🌱 Sustainathon Challenge 2025: Innovation in Action! ♻️ Last week, the Hume Tech School, in collaboration with Whittlesea Tech School, City of Whittlesea, Hume City Council, and the Hume Whittlesea Local Learning and Employment Network (HWLLEN), proudly hosted our annual Sustainathon Challenge. Over two dynamic days, students from across the Hume and Whittlesea LGAs — including Edgars Creek Secondary College, Plenty River College, Hume Central Secondary College, EPPING SECONDARY COLLEGE, and LALOR SECONDARY COLLEGE — came together to tackle real-world waste challenges presented by local industry and community organisations. With support from partners such as Melbourne Polytechnic, City of Whittlesea, Eriez-Australia, DFO Uni Hill, Repurpose It, Kangan Institute, Hume City Council, Banksia Gardens Community Services, Whittlesea Community Connections, CSL, and La Trobe University, students collaborated, innovated, and pitched their solutions back to industry. 💡 The creativity, critical thinking, and teamwork on display were nothing short of inspiring. Our industry and community partners were blown away by the students’ ideas and passion for sustainability. A huge thank you to all our participants, educators, mentors, and partners who made this program such a success. Together, we’re empowering the next generation of changemakers to shape a more sustainable future. #Sustainathon2025 #STEMeducation #FutureSkills #HumeTechSchool #WhittleseaTechSchool #Sustainability #IndustryPartnerships #StudentVoice #STEMcareers #DesignThinking

How do you design an event where people don’t just show up — they lean in? For the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Climate-Resilient Animal Fund (RECAF) Inception Workshop, we collaborated to co-create an inclusive, multilingual, and interactive experience that sparked connection across the world, leveraged the community's creativity, and fostered collaboration from day one. The result? Clearer priorities, stronger peer learning, and real momentum for what comes next. “The engagement across these two days was outstanding thanks to the expert facilitation from the Inclusive Innovation team, participants were transported from the usual virtual event space to something that felt truly collaborative and meaningful.” - RECAF Organiser Read the case study here: https://lnkd.in/eJQ-Hejr If you're looking at making your next workshop or program launch stand out, let’s talk. #facilitation #collaboration #inclusion #climate #workshops

We are delighted to have secured funding from the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority for four new University-led projects. Funding from the Business Innovation Fund will enable the delivery of cluster mobilisation projects in both the creative industries and the bioeconomy sector. The approval of a Vibrant and Sustainable High Street Fund grant marks the launch of Walmgate Reframed, which aims to improve Walmgate’s experiential offer, boost resilience and encourage footfall. Thanks to a Skills Innovation Fund grant, XR Stories will deliver innovative technology skills training to creative practitioners in the region via the ‘Extending XR’ project. These funding approvals provide a real boost to the regional economy. #SolvedWithYork

Last week we were thrilled to share that our Research Ireland funded Discover Project- "STEAM Powered Action for Sustainable Futures", also known as Blocks4Change project- completed Phase 1 of our engagement activities 🎉 This project is bringing STEAM learning into communities across Kerry, using creative tools like LEGO® Serious Play® to help people explore sustainability challenges and co-design real-world solutions. 🌱 During Phase 1 of the project we surveyed over 1,000 community members in Kerry and uncovered insights into how people perceive STEAM and sustainability 🌍 Over the coming months, we’ll be running 10 workshops across the county — empowering local voices and ideas to shape a more sustainable future together. 💪 The results of both phases will be brought together in a STEAM Strategies Booklet, which will be shared with communities later this year 🙌 👉 Learn more: https://lnkd.in/ea5Pjh4q Joseph Walsh Sarah Flaherty HDip, MSc Michael Noctor Helena McMahon Sean McSweeney Munster Technological University MTU Faculty of Engineering Sarah Kearney Agaba Hiswill Shane Kelleher REEdI@MTU Fanchea Moloney Hans Moolman Cathal Geary PhD Padraig Kelly Katherine (Murphy) O'Sullivan Sean O Connor AgriTech Ireland IMaR Technology Gateway Daniel Riordan #STEAM #Sustainability #Innovation #CommunityEngagement #Blocks4Change #MTU #ResearchIreland

Exciting News! The Office of Social Innovation has officially evolved into the Social Impact Lab, a name that better reflects the transformative work our team is doing in communities across Queensland. Did you know that social innovation is embedded in over 92% of CQUniversity courses? The Lab is now a vibrant hub where innovation pedagogy meets real-world impact, supporting and collaborating with students, staff (teaching and research) and communities to co-create solutions that matter. One example: "Co-designing Confidence: Careers in Health for All" is a new initiative supported by the Queensland Government’s Growing Workforce Participation Fund. This collaborative project brings together neurodivergent nursing students, academics, healthcare providers, support services, and the Social Impact Lab to build inclusive employment pathways and supports in the health sector. There have been so many amazing colleagues who have worked with us at the Office of Social Innovation - and I know how pleased they will be to see this latest iteration! Lara Carton Dr Tobias Andreasson Ashley Clarke Francois Gallais Sara Brown Mary Bolling Olav Muurlink Ruby Smith Robin Dick Dr Linda De George-Walker Dr Yannick van Hierden Gayle Evans

What is the Collective Imagination Practice Community (CIPC)? The CIPC — funded by Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) and Arising Quo (arisingquo.com) - began as part of Cassie Robinson’s 'Imagination Infrastructuring' at JRF in 2022. Stewarded by Huddlecraft and Canopy - A Social Imagination Project, the community is a global, diverse network of 1000+ people, exploring alternative futures and shaping systems that prioritise joy, hope, and freedom to dream. The CIPC is founded on the belief that relationality is central to systems change. We are deeply interconnected with other humans, plants, animals, and the more-than-human world, and our ways of learning and being must reflect that. An ecosystem mindset of learning and collaborating is key to generating the waves of transition needed to tackle today’s polycrisis. Growing the capacity to imagine is like flexing a muscle. Our community is focused on expanding these practices, so more people can experiment, learn, and grow this skill in diverse contexts — what we call "growing the field” of collective imagination. Over the past three years, we’ve been: 💸 Micro-funding collective imagination projects via our Practice Fund 🕸️ Creating shared spaces for learning and application, such as Huddles and Seed Swaps 📚 Facilitating collective sense-making, using our Medium blog and the Seed Library to harvest and curate learning and reflections Our Seed Library contains a growing number of collective imagination practices and projects, gathered by CIPC practitioners. Explore, be inspired and apply the practices to your context: https://shorturl.at/b8Tmn 

Social impact has always been at the heart of CQUniversity. Now, it’s the new name of CQU’s changemaker team: introducing the Social Impact Lab! Formerly the Office of Social Innovation, this big-impact team works across CQU and with the community, to tackle systemic problems for people, planet and society. Their long-running impact has helped make us Australia's first and only social enterprise university, certified by Social Traders In 2025, the Social Impact Lab has already worked with Queensland Social Enterprise Council, ArcBlue, Smart Precinct NQ, Life Skills Queensland, Ability Enterprises, Fruit2WorkAus, IMPACT Community Services Bundaberg and many more. Connect with the Social Impact Lab to make change for good! LEARN MORE: https://ow.ly/NZiW50X8Uns

Strong engagement on this topic from #UNGA80 where we shared four different approaches to partnership in this changed ecosystem. As a field catalyst who has supported 27+ local NGOs *and* delivered direct services ourselves, our team at TeachUNITED understands the power of partnerships within systems. Our discussion explored: 1) Moving from replication to amplification, embedding proven approaches into existing systems rather than endlessly starting new pilots. 2) Shifting from competition to genuine collaboration, recognizing what each actor does best, setting egos aside and working in service of others. 3) Rethinking financing by looking at philanthropy, domestic resources and private capital, while avoiding the distraction of innovative finance simply for its own sake. 4) Ensuring scale is sustainable and equitable, not just lowest cost or easiest to measure. Bonus topic: Considering AI carefully, aware it can widen inequalities if misapplied but also has potential to improve quality at scale when grounded in local realities. Great discussion here. Summary cred: Mark Butcher On behalf of TeachUNITED, STIR Education, Global School Leaders and Generation, thank you to those of you who joined our session in person at "Beyond Big Aid: Forging new pathways for impact and scale in education" during Education House in New York. And special thanks to Mark Butcher for coordinating, Euan Wilmshurst for facilitating, and great discussion points byMagdalena Fernández Lemos and Kelly Cassaro. The graphic below shows our reach data, but even more impressive is our impact data on student outcomes and teacher retention. See our annual report here for more details: https://lnkd.in/gk8dbTzB

Welcome to the official LinkedIn page of the 7uice Foundation! Founded by Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics, we are dedicated to empowering youth through STEM and STEAM education, mentorship, and workforce opportunities. From the annual Bridge Summer Program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology to school and community pilots across the City of Boston, we are creating pathways that prepare young innovators for the future of work. Follow us to see how we are bridging opportunity gaps — one scholar at a time. #7uiceFoundation #BridgeProgram #BostonSTEM #YouthInnovation #STEMWeek Mechalle Brown

Last Tuesday's Designing Community-Engaged Research workshop offered a meaningful look into what it means to collaborate with communities, not just study them. The workshop invited participants to define community-engaged research, the benefits and challenges of this approach, and how to intentionally design projects alongside community partners. One quote that stood out came from Grace Argo, the workshop facilitator: “Community-engaged research describes a framework that engages community members in research development. Rather than a research methodology, it is an approach to research that prioritizes reciprocity and community agency.” Workshops like these remind us that research can be a powerful tool for mutual learning and community empowerment. Stay connected with the Swearer Center at https://bit.ly/4msl14q to engage in future opportunities that bridge scholarship and community impact.