By Helen Rodd
After 35 years as a community development worker in Melbourne’s west, I’ve witnessed firsthand the rapid changes in our communities, the challenges they have faced and their remarkable resilience and creativity. The west is my heartland—where I’ve seen neighbourhoods transform, relationships flourish, and collective action create change that once seemed impossible. It’s with this deep connection to place and people that I invite you to join us for “Regenerating Community,” a statewide community development conference happening October 16-18, 2025, at Borderlands Cooperative in Footscray.
Throughout my decades of work in community development, one truth has become increasingly clear: the solutions to our most pressing challenges won’t come from top-down approaches but from communities themselves. I’ve seen neighbours coming together to mobilise to cook hundreds of meals and stand in solidarity with communities in the Flemington Highrise; regular community folk coming together as Litter Warriors to keep local wetlands clear of waste and abandoned shopping trolleys. I’ve seen young people explore big questions about gender, identity, belonging and exclusion through art, spoken word, music and photography and find their tribe and their voice in the process. I’ve seen a community mobilise against a government plan for a toxic dump being established in their food bowl community, AND WIN! I’ve seen people who would never have called themselves “a leader” come together, through shared passions, and lead amazing and beautiful projects in their neighbourhoods. This type of participatory, collective action is what democracy is about, the everyday actions that ordinary folk do to create beautiful, caring, connected and strong communities. In a world facing climate crisis, growing inequality, and declining trust in institutions and government, the community development approach has never been more relevant.
Hosting this conference in Footscray feels particularly fitting. Footscray has always been a meeting place of cultures, ideas, and possibilities—a place where new futures take shape through connection, collaboration, creativity and hospitality.
“Regenerating Community” will bring together:
- Community development practitioners from across sectors.
- Academics researching social change and community wellbeing.
- Social enterprise and for-purpose business leaders.
- Active citizens making change in their own neighborhoods.
- Local government representatives committed to community-led approaches.
- Indigenous leaders sharing wisdom about connection to country and community.
This diversity of perspectives is intentional. The complex challenges we face require us to break down the silos that too often separate us and to weave together our different forms of knowledge, experience, and skill.
At the conference we’ll create space for the conversations our communities need—conversations about power and participation, about healing and justice, about reimagining our economies and our relationships with each other and the earth. These won’t be abstract discussions. They’ll be grounded in the real experiences of communities across Victoria and beyond. I encourage you to submit a Proposal – apply here https://regeneratingcommunities.net/proposed-submissions/
I’m extending this invitation personally because I believe in the power of what we can create together. Whether you’re a seasoned community worker, an academic, a social entrepreneur, or simply someone who cares deeply about your neighbourhood, you have something essential to contribute. The Regenerating Community conference represents a chance to step back from our daily work, connect with allies and inspiration, and recommit to the vital project of building communities where everyone can thrive.
Join us in Footscray this October to share your stories, expand your skills, make meaningful connections, and collaborate for the changes our communities need. Because after 35 years in this work, I’m more convinced than ever: when communities come together with purpose, anything is possible.
October 16–18, 2025, at Borderlands Cooperative in Footscray.
Early registration are open regeneratingcommunities.net
