An internationally recognised expert in regional economics and collaboration will visit the University of the Sunshine Coast next week (September 14-18).

Ed Morrison from the renowned Centre for Regional Development at Purdue University in Indiana, USA, is running workshops at USC on trust building and collaboration strategies in the lead up to November’s Sunshine Coast Futures Conference, hosted by USC in conjunction with the Sunshine Coast Council.
 
Mr Morrison, who is also a USC Adjunct Professor, will present to USC and Sunshine Coast Council leadership staff on the ‘Strategic Doing’ philosophy he developed with Purdue University.

He will also meet with business leaders about the discipline, which is now widely used across institutions in the USA. Strategic Doing is an innovative framework to accelerate regional collaborations for economic growth.

Mr Morrison presented at last year’s Sunshine Coast Futures Conference, at which he stressed that working collaboratively was essential to advancing regional economic development.

“Communities and regions that become more skilled at collaboration and innovation will prosper. They will spot opportunities faster, align their resources faster, and make better decisions,” he said.

“In today’s world, innovation takes place through collaboration in open, loosely connected networks. Communities that fail to respond to the collaboration imperative will struggle.”

The visit was coordinated by USC Pro Vice-Chancellor (Engagement) Professor Mike Hefferan, who said the Sunshine Coast community would strongly benefit from the workshops.

“The Sunshine Coast region has remarkable competitive advantages and a high quality economic plan which sets out a direction for the future,” Professor Hefferan said. “Strategic Doing is a proven way to get us there.”

The 6th annual Sunshine Coast Futures conference will be held at USC on 27 November, with this year’s theme being ‘Getting to our future… while strengthening the social capital and networks of the Sunshine Coast region’.

More information about the conference can be found at www.sunshinecoastfutures.com.