In what ways and by what means does a regional leadership program contribute to the social capital of a region? : a case study of Gippsland

Gippsland is a large region in rural south-east Victorian, Australia, a region rich with natural resources and diverse landscape yet troubled by changing economic fortunes and resistant social challenges and disadvantage. The case study of this research is the Gippsland Community Leadership Program (GCLP), the first regional leadership program in Victoria and modelled on the prestigious Melbourne based Williamson Community Leadership Program (WCLP). The GCLP was established in 1995 by locals dissatisfied with the current state of regional affairs and charged with a daunting goal: to improve the fortunes and prospects of the region through developing regional leaders, in an effort to reverse the recent trend of perceived remote decision-making and disempowerment. When after a few years, initial sponsorship support appeared to some to be at risk, GCLP management sought ways to tangibly demonstrate to its supporters, the community benefit they felt certain was abundant across the region. They elected to jointly seek a grant to sponsor a doctoral research project within the Faculty of Education at the Gippsland campus of Monash University to consider the contribution of the GCLP to the wider Gippsland region and community. With the guidance of a GCLP Board member who was also an Associate Professor at Monash Gippsland, they chose social capital as a concept through which to consider this.