Pathways into place-based work

What is the pathways tool?

Place-based work rarely follows a linear pathway. Before their role has a formal title, people often contribute through relationships, lived experience, local knowledge or community participation.

This work is made possible by many different people, including cultural leaders, local connectors, volunteers, mentors, community organisers, service workers, and people shaping the systems that support local life.

Some of this work is paid. Some is informal or community-led, and people often move between community roles and employment in organisations and the wider system as circumstances change. They may support local efforts without formal authority or take on responsibilities that sit outside recognised roles.

Place-based work rarely begins through formal recruitment or training pathways. This means it can be harder to name, support or recognise people’s contributions in place-based work. Many people hold multiple roles at once while balancing community trust, institutional expectations and everyday responsibilities.

This tool brings those contributions into view. It helps people recognise where they are already contributing, see how pathways connect and identify possible next steps in place-based work.

These pathways draw on learning from the Workforce Impact Network, PLACE resources and the experiences of practitioners working across different contexts.

This tool is intended for:

• place-based practitioners – people embedded in community with deep local knowledge, relationships and lived experience 

• place-based leaders – people who guide, coordinate and enable work across organisations and communities, including cultural leaders who hold authority, knowledge and responsibility within community and Country 

• contributing sectors – organisations and professionals whose work intersects with place 

• authorising environments – decision-makers, funders and institutions that shape the conditions for place-based work 

• people new to place-based work – those who want to understand how contributions begin and grow.