Partner/Supplier: Southern Queensland Country Tourism Opportunity Plan (SQCTOP)

Responsible for the development of social value programs for South East Queensland, Australia. Activating economic development through capacity building identified in the Tourism Opportunity Plan (TOP)… projects include:

Hand Made in Country (HMIC)

Built an artisan network and provided capacity building and promotion in tourism networks, making it easy for demand to meet supply around place based products which give back to community. Fostering the Makers. Capacity building for economic development. At the end, Southern Queensland Country Tourism were advertising visiting the region to do a handmade workshop....leather making, whip making, silk painting, sculpturing, silver smithing generating visitation to the region.

Southern Queensland Country Regional Food Network (SQCRFN)

Creation and facilitation of the SQCRFN.

Problem: Local people couldn’t access local food following floods. Farmers were tossing product unable to reach the central distribution market and local people (restaurants nor locals) could not access local food without 500+kms of food miles, even returning to the region where it was grown 5kms up the road.

Created a regional food network which spans over 350kms to ensure sustainable supply to the entire region. Connecting farmers and restaurateurs through a digital marketplace to trade as locally as possible and then regionally. Also offered strategic insights to farmers what to grow to meet demand. Restaurateurs told the stories of the food source in the menu’s offering greater connection to the food and region and carried a brand for provenance. Reduced food miles by changing the distribution lines. Network taken to incorporation and still provides local food through farmers markets across the regions.