Blog Archives
Healium
Mindfulness helps to train the brain and recover focus better. This idea, the Healium app will tackle both these aspects, as it targets both mindfulness and productivity. It will provide guided mindfulness sessions, tips on maintaining focus, strategies to maximise time and a tracker for productivity. It will be a one-stop-shop for students who are looking to improve their mental health and performance.
To trial this idea, the team will create a club at their school which meets once a week for a month long period. The club will run at lunch time and will be a safe and relaxing space for students to come and work on themselves. Each member will be provided with a journal which includes tips, medititions and a section to reflect.
30 Dirty Days
Is planting trees the way towards a better future? Trees contribute to their environment by providing oxygen, improving air quality, climate amelioration, conserving water, preserving soil, and supporting wildlife. This team wants to create a tree planting competition. It will be a 30 day competition in which participants will live onsite in a sustainable tree house and each day they are challenged to plant 50 trees. It will be the last one standing, and the winner will get to live in their treehouse permanantly.
To trial this idea, the team will run a tree planting competition on a smaller scale. The team will work to find the last one standing in order to not only promote tree planting and contribute to bettering the environment but to also share the importance of trees in our ecosystems and how they can improve so many aspects of the environment.
Points for Fitness
Young people need to get out of their houses and get active! 2 in 3 (70%) children aged 2 to 17 do not meet the Australian physical activity guidelines. Points for Fitness will be a rewards based app which encourages young people to get active and to find a form of exercise that is right for them. The app will track a users fitness based on fitness indicators, which will give them points and those will contribute to an overall goal which is set when the user first gets the app. It will also have a feature that gives tips and instructions on how to properly complete certain activities.
To trial this idea, the team will work to launch a 6 week class at their school which runs once a week with the Grade 6 students. It will be gamified with a leaderboard installation in the classroom on which students will be able to track their fitness and compete for the top spot. A journal will be provided to each participating student to assist them in tracking their progress. A guest will come in and teach a different physical activity each week from yoga to parkour.
Shark Week
Despite the fact menstruation can have a significant effect on around 50% of a school’s population, access to period products (such as pads and tampons) is not yet universal. Not even in Australia. Young women need to have access to mestrual hygiene products, that;s why Shark Week was developed. Shark Week will be a free vending machine available in every school bathroom. It will provide young people with access to period products to reduce the extra costs and ensure every student can access these products.
To trial this idea, the team will install a collection of period products in one of the bathrooms at their school for women and non-binary students to utilise. It will be a term-long trial and the team will work to gather data on the usage of the products, and survey the students utilising the products for the assessment for future funding.
The Power Hose
In the catastrophic 2020 fires in Australia 2,779 homes burned, this resulted from rising temperatures and draoughts across the country due to climate change. This team of young innovators wanted to develop a new approach that would help people protect their homes from fires. They developed the Power Hose to do just this. The Power Hose will be an industrial size hose that will be installed around the exterior of homes across the country. It will be a heat-activated hose that will detect when a fire is approaching or occurring inside a home and it will extinguish it. It will save lives and homes.
To trial this idea, the team will collaborate with the local CFA to run an educational program to share with people how to prepare their homes for bushfire season and how to protect their homes in an unfortunate event of a fire. It will also include a competition which will allow the winner to learn more about ways to protect themselves and their homes.
National Natural Association
The impacts of climate change are far-reaching and are affecting people’s homes and communities, from droughts, to flood, to fires and rising water levels. We are seeing this occur all over the world and the team from Natural National Association want to shed light on this issue. The team will create a documentary compiled of videos submitted by those living in areas that are being most effected by climate change. They will share the documentary and continue the conversation around climate change and how we need to adjust our approach as human beings.
To trial this idea, the team will create a short animation to show at their school and it will also be available on YouTube for the public. It will showcase the impacts of climate change on our natural environment and those living in the most areas most impacted. They will then encourage others to create a similar animation which raises awareness and continues the conversation amongst young people on climate change.
The Friendship Festival
As a community, we have faced a disconnected period, we need to find ways to reconnect and build relationships. The Friendship Festiva is the answer! The Freindship Festival will run as a community-based event which invites all members from the community to come along and enjoy local musicians, local market stalls, food providers and a chance to be linked up with another community member based on you hobbies and interests. You can either be linked up with someone similar or roll the dice and get connected to someone who is completely different to you. This event will be a chance to build relationships, enjoy community spirit and have fun!
To trial this idea, the team will run a scaled back version of the event in the Logan Council area with the community members from the area. They will invite local cafes and restaurants to set up stalls and they will work with council to reconnect the community again after so much time being isolated. There will be something for everyone!
Seen
People’s opinions are constantly impacted by internalised bis, but how can we remove this bias? That’s where Seen comes in. Seen is an innovative approach to breaking down stereotypes and making the world a place where everyone is free from judgement. Seen will be a pair of glasses that individuals can put on and it will make everyone look equal, removing bias and it allows you to see a person for who they truly are inside. It will work by removing stereotypes we all are guilty of having inside of whether you are 8 or 80 years old.
To trial this idea, the team will give out a class at their school tinted glasses as a symbolic reminder to see everyone equally. They will also run an educational class on cognitive bias, sharing stories of people from a variety of backgrounds and to allow the class to understand how to recognise your internalised bias.
Pride Cakes
Every person deserves to feel safe and accepted in their community. To celebrate pride and the LGBTQIA+ community this team of young social innovators, wants to run a cupcake initiative which will celebrate those from the community and educate everyone on terms relating to the queer community, sexuality and gender identity. Attendees will bake at an event cupcakes, which will be coloured with icing from the pride flag and each cupcake wrapper will have a different fact or definition relating to the LGBTQIA+ community. It will be a school-based event that will reoccur throughout the year to celebrate pride.
To trial this idea, the team will run a trial cupcake event at their school and invite students to help make the cupcakes and design them in pride colours. The cupcakes will still have the information and education element with posters, advertisements and also the cucpcake wrappers educating people on the queer community.
Going Green
Solar electricity is one way to power your home or business that benefits the environment. There are no direct greenhouse gas emissions because the electricity is made from sunlight rather than burning fossil fuels. The team from Going Green want to implement solar panels into each town and ensure electricity is powered by a renewable energy. This will be an iniative to make towns and cities across Australia more sustainable and to reduce the impact that electricity production can have on the environment.
To trial this idea, and to get young people interested in the concept of sustainable cities, the team will run an intra-school competition amongst the students in Year 9 to design a sustainable city. The designs will be submitted and reviewed by an environmental expert and the team to determine the winner. The winning design will be displayed in the school along with the breakdown of what we need to change in our current cities to make them more environmentally friendly.
