Designing regional economies for a time of change

This session offers a chance to explore an increasingly urgent question:

What would it take to design regional economies that don’t just survive disruption - but thrive because of it?

It’s 2028. After a series of cascading supply-chain shocks disrupt national logistics networks, supermarket shelves begin to thin across the country. Energy prices spike. Headlines warn of another national supply crisis.

But in some regional towns, something unexpected happens. The lights stay on, the fridges stay full, and local businesses keep trading.

These communities aren’t the biggest or the wealthiest. They are the ones that quietly spent the previous decade strengthening local supply chains, investing in distributed energy, building trusted business networks, and supporting enterprises deeply embedded in place.

In this thought-provoking session, Reece Proudfoot will:

• Open with a short “future history” - a glimpse of what resilient regional economies could look like just a few years from now. 

• Share Regen Labs’ recent research for the NSW government on regional business transformation and regenerative economic development, 

• Provide insights into how regional businesses, communities and institutions can move beyond reactive adaptation toward proactive economic transformation.

The session will finish with a short panel conversation with practitioners working on the ground, to highlight how small and medium enterprises - the backbone of Australia’s regional economy - are already innovating in areas such as food systems, energy, circular manufacturing, and community finance to strengthen local resilience.