Earlier this month, from 1-4 October, Brisbane hosted the 49th congress of the International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISOCARP). ISOCARP has memberships from nearly 100 countries including Australia and has its headquarters in the Hague. The theme of this year’s congress was Frontiers of Planning: Evolving and […]
This edition of recommended reading focuses on four recent examples of how collaboration is gaining traction as a solution for large scale challenges. The articles include an insight into the growing scale of the collaborative economy as a market factor (or force as some would argue). My favourite […]
Following on from a collaborative workshop hosted by the University of Queensland, this blog has been co-authored by the University of Queensland’s Prof. Helen Ross and Prof. Paul Turnbull, the University of Vienna’s Dr Gabriele Weichart and Jelenko Dragisic, On Tuesday 8 October 2013, the University of Queensland hosted a […]
As the coordinator of the Natural Disaster Resilience Leadership Project it has been my job over the past two and a half years to bring together community leaders from across various sectors in order to explore their role in building community resilience. After delivering this project in over […]
There seems to be a broad understanding among business leaders and managers across industries and sectors that collaboration, innovation, and better engagement with a variety of partners is a new reality which will help many move forward. It is becoming increasingly apparent that solutions are less likely to […]
Firstly I’d like to thank Jelenko and the team for involving me in this exciting project – ROADMENDER Spark. Everyone has great knowledge to share, I feel hugely honoured to be a part of this. Thank you. For this blog I have focused on the role of visionaries […]
Entrepreneurs drive innovation The Austrian-born economist Joseph Schumpeter is the father of economic innovation. In 1911 he published the first description of innovation through creative destruction, generating new products and forms of organisation that displaced older forms and created new value. For Schumpeter, the entrepreneur delivers innovation through […]
A recent report on the state of collaboration for the purpose of innovation indicated that Australia is ranked 23 out of 26 OECD countries. This ranking is even poorer with regard to international collaboration (despite evidence showing that ‘distance’ is not really a factor). So, a long journey […]
Today, ROADMENDER is launching a new and first of its kind national micro-initiative. Welcome to ROADMENDER Spark! This initiative was borne out of the desire to add to the culture of collaboration by creating a platform for emerging young professionals who already have strong collaborative instincts and want […]
Hopefully this edition of ROADMENDER Recommends will satisfy those in need of some inspiration, incentive and perhaps even motivation to tackle Monday head on. While Google’s innovative culture and creativity has been covered a lot, there always seems to be something new, as the last article here indicates. […]
The early, and somewhat negative, connotations of the term collaboration were formed during the Napoleonic era and then thoroughly reinforced during World War Two. The connotative reading of the term added a measure of reservation and thereby prevented an all-out enthusiastic embrace of the practice for some time. […]
Australian Universities, like their counterparts globally, have recognised for a long time the importance of collaboration in research. Furthermore, there is a growing appetite for collaboration with a broad range of industry partners which produces new kinds of opportunities for all stakeholders. This week’s guest blog is by […]
This edition of ROADMENDER Recommends is full of great finds. As usual there are great infographics for those who believe in the power of visuals. The standouts, however, are two articles on the history of collaboration in social and technological contexts. A growing number of those who see […]
In working with a number of collaborative efforts over the past twenty years between non-profits, corporates and universities I have come to several counter-intuitive understandings. Top of my list is that collaboration begins alone. Too often the effort to collaborate, whether this be instigated by financial hardship or […]
The History of Collaboration Collaboration has been around for some time but an investigation into its origins suggests that it has changed a lot over the past few decades. Like so many who have made it an effective strategy, I believe we are only seeing early signs of […]
We are only couple of days (more or less) away from exercising our civic duty and democratic right by going to ballot to choose a leader. Politics is not what ROADMENDER is about, however it is a rare opportunity perhaps to theme a post with a major event. […]
Let’s be honest. How often do we hear business leaders suggest that a not for profit enterprise is a good place to invest? While it might seem logical to believe that investing in a venture that does not provide direct profit cannot be good for business, I wouldn’t […]
In homage to the late Seamus Heaney, this eclectic selection of articles by ROADMENDER may be best summed up by the great man himself, who proclaimed: ’Write whatever you like!’. Apart from a mandatory reflection on collaboration and innovation, here are some useful bits of information that could […]
Collaboration is not something new. However, the context within which it now takes place is new. Collaborating in a fast paced changing environment, or collaborating in times where uncertainty is a constant, is a very different kind of discipline. The use of a collaborative approach in solving major […]
Natural disasters are increasingly becoming less ‘newsy’ and one would be forgiven for not keeping up with the number of disasters occurring across the globe. The USA, like Australia, deals with its share of natural disasters and, in fact, averages at least one per week. Currently, there are major […]
Effectively functioning enterprises, be they commercial, not for profit or government, can be distinguished by the way they manage future opportunities. Many enterprises still hold the view that business works in cycles and that growth will emerge cyclically of itself. That may be a factor as has been […]
This week’s guest blog emerged after a conversation I had with a colleague, Josh Keegan, who identified a challenge and proposed an elegant solution that, with some support from corporate and government sectors, could see a major impact on making Brisbane a better place for young people desiring to start local initiatives. In Brisbane, as I […]
This week Roadmender recommends a selection of articles covering areas of innovation, collaboration, leadership and entrepreneurship. While some links may not necessarily be apparent, the idea is to assemble diverse views and uncover possibilities. One of the most frequent questions I am asked is why I believe that […]
J.K. Galbraith stated that “we are ruled by ideas and by very little else”. Ideas are always in demand. It is one thing that people are drawn to, and there is never a shortage of ideas. However, the situation is not as simple when we try to make […]
Everyone has heard about big data. Some have nothing but praise for it; others are not so sure. Many are still waiting to better understand its implications. It takes a little imagination to understand that big data is already impacting on almost every aspect of commercial enterprise, social […]
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