The inaugural partner in the TD Electives Program, Australian Red Cross, embraced the opportunity to connect with students and inspire them to design community-building projects that could help to face climate change and disaster recovery.
In the face of climate change, many young Australians report feeling paralysed by overwhelming feelings of “eco-anxiety”. It’s no wonder, with bushfire weather set to worsen across many parts of Australia in the coming decade. The Australian Red Cross who work with communities before, during and after natural disasters, understand that community resilience is a key indicator of successful recovery. But there’s deep complexity in trying to foster connections in a world of climate uncertainty. Pair this with increasing rates of disconnection and social isolation among younger generations, and the future of resilient communities is in crisis.
This is the complex social challenge that Australian Red Cross piloted during the three-year partnership in the TD Electives Program - engaging with undergraduate students from across UTS to flip this bleak narrative and develop new and engaging solutions that appeal to young Australians. Growing in impact year on year, the partnership provides evidence that young people can be empowered to reimagine their role in this complex problem, positioning them as change-makers.
“As educators, it gives us hope to see young people shift away from feeling overwhelmed and paralysed by the looming effects of climate change. Students walk away from this learning experience with concrete possibilities and practical steps for building community resilience.”
Dr Giedre Kligyte, TD Electives Program Director
Working in transdisciplinary teams, undertaking a TD Elective provided many students with exposure to a new style of learning, requiring them to step outside of their disciplinary perspectives and ways of thinking. For most students, the subject was also their first touchpoint with industry during their university study.
Year 1: The Pilot
Following a co-design process between Australian Red Cross staff and UTS, the first cohort of students tackled the Australian Red Cross challenge, asking: How might Australian Red Cross activate young Australians to create more resilient communities that can adapt to the effects of a changing climate?
Social and cultural inclusion, mental health, education and social capital featured heavily in the students’ responses to the challenge.
Despite being the pilot year of partnership, there was evidence of increasing student empowerment and changing attitudes.
Following the subject, TD Electives student Ekaterina Frolov remarked, “I feel much more community minded. I feel much more willing to open myself up to casual contact with my neighbours, or people in the community, or seizing opportunities such as going to a community forum or thinking about opportunities for community engagement. It’s changed my perception in a pretty permanent way.”
“I was inspired to create a WhatsApp group chat with my neighbours because we live in four different unit blocks close to each other. We used to say ‘hi’ to each other, but we didn’t have a place where we could chat or ask if anyone needs something. I did that because of this subject and I wouldn’t have done it otherwise,” Ekaterina added.
Year 2: Bigger & Better
With a larger student cohort and the pilot year complete, the second year of the partnership delivered strongly on impact.
At the conclusion of the subject, three student groups were invited by the Australian Red Cross to re-present their ideas to the marketing and executive team.
One student team took it a step further and adapted their response developed in the subject to make it to the top three finalists of the 2023 Disaster Challenge, held by Natural Hazards Research Australia.
The students’ pitch to increase disaster education in high schools with a ‘Climate Day’ experience, involving virtual reality as an immersive experience to help alleviate young people’s climate anxiety, was highly regarded by the audience of researchers, first responders and disaster relief professionals.
Year 3: Bringing in the Ecosystem
The third and final year of partnership presented an opportunity to demonstrate the impact of the TD Electives program and partnership to the broader community.
TD Electives students led the charge in a discussion of how to activate youth in the face of a changing climate. As part of the inaugural Climate Action Week program, students pitched their tangible proposals to Australian Red Cross staff and other stakeholders from across the Sydney climate ecosystem.
Students presented a wide variety of proposals ranging from how TikTok ‘hopecore’ content could steward climate optimism, re-imagining food truck initiatives to improve post-disaster community wellbeing, and a wellness program designed to reconnect university students with nature.
TD Electives student, Emily Cathcart reflected on the experience, “usually, as students, we’re the ones taking notes on what other people are saying – it was a really encouraging experience to have people take our ideas seriously and give us positive feedback.”
Hannah Millar, Senior Specialist Innovation at Australian Red Cross, said as a result of the three-year partnership, “we’ve created design principles for engaging young people in climate adaptation, and been inspired by many of the student ideas. There have been many useful ideas and insights that feel relevant and applicable to the work we do.”
“The biggest value to us is empowering a younger generation to better understand the work we do and to be thinking about resilience in their own lives,” concluded Hannah.
Through the TD Electives program, UTS leads the way in its’ ambition to provide all undergraduate students with transdisciplinary learning opportunities. These capabilities are consistently identified as critical, future-oriented capabilities required to respond to the complex social and environmental challenges of our times.
Thank you to the Australian Red Cross for your participation in TD Electives as the challenge partner in Reframing, Remixing, Reimagining Society.
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If you’re interested in exploring partnership opportunities in the TD Electives, please contact tdschoolpartnerships@uts.edu.au
To find out more about the TD Electives program, please visit https://www.uts.edu.au/study/transdisciplinary-innovation/undergraduate-courses/td-electives-program