ARRCS investigates the capacity of local communities to flourish through socio-cultural, environmental, educational, economic and political lenses. This includes an emphasis on rural and regional social and cultural infrastructures. We understand ‘infrastructures’ as tangible and intangible resources and institutions that enable and support the workings of regional and rural Australia – for instance, libraries, community halls and centres, social networks, cultural initiatives and programs, agricultural and technical materials, and stories and art practices. 

In this one-day, in-person symposium, we hope to interrogate how such infrastructures make flourishing possible in rural and regional communities. What kinds of socio-cultural infrastructures are currently providing communities with the opportunity to flourish? Are some infrastructures inhibiting socio-cultural engagement and expression, and in what way? How might we better define or understand the notion of ‘flourishing’ in rural and regional contexts?

The aim of this symposium is to facilitate interdisciplinary conversations in response to these questions, with a particular focus on the work of HDR candidates and early career researchers.

The day’s schedule includes a keynote presentation from Dr Nikita Vanderbyl (La Trobe University - bio below) and a roundtable discussion with speakers Dr Cameo Dalley (University of Melbourne), A/Prof Rea Dennis (Deakin University), Dr Alison McAdam (Deakin University) and Dr D’Arcy Molan (Deakin University). The symposium will also showcase HDR and ECR research in this space.

Keynote bio:

Nikita Vanderbyl is a writer, researcher, and teacher living on Barkindji Country at the junction of the Barka (Darling) and Murray rivers in far western NSW. Her research examines Australian Aboriginal art and colonial history in the south east using both history and art history methods. She has written on Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung leader William Barak as well as the legacies of British slavery in Australia. Recently she published open access research in Australian Historical Studies, and previously with Aboriginal History, The La Trobe Journal, Agora and the Conversation. She is a Research Fellow in Indigenous Food Systems at the University of Melbourne and an Adjunct Research Officer at La Trobe University. Nikita writes a newsletter of art criticism: https://nikitavanderbyl.substack.com

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.