Can we optimise the great transition away from fossil fuels so that it creates stronger regional industries, greater housing opportunities and thriving ecosystems?

I believe we can. Through conversations with many of my regional development colleagues I understand that they share that view: we can better optimise the settings surrounding the transition so that regions capture more of its long-term economic, social and environmental value.

A familiar regional challenge

Across Australia, regional development practitioners are being asked to help their communities capture the opportunities created by renewable energy and other major investments. At the same time, they must consider whether their regions have the workforce, housing, infrastructure and services needed to accommodate growth.

The tension—and sometimes trepidation—is understandable. Practitioners want to welcome investment and support economic diversification, while also ensuring that rapid development does not intensify housing shortages, place unsustainable pressure on infrastructure or diminish the qualities that make their regions good places to live.

This is not a lack of ambition or positivity. Regional development practitioners tend to be practical, can-do people who want to find a way through these challenges and secure better outcomes for their communities.

The regional coordination gap

At the local and regional level, the challenge is compounded by fragmented responsibility.
Regional developers may have trusted contacts across government and productive relationships with individual agencies. However, no single agency necessarily takes full ownership of how workforce, housing, infrastructure, industry development and environmental considerations intersect within a region.
The work of connecting these issues and navigating responsibilities across multiple government portfolios is therefore often left to the regional developer—even when many of the relevant policy settings, resources and decision-making powers sit outside their direct authority.

Moving beyond impact mitigation

When renewable energy or other major infrastructure projects like data centres come to a region, negotiations can focus primarily on mitigating their immediate impacts. While that is essential, it can leave broader opportunities unexplored. A more integrated approach considers:

• how local people can develop the skills needed to participate in emerging industries;
• how new housing and accommodation can support local workers and their families, provide flexibility during periods of rapid growth, and add to the region’s longer-term housing supply;
• how transport, water, energy and community infrastructure can support growth; and
• how investment can contribute to lasting regional capability rather than short-term activity.

This requires more than asking each agency or project proponent to manage its individual area of responsibility. It requires the overlaps to be made visible and the combined regional outcomes to become part of the conversation.

Natural capital is part of the picture

From my perspective, this integrated approach must also account for natural capital and resource requirements.

Biodiversity, water, land use, energy inputs and climate resilience need to be considered alongside workforce, housing and infrastructure if development is to maintain—and ideally enhance—the amenity and resilience of regional communities.

By incorporating natural capital into regional development, regions can generate greater value from the transition—supporting economic growth, long-term community prosperity and the natural systems upon which their economies depend.

Making regional readiness visible

The complexity of these challenges is part of why I am exploring regional workforce needs in greater detail and why I developed a rapid assessment approach to understanding regional readiness.

The aim is not to reassess everything a region is already doing or produce another plan. It is to make existing connections, strengths and gaps more visible so that practical priorities and options can emerge.

A region may already be undertaking valuable work across economic development, workforce planning, housing, infrastructure, investment and environmental management. Greater visibility and articulation of issues can help identify:

• where activities reinforce one another;
• where responsibilities or actions are fragmented;
• where coordination and ownership need to be strengthened; and
• where existing investment can create greater and more enduring regional value.

Finding local ways forward

Every region has different industries, assets, pressures, relationships and ambitions. There will not be one solution that can simply be applied everywhere.

If your region is working through these challenges, I am always happy to have a no-obligation conversation. You bring detailed knowledge of your region and the will to pursue better outcomes; I can bring an external perspective, practical frameworks and experience to help uncover locally appropriate ways forward.

The picture is of the Google data centre and wind turbines, Eemshaven, Netherlands. Photograph: Wvdp/Wikimedia Commons, CC0