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.

Shifting culture

Culture shapes how people experience and enact place-based work. It influences how the work is understood, practised and sustained.

It shows up in everyday behaviours, shared norms and stories, expectations about pace and process, and how power and voice are shared across organisations and communities.

Small shifts in these patterns can open new possibilities and support more grounded, locally led ways of working.

Reflect on:

the behaviours, messages and unwritten rules that shape how people work together in your place

the stories, histories and expectations that shape what is seen as good work, who is listened to and whose knowledge carries weight

how cultural differences across organisations or communities influence decision-making, relationships and ways of working.

Small step

Choose one cultural pattern you notice in your place – a habit, story, expectation or way of working. Name it with a peer and explore one small shift in how it shows up in practice to help collaboration feel clearer, safer or more grounded in local values.

Go deeper

Practical Guides and Information (Lived Experience Australia) explain why lived experience sits at the centre of culture change – shifting whose voices are heard, whose expertise counts and how decisions are made.

Centring Equity and Place-Based Approaches in Systemic Transformation (Inspired Communities, Tamarack Institute, Place Matters and Collaboration for Impact, 2023) explores what it takes to move from program change to deeper cultural change, with a focus on values, power and whose knowledge shapes the work.

National Strategic Framework for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ Mental Health and Social and Emotional Wellbeing 2017–2023 (Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, 2017) highlights a holistic, collective understanding of wellbeing grounded in culture, Country and self-determination. It can support reflection on how care and connection are understood across different knowledge systems.

Return to 'Sustaining care and connection'

Explore the pathway