Where to next? Spaces for Innovation in the Mid West

You’re invited to a special ‘Swarm’ event, looking at “Where to next? for Spaces for innovation and collaboration in the Mid West”

Amazing physical spaces can be powerful enablers of collaboration to achieve outcomes: education, innovation, industry development, social inclusion. Examples include: coworking spaces, men’s sheds, youth hubs, industry co-location and NFP co-location. All these spaces have a lot in common in the risks and challenges faced when creating and sustaining them.

Armed with five years of experience and new opportunities on the horizon, it’s timely for Pollinators  to review, learn and consider future options for our Spaces in Geraldton. We will use the CityHive coworking space and options for its future as a live case study for shared learning. Facilitators will share tools and approaches relevant to anyone working on creating spaces for collaboration and innovation.

Agenda:

1. Welcome, opening,
2. Context: Global trends, Geraldton experiments and Regional Development imperatives,
3. Brief presentations,
4. Q&A
5. Facilitated innovation-in-action session, working in small teams:
   1. Defining success criteria,
   2. Generating new ideas,
   3. Narrowing the selection,
   4. Rapid prototyping and testing,
   5. Preparing a ‘pitch deck’.
6. Close, transition into Member Meetup.

At 5pm we will hear the ‘pitches’ from different teams and Member Meetup networking event, an energising and refreshing way to wind-down for the weekend.

‘Swarms’ are events where Pollinators facilitate collaboration and collective decision-making on issues or opportunities that are significant to our community. The have a unique mix of a) practically tackling an important topic, b) learning innovative methods that can be applied in other contexts.

How to participate:

• Register now. Free members only event, register via Podio.
• Come prepared. If you or your organisation has a vision, strategy, budget or information relevant to the topic, come prepared to share it, get answers, and collaborate to move things forward. This may mean you bring plans, spreadsheets, laptop…whatever you need to work.
• Be open. Be prepared to connect, collaborate and get creative, and share ideas, knowledge and insights.