It was Charles Darwin who said something like… its not the strongest or the most intellectual of the species that survives; but the species that is best able to adapt and adjust to their changing environment.
Our members continue to adapt, to innovate and to be creative as they look to adjust to the changing environment of our region.
Sovereign Hill’s recent Food Fire and Light festival is a great example of this. Every aspect of Sovereign Hill that we know so well was transformed to create innovative new experiences designed to attract a new visiting cohort. I’ve no doubt that in 10 years’ time, this event will be a feature on our regional calendar in the same way Winter Wonderlights does today.
The Ballarat Tech School and some of our secondary school members, recently hosted Adam Spencer for a workshop for over 100 industry and education personnel. To see industry and education in the same room, talking with each other about how both can help each other was a great outcome. Then, to capture the amazing insights provided by Adam into AI’s potential to enhance creativity and innovation, with particular focus on the workforce of the future, was inspiring and challenged us to adapt, or get left behind.
The initial findings of the BEN-BWEZ project have been presented and shows the feasibility and potential commercial viability of an aggregated distributed network for BWEZ. This is significant as it provides the ‘runway’ to accelerate our vision for the Ballarat Energy Network as an aggregated, distributed network, providing 100% locally generated renewable energy for our regional city. To realise this, we need to adapt to the changing environment of the renewable energy transition so we are best placed to maximise the opportunities it presents.
I appreciate by highlighting just three examples, I am not coming close to the innovation and adaptation our members across the region are involved with every day. Committee’s purpose is to inspire thought leadership and drive collaboration to shape a prosperous region. I think Charles Darwin would give our members a tick when he proposed it is those who can best adapt to change that will survive.