Mr Bob Molloy
University of South Australia

Regional development has, in the past, paid little attention to the spiritual or social context, or indeed the human inconnectedness of the region. Rational economic criteria are developed and implemented through a policy process which is predominantly used as the basis for specifying the appropriate development pathway for a region, although more recently ecological impact statements and community based processes have been included. There has also been very little attention given to the concepts and practice of civil society or social capital. Whilst some attention may be provided to Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander sites in developing regional development plans, little or no attention is given to discernment of the spirit of the land or its people, in the region itself. In this paper, the importance of including such discernment in planning and implementing development is identified. It is argued that sustainable development of a region by necessity includes consideration of the natural, human and spiritual resources of the region. It then introduces some techniques and processes which can be useful in the discernment of the spiritual resources of the region.

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