Sparks series 2026

Join staff, industry and community alongside this month's speaker Lauren Ballantyne, Manager of Allied Health Education and Clinical Placements, Bendigo Health, who will spark conversations around the topic:

Interprofessional Education and Practice: Collaboration or Coexistence? Beyond the silos, breaking boundaries to build better care for regional and rural communities.

SPARKS is a monthly networking event designed to bring together researchers, industry professionals, students and community partners who are interested in innovation in rural and regional health.

Each session creates space to:

• connect with people working on real-world challenges
• explore collaboration opportunities
• hear about emerging research and industry needs

Co-hosted by the La Trobe Rural Health Innovation Lab and La Trobe University Bendigo Campus, SPARKS offers a relaxed and welcoming environment to meet both existing collaborators and new connections — over a drink and afternoon tea.

With every edition, SPARKS aims to ignite fresh thinking, practical partnerships and creative solutions for regional communities.

📍 When: First Wednesday of every month
📍 Where: La Trobe Bendigo Campus – Engineering and Technology Building, Level 3
🚗 Plenty of free parking available on site

Whether you’re working in health, education, technology, business or research — or just curious about what’s happening locally — SPARKS is for you.

👉 Stay connected between events by joining our LinkedIn group:
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14432508/

We’d love to see you there.