By Lauren Ferrone
It’s easy to take the beautiful things in life for granted, especially if it’s all you’ve known.
That’s why Regional Development Australia (RDA) Barossa recruited UK “outsider” Chris Sands to show “insiders” (those already living in the region) the things which may subconsciously go unnoticed about the beautiful Barossa Valley.
Together RDA Barossa and Chris created the Extraordinary Everyday Barossa project late last year.
The project, which won an Economic Development Australia national award in the marketing and promotions category earlier this month, came when Chris first saw a kangaroo bouncing alongside the car when he was recently in South Australia.
While Chris was excited, his Aussie friends looked on bemused. It was a case of ‘someone’s everyday, is someone else’s extraordinary’.
Together RDA Barossa and Chris Sands created Extraordinary Everyday Barossa late last year to
Craig Grocke, RDA Barossa’s project manager, says the project is a way to “understand what makes our region tick”.
“Our aim is to explore what local people experience as their everyday, but for others, especially visitors outside the region, is something quite extraordinary,” Craig says.
RDA Barossa’s role was to coordinate and deliver the project in partnership with Chris over two weeks while he was visiting from the UK.
On a bike lent to him by RDA Barossa’s Craig Grocke (pictured), Chris Sands interviewed a range of people from the Barossa for the Extraordinary Everyday Barossa project
The project includes a series of sound slide stories and podcasts promoted on Youtube, websites and social media.
Stories cover food, wine, culture, horticulture, tourism and artisan trades to encourage people to consider the region as a place to live, set up a business, or a place to invest.
On a bike lent to him by Craig, Chris interviewed people who arrived in Australia by boat with nothing, and have now created huge family businesses and are major contributors of the community. Some of these people include longstanding Barossan wine royalty to bakers, car collectors, coffee roasters to plumbers.
Another Extraordinary Everyday Barossa story is Carmel’s (video below), who talks about her life at the Barossa Farmer’s Market, and how her strong sense of place and resourcefulness has driven her passion for developing artisan curries.
“We want people to move here or invest here. We also wanted to identify ‘what makes a place’ and how it can appeal to new residents, those investing in the region, or even if it means giving locals the chance to reflect on what they have already,” Craig says.
“We see potential for more stories for the Adelaide Plains, giving them a chance to be part of community pride in terms of wellbeing and the economics of a place… we just have to help people reflect on what they have,” he adds.
Watch more Extraordinary Everyday Barossa stories here.
Extraordinary Everyday Barossa is an ongoing project and will form part of an exhibition at Barossa Vintage Festival in April next year.
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