This breadth of response was partly a result of 50°C incorporating input from a range of partners. These included researchers from Western Sydney University, University of NSW and the University of Sydney, along with industry, advocacy groups and creative collaborators such as CSIRO, Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils, Sweltering Cities, Australian Youth Climate Coalition, Sydney Water, Greening Australia, Story Factory, Melbourne Megagames and me. These partnerships allowed the program to deliver innovative elements such as a game in which students can explore the impact of different policy responses by local government, alongside units exploring microclimates and data analysis, the health impacts of heat and environmental design solutions.
These elements were supported by the placement of doctoral students from Western Sydney University, University of NSW and the University of Sydney in schools. The doctoral students worked with the schools across the 10 weeks of the course, mentoring and assisting with the projects. Similarly, the course’s emphasis on Indigenous design perspectives was expanded by school visits by First Nations-led design studio Always Collective.
From the outset, the program was also designed to be highly flexible. ‘Each school chose to implement the program in a way that suited their context,’ says Poisel. ‘At three schools, a geography teacher and a science teacher worked together to deliver it. Several schools presented the program as a STEM unit, and one school implemented the program as a transdisciplinary project. The most exciting part about the summit was seeing the diversity of student projects that came from each school’s context, delivery and findings, and that this hadn’t been a one-size-fits-all approach to teaching and learning. Teacher autonomy and student agency and leadership were key to this program.’
Sebastian Pfautsch is Professor of Urban Planning and Management in the School of Social Sciences at Western Sydney University and one of the experts behind the trial. He says science and engineering have a crucial part to play in building a sustainable future: