Paper from the PASCAL International Observatory Conference, "Making Knowledge Work: Building Sustainable Partnerships through Place Management, Social Capital and Lifelong Learning" October 2005, University of Stirling, Scotland This paper seeks to examine, and report on some practical research aimed at contributing to the idea of developing a Learning Region. It will first give a brief outline of the setting, the Gippsland region in the Australian state of Victoria. Then, an overview of the conceptual umbrella being utilised to tie together these studies and ideas will be outlined followed by a description of four separate studies each aimed at different elements of regional development, but based on learning as the uniting theme.