Welcome to this edition of the combined NED Foundation / Social Developers Network newsletter. The SDN is an important part of NED, and there are also three other major programs supported by the Foundation – Restorative Practice, Transitions, and Projects/Funding. Careful financial management of Ned Iceton’s initial legacy is continuing to fund these programs and deliver results.
The annual Social Developers Network retreat was held at the Uralla Community Centre in northern NSW. There were sixteen participants – eight men and eight women. Nine had attended an annual retreat, but this was the first experience for seven, including two younger people. We came from Port Macquarie, Bonny Hills, Macksville, Armidale, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, and the northern NSW border/QLD.
We no longer use ‘workshop’ when talking about Social Developers Network meetings, preferring to call them ‘retreats’. Those who saw the recent email invitation to the SDN Retreat in January 2026 may have noticed this, and based on experience, this is a good way to describe them.
In this newsletter: Retreat with us in January | South Australia Network news | PostcardsAdelaide – small stories of connection | Just Transitions – How to create systems change and a new economy | Getting rid of fossil fuels is really hard | Australia reMADE | Resilience | and an Email from John Russell.
Incredible facts are becoming more common and I recently learnt that the Cambridge Dictionary has listed 6212 new words, phrases and meanings in the past year alone. Even if ‘retreat’ is not one of them, its use has changed over time, now referring not only to a spiritual but also to a secular gathering.
Ned Iceton died on 30 June 2015 in Armidale hospital after a brief illness, at age 85. So ended a wonderful life as the contributions in this special anniversary edition of the NED SDN newsletter show.
Many people continue to benefit from Ned’s legacy – the Board and part-time staff of the NED Foundation, the many people who have received grants from his philanthropic funding, everyone who attends SDN and restorative practice workshops, and those working with us on the transitions project.
For those who prefer to download this newsletter, a PDF is attached.
Welcome to another Social Developers Network newsletter, which now includes some news from the NED Foundation.
The SDN is an integral part of the NED Foundation, which has four program areas, each with a Coordinator. They are the SDN, Projects, Restorative Practice, and Transitions. Reports from three Coordinators appear in this edition as well as short articles on key events plus other items and photos of interest.
This year’s annual workshop was held in January at the Tiobunga Ski Lodge at Guthega in the Snowy Mountains of NSW. It’s a striking place and an excellent venue for an SDN workshop. There were fourteen participants - six men and eight women. See the report and photos.
Welcome to the latest Social Developers Network newsletter.
In this edition we report on two workshops and the recent NED Foundation retreat, explain what ‘NED’ is, introduce the new Restorative Practice Coordinator and hear from our Projects Coordinator. I’m a firm believer in the adage that a picture tells a thousand words so please, at least enjoy the photos!
This year’s SDN workshop was held at the Don Bosco Retreat, Lysterfield east of Melbourne. This is an excellent 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.
Welcome to the 11th edition of the Social Developers Network newsletter, produced in this form since 2017.
In this edition: The Adelaide workshop in September 2023, SDN goes conferencing, the Ears of the Heart retreat, Restorative practice (RP) workshop, NED Projects and more.
Long before the new kids on the block got to it, Ned Iceton was producing his own newsletter, as this scan from an original 1979 edition shows:
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.
The SDN belongs to you – without you there is no SDN.
Wishing you all a happy spring – in the air and in your step!
The August 2022 Social Developers' Network Newsletter is attached for download.
Welcome to the December 2021 edition of the Social Developers Network newsletter.
In this edition: Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, The April 2021 Annual SDN Workshop at Armidale, A survey of all 482 SDN members, Hydrogen for beginners by Andrew Gunner, 40 Critical Thinkers for Community Development and more.
How’s life? Such a big question in so few words. Each of us will answer in different ways at different times in our life, but always most likely a mix of gains and losses. For me, the gains still outweigh the losses and I hope it’s the same for you.
The SDN belongs to you – without you there is no SDN. And email newsletters are now back in vogue according to a recent episode of ABC RN’s Download This Show, so what are we waiting for?!
The February 2021 Social Developers' Network Newsletter is attached for download.
The April 2020 Social Developers' Network Newsletter is attached for download.
This issue includes - Invitations to share our ideas, and to join an SDN Zoom meeting; and quite a few articles. All in all a Bumper Issue.
