On Thursday the 8th of August a group of 13 Alice Springs’ aspiring leaders joined us at Arup for the day as part of their East Coast Retreat which forms part of their Desert Leadership program facilitated by Desert Knowledge Australia (DKA).
DKA (www.desertknowledge.com.au) is one of Arup Australasia’s strategic charity partners. The organisation identifies key projects that contribute to a social, economic and environmentally sustainable future for desert Australia. One of its key focus areas is its leadership programs for both youth and adults. These programs provide opportunities for desert people to develop their leadership skills and to connect with each other and the city in a way that prepares them for a successful shared future. You can read more here: www.desertknowledge.com.au/DesertLeadership.
During the day with us at Arup the group spent time with Arup staff in co-mentoring sessions, experienced a debate around ‘Arup Culture’, attended a workshop about activity based working, experienced a ‘behind the scenes’ tour of both Fed Square and Hamer Hall and then had the opportunity to prepare and present their ideas at a networking event around ‘How to improve cultural connections between Desert and City’. The focus of the day was ‘Improving Cultural Connections with a view to equipping the group to go back to Alice Springs and develop their projects as part of the overall Leadership course.
Whilst on the retreat the group also visited Canberra and spent time in Melbourne with other organisations including the AFL and Australia Post. They now go back to Alice Springs to complete the course and to put their learnings into action.
The Arup staff involved in the day felt such a positive impact.
‘Thank you for involving me in the day…I almost pulled out due to workload but am so glad I didn’t! Taking time out to speak with someone from such a different place, who has such a different day to day life to me was incredibly valuable. The passion and energy that was present in the DKA leaders was greatly inspiring. Their commitment to their communities and roles has given me a great deal to think about in terms of my role as a leader. A great experience and something I would do again without hesitation.’
Phil Alexander-Pye
‘What a great day – all of the participants thanked me at the end of the day for our efforts but I can honestly say that I got far more out of the day than I could have imagined…….working with such interesting and diverse people that I wouldn’t ordinarily get to meet / spend time with has been a wonderful experience…’
Samantha Webb
Desert Leadership participants thoroughly enjoyed their time at Arup:
‘On behalf of the Desert Knowledge Australia Intercultural Leadership and Learning Team, I am writing to thank you for the time you gave to the Alice Springs Desert Leadership group last week, and for sharing the story of your journey and work as a significant part of our East Coast Retreat. The sincerity of what you delivered and impact of your time was part of a powerful journey for our participants over the week. In their own words on the final day:
“a privileged week”
“humbling and overwhelming – the scale and magnitude has been enormous”
It is our aim to build and maintain mutually positive relationships with people and organisations who can impact the leadership journeys of our participants. The support shown to us by Arup is truly amazing.’
Rebecca Glen, DKA
We look forward to continuing to work with DKA in the future and hope to be able to support future leadership groups (both adult and youth groups) in years to come. Watch this space for updates from the 2013 group as they progress their learnings and skills and share their experiences with Arup.
For more information, please contact Samantha Webb Samantha.webb@arup.com
