Community Development Convenor, Louis Taborda (Image: University of Sydney)

By Louis Taborda, Community Development Convenor, Bulletin 4/2023, June 2023

I joined the Society’s  management committee as the Community Development Convenor last October. I want to share with you what has been happening, and more importantly, hear your thoughts on what should happen next.

By way of introduction, my day job is as a lecturer at the School of Project Management at the University of Sydney, where I coordinate final-year Capstone units that assign student teams to work on meaningful real-world projects for small businesses and community groups. As a graduate of that esteemed institution, I have always seen Glebe and the Inner West as my `hood’. I have fond memories of walking up Glebe Point Rd to see the double-feature at the Valhalla Cinema, so Glebe and the University have always been somewhat intertwined in my mind.

And so it remains, as I have used my Project Management students to investigate a number of Glebe Society initiatives that were identified at the Community Development kick-off session held in January of this year. Five ideas that came out of that session were assigned to various student teams that  manage the  project,  develop the idea, determine its feasibility and finally make recommendations on the  next steps. 

At Glebe Markets, 2003 (image: Patricia Baillie, courtesy of City of Sydney Archives)

The five projects that are in their final stages of execution cover:

  • Social Media Strategy – working directly with the Communications Subcommittee Convenor to improve the Society’s Instagram following
  • Invigorating our main street by investigating global initiatives/options that may be applicable to Glebe
  • Glebe Photo Competition: exploring possibilities in running a regular competition
  • Glebe Chinese Heritage: researching early multi-cultural contributions in Glebe’s history
  • Glebe Market Stall: developing a Business Case for establishing a ‘presence’ at the Saturday Glebe Markets

These are information gathering projects that aim to provide some useful resources to inform the Society’s work. They are a great way to enable students to apply their talents and develop their skills by undertaking a short project that can deliver value to Glebe. It is an investment in the next generation of project managers.

Although I should not have favourites, I eagerly await the ideas that might come from the Glebe Market Stall project, because I consider it a wonderful opportunity to participate in a weekly event that brings together a vibrant mix of young people to our suburb. They are the ones who in years to come will have memories of Glebe and may one day choose to make it their home. It would be good to instil in them the love of Glebe’s rich heritage and history by showcasing what we as a community do and value. It might not be just the Glebe Society,  we could join forces with other community groups to have a presence ‘where the action is’ every Saturday!

The official opening of the Sze Yup Temple in 1904 (Image: Sydney Mail and NSW Advertiser 3 Feb. 1904)

I am interested to hear your thoughts – not only about the stall at the markets but also the other initiatives. I think we should continue with our traditional ways of assisting the less privileged in Glebe  but also explore  new approaches to community development.

If you would like to be actively engaged, or have some suggestions, just send me an email at louis.taborda@sydney.edu.au.

I would also like to hear your ideas for any  student  projects, not just Glebe Society ones.  I can work with you to develop a proposal. The form develop a project proposal lists the criteria we look at in  assessing proposals. If you have any questions about it, or want to discuss your ideas,  please contact me.  Together, I hope we can get some good things happening.