Rural communities are experiencing a wide range of factors that demand that they change and adjust, including the growth of the knowledge-based economy, globalisation, the disappearance of unskilled and semi-skilled jobs, centralisation of services and changes in government policies and regulation. The broad purpose of the Generating Jobs in Regional Tasmania project was to research ways communities can better respond to such change. The specific aim was to investigate how small businesses, training providers (including schools) and other organisations can best work together to improve the match between the skills available in small rural communities and the needs of employers, particularly small businesses. The project took a social capital approach, investigating how the social resources of the community, in terms of networks, leadership, shared culture and vision, could be used to achieve the aims above.
Specific questions addressed by this project were: How can effective partnerships be developed between small businesses, training providers, including schools, and the community? What is the role of leadership, its continuity and distribution in the community in general and the small business and training sectors in particular, in fostering effective training provision and uptake of training? How can social capital in the form of networks, trust, shared culture and vision, be built and used so as to optimise the effectiveness of training for a rural community?
Excerpts from publication.
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