Former Christchurch Mayor, Sir Bob Parker will be a guest speaker at this year's Rural Councils Victoria (RCV) Rural Summit to be held in Halls Gap in April.

Mr Parker spent 22 years in local government and won wide praise for his role, leadership and work in response to not one, but two earthquakes.

Natural disasters are not a foreign concept for people of the Grampians region and Mr Parker said shared experiences will be part of his Leading Change presentation at this year's event.

"Given our experience, this is a good chance to compare notes and learnings since the earthquake," he said.

"I think one of the most important things has been for people to realise that these sorts of events don't just happen to other people.

"We had rehearsed for an adverse event, but what happened far exceeded anything broadly expected."

Up to 1200 buildings were destroyed and entire suburbs abandoned after the 6.3 magnitude quake levelled the New Zealand city on February 22, 2011.

"In 25 seconds our beautiful city was turned into a war zone, it was the biggest disaster we had ever faced with a huge number of deaths and injuries," Mr Parker said.

With so many people affected, Mr Parker said it was important to empower the community in the immediate aftermath of the disaster.

"In those initial stages a lot of people didn't have help or support on a personal level, it was about building a structure so that people had the ability to connect with help as quickly as possible," he said.

"Our community had to embrace change, they rose to that occasion and I think that is the reason why we were able to get through it."

Mr Parker has raised the prospect that councils could consider preparing a set of emergency bylaws to support their communities during times of natural disaster.

"We made changes virtually overnight to our bylaws because we had to lock down the entire central business district which affected about 50,000 jobs," he said.

"We needed a functioning economy so we adjusted the bylaws to enable and support businesses to operate in residential districts, for example."

RCV Chair, Cr Rob Gersch said Victorian councils, which regularly face natural disasters, would be keen to learn from Mr Parker.

"To have an international leader of Sir Bob's calibre and experience is really exciting and will deliver practical insights for those who attend," he said.

"The Rural Summit aims to address local government and rural community issues, and this is relevant to both."

This year's theme Standing out from the flock: is difference the key to success in rural communities? will be addressed by a range of speakers and panel sessions featuring:

Northern Grampians Shire Mayor, Cr Murray Emerson said the Shire's economy would benefit from the three day event.

"Northern Grampians Shire is privileged to host this year's Rural Summit, it is an opportunity for all local government councils to come together," he said.

"The Rural Summit encompasses 250 to 280 visitors from all fields of local government and gives us the ability to showcase the Shire including Stawell, Halls Gap and surrounding districts.

"The CEO of Northern Grampians Shire and her team should be commended for organising this wonderful summit."

The Rural Summit is an annual event of RCV, an alliance of Victoria's 38 rural councils.

It supports and promotes sustainable, liveable and prosperous rural communities, including a program of activities focused on developing practical solutions to issues shared by the state's rural councils and communities.

The Rural Summit attracts delegates from government, leaders of business and industry and economic and community development practitioners from local government.

The Rural Summit is proudly supported by Rural Councils Victoria with funding from the Victorian Government's $3.3 million Networked Rural Councils program.

This year's event will be hosted by the Northern Grampians Shire Council from April 15 to 17.