Future of Orbost and district project manager, Tim Cotter, provided an update on the project this week to enable those interested to get a snapshot of the current state of play. 
“COVID lockdowns have caused the cancellation of many of our planned events including the next planned phase of the project, the conducting of five locally held entrepreneurial discovery process (EDP) workshops,” Mr Cotter said.
The nine initially identified innovation proposals presented to the community have been refined to incorporate five areas of innovation potential for the district:

• The formation of a national seeds institute;
• Exploration of high value-add agricultural opportunities;
• The investigation of a ‘13+’ learning facility;
• Future forest management and coastal park access;
• Visitor economy opportunities for the district.

“Whilst we haven’t been able to conduct face-to-face meetings, we are currently taking the opportunity to prepare a series of innovation guides focused on the five proposals,” Mr Cotter said.

IMAGE: Craig, Brodie and Rowan Hocking along with Nakarra Wade are part of the team at the Moogji Aboriginal Council site on the Bonang Highway which is using its resources to develop expertise in growing native plants.