SDN 2025 Annual Workshop Guthega NSW January

You are invited to an SDN workshop - no hierarchy and no fixed agenda (we create our own).
The Social Developers Network is an association of people interested in the challenges of our time, keen to share knowledge, experiences and concerns. Be part of the effective small group experience that SDN offers - conviviality and mutual support guaranteed!
 
SDN acknowledges the traditional custodians of the country we meet on and pay respects to their elders past and present.

Tiobunga Lodge, Guthega, Snowy Mountains, 15 to 20 Jan 2025

Tiobunga Lodge Guthega

The venue: Tiobunga Lodge Guthega

The workshop provides a forum for big and small ideas, our stories and personal growth. Bring your contributions and share your concerns, from the personal to the political, the local to the global, and become part of a dynamic agenda. Feel empowered to be a more effective catalyst for social change through this unique learning and sharing experience.

Register and Pay Deposit
Details on Workshop Page

SDN is a network of people interested in the challenges of our time and keen to share knowledge, experiences and concerns. Our workshops are about personal, social and community development, and give everyone the chance to have their say. There is no fixed agenda (we create our own), no hierarchy, and no experts (we all are). Whoever comes is meant to be there!
 
Participants have the opportunity (but no pressure) to present to the group during their own session about any issue of importance from global to local, personal to political – in a trusting and supportive atmosphere. Over four days of convivial in-depth conversations and stimulating discussion SDN workshops provide a forum for big and small ideas, our life stories and personal growth. It’s a chance to share thoughts on creating a good life, share concerns and problems, our journeys to interesting places, insights and personal stories, where we’re at in life right now.
 
The exchanges made possible at SDN workshops are invaluable and set us up better equipped and more empowered for moving forward.

Reflections on the Social Developers’ Network (SDN) Its Origins, Ethos and Purpose

A Paper by Michael Maher, NED Business Manager

In this article, we delve into the life and philosophy of Dr. Ned Iceton, the visionary founder of SDN who dedicated himself to fostering genuine human connections and personal development. His diverse experiences—from working with remote Aboriginal communities in Australia to studying community programs across South Asia—shaped his belief in the importance of self-agency and authentic relationships.

We explore the bureaucratic challenges he faced, particularly his opposition to top-down approaches that neglected the voices of the people they aimed to serve. These struggles inspired him to create the SDN Workshops in 1975, collaborative gatherings that encourage deep discussions without hierarchical structures.

By rekindling authentic human interaction, these workshops address the existential crisis of identity in modern society, nurturing profound connections and helping participants transcend societal masks.

[Read the full paper]

SDN Workshop Johns River 2024

Aboriginal Mens Workshop Group

Gary Williams, Harry Brandy, Harry Creamer, John Heath, John Kelly and Shane Drumgold, Falls Forest Retreat, September 2024

Aboriginal Men Tea Break

Time for morning tea – John, Gary, Harry, John and Shane

SDN 2024 Aboriginal Men’s Workshop Falls Forest Retreat NSW

A workshop was held in late September involving Aboriginal men from the mid north coast and Canberra. The venue was the Falls Forest Retreat between Port Macquarie and Taree in a beautiful valley between South Brother and Middle Brother Mountains on Birrpai country.

Recognising that I am not an Indigenous man, the workshop needed a co-host. Independent Birrpai Goori man, John Heath agreed to take this role and help recruit men to the workshop. From my years as an anthropologist and recent efforts at repatriating my archives to Aboriginal people and communities, I was also able to invite men I knew.

Others present were activist, actor and language man Gary Williams, Vietnam veteran and hostels manager Harry Brandy, Shane Drumgold who until recently was the ACT DPP, and John Kelly, one of Ray ‘Shunk’ Kelly’s sons. I worked with Ray on the NSW Sites Survey from 1973-1987 and gave a presentation showing sites we recorded and the old people we worked with.

Other topics included culture & country, discovering Indigenous identity, forced adoptions, family trauma, problems with some claims to Aboriginality, Australian racism, and various achievements relating to each participant.

This was the first Aboriginal men’s workshop to be held under the SDN banner for 50 years. NED Foundation founder Ned Iceton held workshops with Aboriginal men after he arrived in Armidale in the early 1970s. There was a feeling that another workshop like this should be offered sometime soon.

Harry Creamer, SDN Coordinator

SDN 2024 Annual Workshop Don Bosco Vic

This year’s annual Social Developers Network workshop was held at the Don Bosco Retreat, Lysterfield east of Melbourne. It’s an ideal venue – accommodation on site, large meeting room, well-equipped kitchen and spacious dining room, set in delightful pastoral surrounds of paddocks, giant gum trees and granite rocks.

There were eleven participants - six men and five women. Seven had attended an SDN workshop before, but this was their first experience for four others. We came from Melbourne, Adelaide, Newcastle and Deniliquin and quickly formed a family of friends, sharing our thoughts, emotions, hopes and fears, in an atmosphere of trust and support.

As SDN grows there will be more workshops like this one. Don’t miss the next!

SDN 2024 annual workshop group photo

SDN workshop group. From left top row – David ‘Sal’ Salomon, David Crew, Allen Edwards, Sarah Houseman, Lesley Shuttleworth, Lisa Moore, Richard de Martin, Rosaria Palmese. Sitting: Noel Holmes, John Russell, Heather Lawrence.

The range of topics covered in presentations was outstanding:
  • Restorative practice working with young people.
  • ‘Ears of the Heart’ project involving Kimberly elder Kankawa Nagarra.
  • Post Voice Referendum stories.
  • The Colebrook home in South Australia where Aboriginal children were taken, a Reconciliation group and creating a memorial garden.
  • Introducing the ‘Detoxing Deniliquin’ workshops.
  • The mythical Hero’s Journey as it applies to our own lives.
  • Concepts of change when seeking to intervene in contemporary predicaments or accept as beyond our current scope.

We also held a grief and sorry business campfire, an art therapy mini-workshop and deep listening exercises that brought people closer together.

The Social Developers’ Network Podcast

Social Developers’ Network Podcast Logo

We're excited to have you join our community, where individual progress and community development stand side by side.
Join the Social Developers' Network Podcast Community

The podcast where personal and social development converge in pursuit of a better world. We are a non-profit, free association of individuals committed to fostering positive change and growth.

In our initial episodes, we have the privilege of sitting down with people who have played integral roles in the SDN. They are a diverse collection of professionals in NGOs, community organisations, public service and private practice. Through national and regional workshops, we come together to share knowledge our experiences, develop and refine our practices and recharge our energy.

We are making these podcasts available via this site. Click through to listen.

The first 5 episodes are with Joan McCarthy, Mark Spain, Lesley Shuttleworth, Noel Holmes, and Harry Creamer.

SDN 2023 Regional Workshop Riverdell SA

A regional SDN workshop was held at the Riverdell Spiritual Centre north of Adelaide from 12/9 to 15/9. The facility was very suitable for an SDN workshop and staff were helpful, friendly, flexible, and generous. Nature abounds at Riverdell, surrounded by a rapidly-developing area. Their website is https://riverdell.org.au/

A total of 14 people attended the workshop, with 62% coming from South Australia and a gender distribution of 57% men and 43% women. A fascinating variety of presentations was on offer, for example - Convivial conversations, Beautiful questions/trouble, Would I lie to you?, How to improve the world, and Shaking medicine.

Stay tuned for the 2024 annual SDN workshop in the Dandenong Ranges east of Melbourne from 15-19 January.

Harry Creamer
SDN Coordinator

Group photo at SDN Workshop SDN Workshop Riverdell Sep 2023

Group photo at SDN Workshop SDN Workshop Riverdell Sep 2023

  • I appreciated the attention to detail throughout the prep stages and then in our gathered collaboration.
  • I have great memories from that workshop week! Thank you to all the organisers, and looking forward to attending another workshop one day!
  • Thank you for the opportunity you gave me via your presence to truly understand what it means to be with ‘kindred spirits’, and what shared humanity feels like!
  • It was my very first SDN workshop, so I was unsure how things would unfold. Hooray!! It turned out to be a truly memorable experience. I loved the opportunity to participate in the adventure of people presenting something, and that workshop participants were open-minded, authentic and kind.

Workshop Images

Group dinner photo at SDN Workshop SDN Workshop Riverdell Sep 2023

Group dinner photo at SDN Workshop SDN Workshop Riverdell Sep 2023

Morning tea photo at SDN Workshop SDN Workshop Riverdell Sep 2023

Morning tea at SDN Workshop SDN Workshop Riverdell Sep 2023

Night fire photo at SDN Workshop SDN Workshop Riverdell Sep 2023

Night fire at SDN Workshop SDN Workshop Riverdell Sep 2023

Session photo at SDN Workshop SDN Workshop Riverdell Sep 2023

Session at SDN Workshop SDN Workshop Riverdell Sep 2023

SDN Collaborative Group: Expressions of Interest

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Expressions of Interest are invited for participation in the new SDN Collaborative Group. This will provide ideas and support for the SDN program and SDN Coordinator. We are aiming for between 5 and 7 people (including the Coordinator). It is envisioned that the Group will reflect a balance based on gender, ethnicity, and the city-country divide.

Members can decide how much time they spend, when they wish to end their work, etc. The Group will have an action-orientation - ideas backed by a commitment to action – with the potential for capacity-building for members of the Group. An essential criteria is previous attendance at an SDN workshop.

PDF icon Download the PDF file for more details.

SDN Newsletter May 2023

Participants at the 2023 SDN Workshop

The Social Developers Network is entering a new phase. The challenge is how to broaden the appeal of SDN to attract a more diverse range of people, and how to grow the SDN offering while maintaining its core values.

The May 2023 Social Developers' Network Newsletter is attached for download.

PDF icon SDN Newsletter May 2023

Role and Objects of the Social Developers’ Network (SDN)

The SDN is a non-profit unincorporated association whose primary task is the support and training for citizens engaged in constructive volunteer initiatives beneficial to the community. The SDN is a support platform only, and does itself not engage in any kind of active lobbying, projects, or public policy initiatives. The SDN does not hold any political agenda, and welcomes people from all political, racial, and social identities. The SDN is predominately a receptive space for those engaged in community initiatives to come together to discuss, reflect, learn and rejuvenate through a uniquely designed process of interaction. Read More

SDN 2023 Annual Workshop Armidale NSW

SDN 2022 Annual Workshop Bungendore NSW

What is Social Development?

Adventure

Social Development is the Intersection between Community Development and Personal Development.

Many citizens in Australia and elsewhere give generously of their time and energy to contribute to the wellbeing of the local community and the wider society. Some seek a group where ideas and plans can be discussed in an open way, and where constructive feedback and support can be provided.

The Social Developers' Network

SDN Logo

The Social Developers' Network (SDN) is a non-profit, free association of people with a commitment to personal and social development.

Social Developers meet at national and regional workshops, to contribute and share knowledge and experiences.

Our purpose is to be creative and action-oriented: we constantly seek explanations which emerge from action in the world. We are equally interested both in individual people and in the wider social and ecological systems on which our collective wellbeing depends.

What are SDN Workshops?

Image of arms forming a circle

SDN Workshops are real and relevant, on a personal and social level, for those engaging actively and sincerely in the issues of our times.

The vital and central component of SDN membership is participation in recurrent workshops. Participants each discuss a wide range of self-chosen topics, covering everything from personal, through philosophical, professional, operational and practical issues.