More than 200 delegates converged on Maffra for the annual summit, the first to be held in the Gippsland region.

Delegates came from across Victoria to discuss issues important to small towns across the state, with the theme "Face the Future'' the focus of the summit.

Rural Councils Victoria chairman Cr Rob Gersch said the aim of the summit was to generate discussion on how small towns could survive economically and stimulate debate about a broad range of issues facing small towns.

"With continuing dryness ... a change of climate and a financial crisis in our midst small towns are facing a tough future,'' Cr Gersch told the delegates at the conference.

"It's crucial we recognise the future will be different and tackle the issues we've been working on (in previous summits) over the last four years.''

Regional and Rural Development Minister Jacinta Allan also attended the opening of the forum and told delegates small towns had a strong future.

She said tough times and tragedies such as the Black Saturday bushfires highlighted the resilience of small town communities.

Ms Allan also used the summit as a platform to announce the findings of a survey of people who had relocated from metropolitan and regional centres to small towns in Victoria.

The findings showed people loved the lifestyle and natural beauty of small towns and Ms Allan said communities needed to capitalise on that.

"There has never been a better time to let people in Victoria know that you are there and you are ready to welcome them,'' she told the conference.

Wellington Shire mayor Darren McCubbin said the council was pleased to have Maffra as the centre of attention for the conference.

"It certainly gives us an opportunity to showcase the region to the rest of Victoria ... and we hope we can encourage people to relocate to our region,'' he said.

Retaining youth in small towns and the effects of a carbon pollution reduction scheme were of particular interest to Cr McCubbin.