Enterprising Places & Ecosystems

01 November 2024

This Symposium will bring together industry leaders, policymakers, and academics to explore innovative strategies for attracting, retaining, and developing talent and industry through the actions of enterprising businesses. Engage in thought-provoking keynotes, and insightful panel sessions across diverse themes such as Creative and Cultural, Enterprise, Sustainable Societies, Industry Ecosystems, International Business, and Tourism and Leisure Management. Don’t miss this opportunity to network, share ideas, and drive forward the future of enterprising ecosystems.

Key Speakers

Deputy Premier Susan Close, MP

Susan Close is the Deputy Premier of South Australia and the Minister for Climate, Environment and Water; Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science; and Minister for Workforce and Population Strategy. Susan has been the Member for Port Adelaide since 2012. Before entering parliament, Susan was an executive in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and played a key role in the establishment of the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary as a community advocate. She previously worked at the University of Adelaide managing student services and holds a PhD from Flinders University.

Visiting Research Fellowship Professor David Audretsch
Distinguished Professor | Indiana University Director | Institute for Development Strategies Professor | University Klagenfurt

Distinguished Professor David Audretsch is Ameritech Chair of Economic Development at Indiana University, and Director of the Institute for Development Strategies. His research links entrepreneurship, government policy, innovation, economic development, and global competitiveness. He is coauthor of The Seven Secrets of Germany published by Oxford University Press. In the 2024 world rankings he was lauded as the leading living scholar for business and management and the sixth leading living scholar for economics and finance.

Supported under the Seeley International Visiting Research Fellowship scheme

Professor Roy Green
Professor | University of Technology Sydney Former Dean | UTS Business School

Joining us from the University of Technology Sydney is Professor Roy Green. Roy is Special Innovation Advisor and former Dean of the UTS Business School. He has pursued a career in universities, government and industry, and has published widely on innovation and industrial policy, including with the OECD and European Commission. Currently, Roy chairs the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Hub and Port of Newcastle, and he is a board member of CSIRO and SmartSat CRC.

Dr Antje Fiedler
Business Scholar | University of Auckland

Dr Antje Fiedler is a Senior Lecturer in Management at the University of Auckland Business School, specializing in entrepreneurship and International Business. She is also the Associate Director of the New Zealand Asia Institute (NZAI), and Director of the Board of the Small Enterprise Association of Australia and New Zealand (SEAANZ). Her research interests center around how Western SMEs can productively engage with Asia. Her research has informed practitioner workshops around New Zealand.

Jodie Van Deventer
Business Leader | Branding | Journalist

Jodie van Deventer is the national Chief Operating Officer of Australia’s peak industry organisation, Australian Industry Group. Ai Group represents the interests of more than 60,000 businesses employing more than 1 million staff from traditional, innovative and emerging industry sectors. Jodie joined Ai Group in 2021 as its Head of South Australia.

Prior to this, she was the Chief Executive Officer of the Committee for Adelaide, ran a successful branding and communications xa, held senior executive roles in Government and private industry and was a journalist for the BBC in the UK.

Dino Vrynios
Architect | Founder | Managing Director | Advocate

Dino has spent the last 16 years leading projects and teams across large and small architectural practice in South Australia and around the country.⁠ As a fierce advocate within his community, Dino has committed across his career charity and activism that has propelled him to being a trusted leader within South Australia, and to his beloved Das teammates. His acknowledgement being awarded the National Emerging Architect Prize by the Australian Institute of Architects in 2021 is testimony to that.

Dr Ariella Helfgott
Director | Strategic Foresight | Engineer | Scholar | Systems Thinker

With over 20 years of experience, Ariella has worked across 26 countries, guiding governments, industries, and communities through complex, multiactor processes to create sustainable, equitable, and resilient futures. Her previous roles include Director of Scenarios with the World Energy Council, member of the Shell Scenario Team, Senior Fellow at Oxford, Utrecht, Wageningen, and Adelaide Universities, and Strategic Analyst with the Australian Department of Defence. Ariella’s foresight work is deeply rooted in her belief that the future belongs to everyone.

Kirrakee Watson
Architect | PhD Candidate | Integrating Aboriginal knowledge

Kirrakee Watson is a Tanganekald, Meintangk, Bungandidj woman from the Southeast. She holds a master’s degree in architecture and has several years of experience working in the architectural industry and gained extensive experience in aboriginal community housing, and other large scale commercial buildings. Currently, Kirrakee serves as an Academic Developer where her primary focus is on integrating Aboriginal knowledge and decolonising the curriculum across various university programs.

Kirrakee is pursuing a PhD exploring the intricate connections between architecture, colonial placemaking, and the relationship of Aboriginal communities with their ancestral lands.

Ben Fee
Regional Leader | CEO | PhD Candidate | Ecologist

Ben has been Chief Executive of RDAMR since October 2019, leading the organisation and supporting the region through some of the most complex and challenging times including COVID-19 and the 2022-23 River Murray Flood Event. Ben evolves his systems approach to regional development, influenced by thinkers like Kate Raworth and Donella Meadows. and through experience gained from consultancy in the foodenergy- water nexus, ecological training and field work, economics research, and roles as a senior government science advisor and manager of major programs.

Download Flyer