Presented by the Social Innovation Research Institute at Swinburne.

Join us for the launch of Social Connection 101, a concise guide to activating social connection for individuals and communities.

Aimed at those who work or volunteer in local government, the non-profit sector and community services, the resource offers something different to the multiple works depicting the problems of loneliness and isolation. It distils a large amount of evidence into one handy guide, pinpointing where to take action, why and what to do. It summarises the underlying evidence into handy frameworks, pointing to how to plan and measure for social connection activation.

Professor Jane Farmer, Director of the Social Innovation Research Institute and fellow authors will give an overview of the guide that puts a big topic into a bite-size chunk.

The session will follow with Q&A giving you an opportunity to share your experiences.
 

Speakers

Professor Jane Farmer
Director
Social Innovation Research Institute, Swinburne

Jane has a distinguished track record of research in rural health services design, innovations in health workforce and technology, community engagement, codesign community initiatives and social enterprise. Addressing disadvantage and social and health inequity is central to her research activity. She has developed a stream of work to codesign data analytics projects with non-government organisations and the wider community and humanitarian sector. 

Ms Penny Harrison
Director, Volunteering
Australian Red Cross

With over 22 years’ experience in executive and leadership roles in the humanitarian sector Penny is known for gathering insights from futures trends and applying those in ways that delivers strategic innovation. She is currently leading a social impact team delivering initiatives that remove barriers to volunteering and support communities. 
 

Dr Catherine Hartung
Senior Lecturer, Secondary Education
School of Social Sciences, Media, Film and Education, Swinburne

Catherine’s teaching and research focuses on children and young people's citizenship, rights, wellbeing, and diversity. Her research at its core is a concern with how various educational, cultural, and political institutions reproduce and/or challenge inequalities, as well as the ways that children and young people negotiate and resist institutional governance.