Pathways into place-based work

This map shows different ways people contribute to place-based work – individually and collectively. It helps you orient yourself in the work, based on where you are right now. You can start anywhere. Follow what feels familiar, or explore other ways of getting involved. Click a pathway or practice point to explore further.

Don’t know where to start? Visit the landing pages for Collective pathways and Individual pathways to get a sense for the different parts of the map.

Pathways Map - Key

This map shows different ways people contribute to place-based work - individually and collectively - and where those forms of work connect.

Colours

Green - Individual pathways

Red - Collective pathways

Pathways

Each colour contains three pathways.

Pathways represent different ways of contributing, not stages or levels.

Practice points

Each circle represents a practice within a pathway.

Select a highlighted practice point to explore reflections, activities and resources.

You can visit practices in any order and return to them at any time.

Overlaps

The blue highlighted areas show where individual and collective pathways connect.

These highlight shared practices that influence both personal contribution and the wider conditions for place-based work.

Overlaps are shared ground, not additional steps.

How to use the map

There is no start or end.

Begin wherever feels most relevant to you.

Explore one pathway or move between several.

The map is designed for exploration rather than a fixed sequence.

Strengthening networks for shared learning

Shared learning strengthens systems change when insight moves between people, places and roles.

Learning networks bring together local experience, practice insight and system perspectives. They create space to reflect, test ideas and share learning through common language, tools and conversation.

When people working in place, funding and policy learn together, understanding travels faster, decisions stay closer to lived reality, and effort is less likely to be duplicated.

Reflect on:

where collaboration supports shared learning that influences decisions or practice, and where learning remains separate from action

which groups or roles hold valuable insight and how their knowledge is brought into decision-making or systems change efforts

how evaluation, data and local stories move across your networks, and whether they inform funding, policy or program adjustments

which relationships help learning translate into action when circumstances shift or new pressures emerge.

Small step

Choose one network you are part of and ask what would make learning together easier and more open.

Try one practical adjustment – such as adding a short reflective session, creating a shared workspace or including a simple ‘what we are noticing’ check-in. Notice whether the insights generated begin to inform decisions, practice or priorities.

Go deeper

Learning in place-based work: Principles and enablers (PLACE, 2025) outlines the conditions that support shared learning and collective capability. It can help insight move between practice, decision-making and systems change.

Creating, Building and Nurturing a Community of Practice: A strategic guide (APS Academy, 2025) provides practical guidance for building and sustaining networks where people learn from one another across roles and sectors.

Facilitating Intentional Group Learning: A practical guide to 21 learning activities (FSG, 2017) outlines simple ways to structure collective reflection, including data walks and storytelling sessions, so shared insight can inform coordinated action.

‘Working with local communities and government agencies’ in the Place-based approaches guide (Victorian Government, 2022) offers a government perspective on collaborative work, showing how shared learning connects with governance and partnership structures.

The State of Greater Shepparton’s Children: Digital report (Seer Data & Analytics) provides an example of a place-based data initiative using a shared wellbeing framework to support shared learning and cross-sector decision-making.

Return to 'Changing the system together'

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