ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT QUARTERLY
The EDA Webinar Program continues to grow in
popularity and we are preparing a forward plan of
interactive on-line sessions, providing best practice
case studies and learnings from around Australia
and the globe. We recently called for expressions
of interest for presenters for a number of webinar
sessions. If you have expertise in certain areas and
would like to participate in this peer to peer program,
we would love to hear from you.
As part of our Thought Leadership Program, EDA is
establishing a National Working Group focussed on
economic development measurement and evaluation.
The issue of metrics is an important and challenging
issue for economic development professionals across
the globe and EDA is the ideal vehicle to drive this
discussion in Australia.
FROM THE CHAIR
Welcome to the first EDA Journal for 2019. The
EDA Board kicked off the year with a strategic
review and governance training session in
February. As the national peak body for economic
development professionals with directors in
every state, we conduct the board meetings and
business of EDA largely by teleconference and
email, so the opportunity to meet face to face from
time to time is extremely valuable. I would like to
thank our Directors who volunteer their time and
provide valuable expertise and input to position
EDA strongly. This year, we met in Adelaide, the
host city of the National Economic Development
Conference (NEDC 2019). Adelaide is the ideal
city to host EDA’s flagship conference which this
year, has the theme Digital Globalisation: Digital
Localisation. I hope to see as many of you as
possible at this event, which is the only conference
in Australia dedicated to economic development
professionals.
During our strategic planning session in Adelaide, it
was heartening to reflect on the significant growth
and development that EDA has experienced over
the last 18 months. I am proud to inform readers
that membership of EDA has more than doubled,
increasing to over 750 members. We are seeing
unparalleled engagement in EDA by our members
as we build a community of economic development
professionals. Key to this success is the tireless
work of our SPN Committees who plan and deliver
fantastic events and projects across Australia
throughout the year.
Thank you to all our members for their continued
support and encouragement.
Kind regards,
Mark Holdsworth ACEcD
National Chair,
Economic Development Australia
There are a number of exciting initiatives being
undertaken by EDA this year. We recently called
for expressions of interest from suitably qualified
professionals to develop a series of ‘delivery
ready’ education / training modules and resources
designed for economic development practitioners
and elected local government officials. It is our
objective that the new EDA education / training
modules will be the leading source of professional
development for economic development
practitioners in Australia and will provide a global
perspective focusing on case studies, best practice
examples and practical learning outcomes. We look
forward to keeping you informed as EDA progresses
the development and delivery of these modules.
VOL.12 NO.1 2019 | 4