Riego controlado

Over 3.5 million of Victoria’s population of 5 million live in the state capital, Melbourne (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2003). If you take to the six-lane highway that ribbons out of Melbourne and head 75kms south-west toward the Bellarine Peninsular you will find yourself driving through flat brown marshlands that ultimately bring you to the city of Geelong, the second most populous city in Victoria. The Geelong region has commonly been conceptualised as covering the four local government areas of the City of Greater Geelong, Surf Coast Shire, Golden Plains Shire and the Borough of Queenscliff. However with the formation of the G2131 Geelong Regional Alliance in 2003 the Colac Otway Shire has also come to be identified with the Region. This broader region covers the range of demographic categories of urban, rural, semi-rural, country towns and coastal living (Tregenza 2002). Given the physical landscape with the expansive Port Phillip to the north and Bass Strait - the body of ocean that separates Victoria from the southernmost state of Tasmania - to the south the region nestles in a natural and highly identifiable enclave, many of its boundaries being clearly defined.

Resident population in the region in 2003 was 241,000. The region is forecast to continue growing at an annual average of 1.4%, a rate higher than the Victorian rate; Surf Coast and Golden Plains Shires are respectively the second and third fastest growing rural municipalities in the state (Smart Geelong Region Local

28 The term yarn refers to all weaving materials that are used for either warp or weft. 31

The name G21 brings together notions of Groups, Geelong and Goals (G) and the 21st Century (21) (Geelong Regional Alliance n.d.). G21 is led by volunteers from local business and the public sector and formed, according to then State Treasurer and Minister for State and Regional

Development John Brumby, the ‘biggest regional development undertaken by councils in Victoria… a truly unique partnership between the State government, the council … all of the key local players, economic, social and environmental’ (Bishop 2003).

Learning and Employment Network Inc 2002). Population is projected to reach 300,000 within the next 20 years at which time one in three residents will be over the age of 60 (Geelong Regional Alliance n.d.). The region suffers from a continuing exodus of people aged in their late teens to early thirties (Strategic Economic Solutions 2003; Tregenza 2002). Within the region, the population profile differs by location: rural Golden Plains Shire has a markedly younger population while the seaside Borough of Queenscliff has a markedly older

population (Smart Geelong Region Local Learning and Employment Network Inc 2002). The resident population of the region is heavily concentrated in the City of Greater Geelong urban area; this includes a concentration of the region’s

unemployed in the suburbs of Corio, South Barwon, Bellarine and Geelong West (Smart Geelong Region Local Learning and Employment Network Inc 2002; Tregenza 2002). Social disadvantage persists in the northern suburbs of Geelong with Corio holding its 1999 ranking into 2003 as one of the most disadvantaged postcodes in Victoria (Vinson 2004). This has brought the area within the focus of the recently formed Department for Victorian Communities and is the subject of three community building projects: the Streetsahead Community Building Project – also operating at Whittington in East Geelong – Rosewell Best Start Program and

Norlane and Corio Neighbourhood Renewal Program (Department for Victorian Communities 2003). However, the city of Geelong itself demonstrates strong economic polarization: against these areas of disadvantage are marbled pockets of affluence that are home to a number of prestigious private schools.

Economically, the region is projected to become a ‘powerhouse’ of the state by 2015 given projected levels of economic and employment growth beyond the state average (Farago 2003). Within the region there has been employment growth of 12.5% over the past five years, a rate higher than state or national increases (Strategic Economic Solutions 2003) and this is projected to continue to 2015 (Geelong Regional Alliance n.d.). However, until recent years unemployment in the region consistently exceeded the state average (Smart Geelong Region Local Learning and Employment Network Inc 2002). Of those in work, approximately 20% travel out of the region to their employment, this percentage has doubled over the past decade (Smart Geelong Region Local Learning and Employment Network Inc 2002; Tregenza 2002). There is evidence that increasing numbers of people now also commute into the region to work (Geelong Regional Alliance n.d.), a

process that puts further pressure on opportunities for the local unemployed. Employment gains are most evident in retail, construction, property and business services, health and community services and education32 while some sectors - mining, government, manufacturing and utilities - experienced loss of employment opportunities. Given the traditional dependence on the manufacturing sector in particular, directly employing over 20% of all employees in the area in 1998 (Tregenza 2002) and deriving 41% of regional employment opportunities in 2004 (Peart 2005), these changes profoundly influenced the flavour of local employment opportunities. The major manufacturing industries in the region including Shell, Ford and Alcoa Aluminium are located in the northern suburbs and despite being faced with a skills shortage that, by March 2005 had become the centre of a major political debate (ABC Television 2005), 77% of the manufacturing jobs lost in the five years to 2001 were those that previously provided an entry point to secure work for youth (Strategic Economic Solutions 2003). This was one factor that

contributed to the unemployment rate for 15 – 19 year olds remaining at 16.8%, higher than the Victorian average (Angwin and Schulz 2004). Thus while risk is evident in the current context of SGR LLEN, it is significantly influenced by the social landscapes of young people (Ball et al. 2000). As I will now detail, this understanding of risk brings the question of lifelong learning and the establishment of the Smart Geelong Learning City into focus. My approach here is firstly to ‘unpick’ the concepts of lifelong learning and the learning society before re- weaving them in the context of SGR LLEN.

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Geelong has established a niche as an education and research centre given the high profile of independent, international and private schools and colleges operating alongside a strong state education system. It also boasts a large and well-established Technical and Further Education college, a vibrant adult and community education sector as well as the Waurn Ponds and Waterfront campuses of Deakin University. The region is ranked third in Australia for the supply of research and development (Geelong Regional Alliance n.d.). Research centres include Deakin University, Barwon Health, two research centres for the Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation and the Marine and Freshwater Resources Institute.