GAP 2022 Review
When I consider 2022, I am reminded of a well-known saying attributed to the Greek philosopher Heraclitus: “Change is the only constant in life”.Moving between home and company offices, international travel back on the schedule and a global perspective on our business has resulted in constant movement and progress for our team at Global Access Partners.Consolidating our global alliances through meaningful and impactful partnerships, whether that be with the OECD, Nobel Prize Outreach, or through our work across the Pacific Islands, has been our focus this year.As 2022 comes to a close, we are celebrating our new partnership with Nobel Prize Outreach to host a dialogue series titled “The Future of Decision Making”. This is the first time in Nobel’s 120-year history they have held the Nobel Prize Dialogue in Australia and we are thrilled to be working together to bring this opportunity to Sydney.With help from the GAP network, we intend to develop a series of dialogues and taskforces, facilitated using our Second Track process, that will convene some of the world’s best thinkers around how decisions are made now and into the future.Over the coming few months, we will reach out to potential partners to join us on this journey. Please contact me if you are interested in becoming a Partner.Shared Identity was the theme of this year’s GAP Summit, and with 120 participants, all with a speaking role, we heard from representatives from 18 countries about how they believe we can bridge the divide that currently sits between the nations of our region.The International Centre for Democratic Partnerships (ICDP) has just acquired DGR status for its ICDP Foundation. This is particularly significant for our partners who will have an opportunity to support local Pacific initiatives through the Foundation. It was a hard-won achievement, and thanks goes to all in the team who made it happen.I’m particularly proud of our work in early childhood education (ECE) this year. ECE has finally found its place on the political agenda and was one of the keystones of this year’s election campaign.On 9 December, the Fritz Family Foundation celebrated the 100th playgroup session at the Mittagong Community Playgroup it supports. Offering free, facilitated playgroup sessions for all local families has brought joy and delivered the benefits of top-quality early years learning to the many children who attend. Developing pathways for these families to easily access local ECE and support services is part of our future strategy.In addition to this, GAP’s taskforce and committee work continued our Journal of Behavioural Economics and Social Systems (BESS), which is about to release its 5th edition.
Negotiations are ongoing with the states on the establishment of the National Resilience Institute.
Our Standing Committee on Productive Ageing will celebrate its 10th anniversary next year and the National Standing Committee on Energy, the Environment and Agriculture continues to advocate for better climate policies.
Our Standing Committee on Health has been advising government on aged care reforms and the GAP Taskforce on Positive Leadership is developing a framework for a positive national narrative and an evidence-based national wellbeing metric.
We have also commenced new projects on town regulations, women in public office, and ESG compliance for small business, and credentialled courses in National Park walking track maintenance.I look forward to working with the exceptional team at GAP and its network of leaders, thinkers, doers and contributors as we have done for 25 years.
Catherine Fritz-Kalish is the co-founder and Managing Director of Global Access Partners (GAP) and Director of the International Centre for Democratic Partnerships (ICDP) and ICDP Foundation. She also holds Board positions for a number of not-for-profit organisations.
