium.  This  event will bring together Australian Collective Impact thought-leaders, South Australian practitioners and Community Leaders to consider the practice and potential of Collective Impact. 

We can now confirm our Key Note Speakers are:
  • International Guest Speaker Sir Nigel Richardson CBE from Child Friendly Leeds on system and culture change at population-level
  • National thought-leader Dr Michelle Lucas, previous CEO of Opportunity Child, and Senior Fellow at The Harwood Institute (U.S.A) on the Australian Collective Impact movement

The program will be available in January 2018.  If you are part of a Collective Impact initiative and would like to display the work of your group at the Expo, please contact our Event Coordinator Tricia Flowers tricia.flowers@togethersa.org.au.




Collective Impact Show-n-Tell 2018

Each year, Together SA hosts a 'S how & Tell'  event for representatives from Collective Impact groups across the state. It is an opportunity to share and learn from Collective Impact practitioners as we seek to change the way we work together to improve outcomes for communities.  This year, we decided to  test something new, an
'un-conference' format. 

This type of event has none of the ingredients of a traditional conference. There is no predefined list of speakers or agenda, and PowerPoint slides are banned! 

Instead, each participant has a responsibility to contribute and help turn the un-conference into a success.

With an appreciation score of 87% it was clear that participants loved the concept!

Together, we explored conversation topics, selecting some important issues to discuss including  authentic community engagement, realising systems change, enhancing well-being through reconnecting people to nature and how to get from talk to action.

Another highlight was having 30 representatives from 11 of the 12 Collective Impact initiatives in South Australia in the room. New connections were made as well as early New Year's resolutions - ongoing sharing and peer to peer learning. 

Together SA will be supporting this process through the formation of a strategic learning community and by bringing together Collective Impact champions from across the state's different Collective Impact initiatives to facilitate and lead this work.

Interested in getting involved? 


Collective Impact Initiatives Updates


Adelaide Young Persons Wellbeing Initiative (AYPWI)

The AYPWI aims to co-create a future where all 18-24-year-olds who live in the City of Adelaide have great wellbeing.
The initiative is a response to the city's 2016 PERMA+ survey outcomes.  


Impact Inner North


Impact Inner North has had a very active period since July.  We have made progress in many ways and look forward with enthusiasm to next year...

 

Inner West Collective Impact 
Initiative

The Inner West Collective Impact initiative is working to see that children and young people 0-18 in the Inner West suburbs thrive...


Mid Murray Family Connections

The second half of 2017 has seen the MMFC Collective Impact Initiative move from a planning phase to a  coordinated action  phase ...

  
Together in the North
 
Children and Young people in the City of Playford are happy, healthy, ready for today and for the future...



Together in the South


Together in the South has had a busy year.  On 19th of August, we launched our Community Conversations with a free family fun day event at the Morphett Vale Football Club...


Strategic Learning

An appetite for and commitment to ongoing learning is at the heart of Collective Impact.

Here in South Australia people from all walks of life and many different cross-sector organisations are working together to tackle the state's most challenging issues. 

Whilst this work is exciting and the first outcomes promising, achieving true and sustainable impact is easier said than done. 

The issues Collective Impact initiatives across the state are aiming to solve, such as homelessness or poor AEDC outcomes for our most vulnerable children, are incredibly complex. Therefore, Collective Impact can only be achieved if we acknowledge that at the moment we don't have the answers and that to realise change we must think and act differently. This r equires an openness and commitment to ongoing learning; by doing, from each other, from experts, best practice and t hrough evaluation, etc.
 
For our Collective Impact leaders working within these complex and changing contexts, the work  can sometimes feel isolating and overwhelm ing. As South Australia's Collective Impact movement of communities, service providers, government agencies, businesses, funders, etc., we have a lot to offer each other as we strive towards o ur shared vision of making South Australia a great place to live. To strengthen and support these efforts, Together SA is currently developing a Strategic Learning Strategy and Action Plan which will include the formation of a Strategic Learning Community.


 
To help us shape the Strategic Learning work, we are currently checking in with all South Australian backbone leaders and Collective Impact initiatives. The purpose of these conversations is to get a clear understanding of individuals and initiatives' learning needs as well the expertise,  knowledge and skills they possess and are willing to share with others. Additionally, information will be used to determine what kind of learning will work best and how it should be delivered.
 
To register your interest, please  click here

If you are looking for more information or want to have a chat about strategic learning, please contact:
Collective Impact Leader Froukje Jongsma at froukje.jongsma@togethersa.org.au

 

A big thanks to Flora and Nathalie!

 

 

Over the last four months Together SA was lucky to have University of South Australia social work students Flora Biouk Aghaei and Nathalie Tonga, as part of our team.

 

Coming from different countries - Iran and Norway - and having different professional and lived experience, they brought lots of valuable new insights to Together SA. 

 

A highlight of their contribution was the consultation process they led for the Adelaide Young People's Wellbeing Initiative (AYPWI).  In a time frame of only 6 weeks Flora, Nathalie and their volunteer team engaged 140+ young people in the city through community conversations and 1:1 interviews. 

 

The data gathered was presented at the AYPWI's Round Table event in October and will inform the initiative's community plan.

 

Together SA wishes Flora and Nathalie all the best in their future endeavours!

 

Facebook

Stay up to date about what's happening in the world of Collective Impact through Together SA's Facebook page! 

Here you can find inspiring examples of social innovation, information about upcoming events, free tools and methods, relevant articles and videos and updates of South Australia's Collective Impact initiatives.
 
Click here to like and search the Together SA Facebook page.

See you all next year!

Our offices are 
closed from 
5pm Friday, 22 December  2017 & 
re-opening 
9am Monday 8 January 2018