About the Agora Think Tank

The Agora was the heart of ancient Athens, the focus of political, commercial, administrative and social activity; the market place, the religious and cultural centre and the seat of justice; encouraging debate, discussion and critical thinking. It was an inclusive space that valued the contributions of all to create a strong vibrant community, a dynamic place that fostered new ways of thinking and being responsive to the environment.

Introduction

In April 2004 Melbourne Citymission hosted over 100 leaders from the Government, Business and Not for Profit sectors at an Agora, a conference based on the vision that:

Building inclusive communities is not somebody’s job: it’s everybody’s.

The Agora 01 Conference 2004 was created with a particular focus on the 2.5 million Australians who are being left behind in a society of wealth and economic strength. This conference explored the issue of how, working together, the Government, Business and Not for Profit sectors can build a more inclusive and egalitarian Australia.

Vision

The Agora Think Tank brings together the Not-for-Profit, Business and Government sectors to work in partnership to find in new and different ways to address issues of disadvantage. To give a focus to the Agora's work, initial attention is given to increasing the economic participation of socially disadvantaged young people and their families through workforce engagement. Click here to download Agora' s charter.

How Agora Works

Through forums and conferences Agora achieves its goal of finding fresh and innovative ways to address issues of disadvantage. Agora forums and conferences provide participants a place to explore existing and successful cross-sector partnerships; appreciate how cross-sector partnerships can deliver tangible, workable and actionable corporate social responsibility; and grasp practical lessons for generating new partnerships. Forums are half-day around the themes of crime prevention, asset building, education and training and community infrastructure. Each theme has a dedicated cross sector working and resource group that produces a research paper, which incorporates interviews with at least five local case study projects and some international case studies.
The purpose of forums are to:

  • engage the leaders of cross sector partnerships in dialogue around a particular theme
  • provide a place to share knowledge, expertise and experience; and  
  • supplement the literature reviews and case study interviews conducted by Agora researchers

The knowledge and data gained from the forums will be pooled by the Agora common Themes working group and formulated into a paper that will focus the discussion at the Agora 02 conference.

Conferences are held over the course of one day and involve senior business managers, departmental heads and their managers, not for profit executives and their managers. Activities include parallel sessions, chaired plenaries, personalised stories of young beneficiaries and their advocates as well as creative components.

Agora does not:

  • replicate traditional models of partnerships
  • have volunteers
  • involve philanthropy

The Purpose of the Agora is:

  • to record and share cutting edge knowledge, expertise and techniques for working in cross sector partnerships that can inform future developments and generations
  • to highlight emerging innovations
  • to outline how a preventative approach to social issues can be established
  • to identify the preconditions for a constructive working relationship between government, businesses and community sectors
  • to provide answers on how successful approaches can be improved upon and scaled up to reach as many people as possible

The Agora Think Tank has hosted a series of forums during 2006, leading to a conference in 2007 where information can be tested and debated and reported back to John Thwaites MP, Minister for Victorian Communities.

Downloads

pdfIntroduction to the Agora Think Tank (100Kb)
pdfAgora Think Tank Charter (267Kb)