So (f)route is on it's way to becoming an arts-led SOCIAL ENTERPRISE.
Well ... we spent our first CRUNCH session figuring out how to articulate the (f)route social purpose - and the social need that we are addressing. This is key to what comes next. This is what we said:
(f)route is an East Gippsland enterprise
based on its natural assets - wild fruit, slow art,
its people - and walking & cycling from one to another.
(f)route aims to create an East
Gippsland 'destination' - an alternative tourist trail that can connect East Gippsland with new markets - particularly
younger, ethically aware urban
travellers looking for an authentic rural
experience.
(f)route's social purpose is to stimulate sustainable economic
development opportunities in small communities across East Gippsland -
primarily through 'local produce' (ie. fruit)
related tourism experiences.
Those opportunities need to embrace the key elements of the (f)route ethos: caring for locals and
local knowledge; the importance of culture and creativity; community
health and environmental sustainability.
(f)route's social need has been
flagged by shrinking job opportunities; a continuing trend of declining average incomes;
an ageing demographic of overworked and overwhelmed farmers and disappearing
youth. Fewer hands, rotting fruit – and in our minds, an unnecessary cycle of rural
decline.
And while (f)route's primary purpose is to improve the liveliehood
of East Gippslanders - it is an idea deeply rooted in a more global concern for
food security and the desire to live locally and ethically.
(f)route's beneficiaries are the residents of East Gippsland who choose to connect with the (f)route movement.
(f)route's beneficiaries are the residents of East Gippsland who choose to connect with the (f)route movement.
