Think.Act.Green
Think.Act.Green aims to increase environmental awareness amongst secondary school students, whilst providing them with an opportunity to develop their financial literacy and professional skills. With environmental sustainability being an issue of increasing global significance, targeting local schools with these issues will provide future leaders with the knowledge and exposure to address the need for a sustainable community. Think.Act.Green runs in partnership with Victorian secondary schools and leading organisations operating in the environmental sector. The four phases of the project are the Seminar Series, the Environmental Conference, the Workshops, and the final Competition Ceremony.
Phase 1: Throughout the Seminar Series, The University of Melbourne SIFE team will facilitate knowledge transfer between the environmental industry and the education sector, to explore interchangeable practices that can be implemented by the students at an individual and community level. To achieve this, we will mobilise a diverse range of representatives from the corporate, environmental and not-for profit sectors to offer some insight into the practises they have adopted at their workplace to address important environmental issues. The Seminar Series will run during February and March, and students from each school will benefit from interactive lunchtime presentations, designed to engage them in the experience.
Phase 2: The Environmental Conference will be held in late April. Selected student representatives from Victorian secondary schools will be invited to spend an afternoon with inspirational environmental leaders. The students will enjoy a range of interactive activities and informative presentations, and they will also have the opportunity to meet like-minded peers from different schools across Victoria. The aim of the conference is to inspire the next generation of environmental leaders to make a difference in their community, and to provide a forum to encourage peer-to-peer learning. The conference also heralds the official launch of the third and fourth phases of the Think.Act.Green program.
Phase 3: During the Workshop phase, Think.Act.Green will work with small student-led teams from eight secondary schools to encourage collaborative learning. The aim of these Workshops is to teach students skills relevant to the project that are not included in the Victorian secondary school curriculum. Topics include team management, research methods, project management, financial planning and presentation skills. They will be tailored to address environmental concerns in the local and international arenas, so that students will be able to apply their knowledge to practical situations.
Over the course of the Workshops, students will develop a proposal outlining the means by which their school can become more environmentally sustainable, whilst adhering to a predetermined budget and a range of criteria. Throughout the Workshop phase, students will be provided with the support, guidance and resources needed to successfully create their proposal.
Phase 4: The Competition Ceremony is the final phase of the Think.Act.Green program. Students will present their proposals to a judging panel comprised of leading business consultants, prominent figures in the environmental, corporate and not-for-profit sectors, as well as representatives from The University of Melbourne and Students In Free Enterprise. The team with the most creative and viable proposal will be awarded a monetary prize, that will be put towards the implementation of the proposal on their school campus. Though not all teams will obtain a monetary grant, they all come away from the program with a tangible proposal that can be presented to their school board or local councils.
The Think.Act.Green program aims to inspire leadership amongst students by encouraging them to engage with important environmental issues, take ownership of and responsibility for their local environment, and gain valuable knowledge and experience as young leaders. The program will also build solid foundations and foster important relationships for the facilitation of similar programs in future years.
Project Objectives
Think.Act.Green has four key objectives:
1. To encourage environmental awareness in schools leading to a cultural change throughout the community;
2. To empower students with the skills and knowledge to achieve environmentally sustainable outcomes;
3. To facilitate knowledge transfer on a range of levels, allowing students to develop their financial literacy and professional skills for later use; and
4. To develop socially aware leaders of tomorrow.
Project Managers: Nish Vivekananthan & Jack McCardel