A space in between : a case study of the Mareeba community response group

Abstract

This paper is an account of the creation of 'a space-in-between' - a multi-party collaboration known as the Mareeba-Dimbulah Irrigation Area (MDIA) Community Response Group (CRG) in Far North Queensland. The CRG consisted of multiple communities of practice that coincided to generate new meaning amidst global (dis)order in the local context. The paper briefly describes the history of restructuring in the MDIA and the emergent model of organising for local development used by the CRG.

The CRG has become a working model of a collaborative space that enables the blend of old and new, the sharing of information, the identification of the possibilities for common ground and innovation, and the organising of local economic and social entrepreneurs. In this account the emphasis shifts from the instrumental perspective on participants, planning processes and strategies of organisation to the transformational perspective that engages with the essence of organising for community wellbeing.