Innovating for a greener future

Matthew Bell

The Green Innovation Awards are synonymous with school-aged children presenting incredible ideas for a greener future and now the not-for-profit organisation wants to see it part of the everyday classroom.
The Green Innovation Awards is now in its fifth year which continues to see hundreds of primary school and high school students involved.
Each year, students are asked to invent, develop and present ideas for greener living across categories of water management, waste management, building and packaging materials, biofuels and renewable energy, and technology.
This year, with the support of the Northern Rivers Community Foundation, the Green Innovation Awards have been able to create curriculum-aligned teaching resources to make it easier for teachers to introduce the program into the classroom.

Founder and local chiropractor Dr Bridie Cullinane said the resources are available to both primary and high school students with a focus on trying to get more high schools involved.

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The resources have been put together in partnership with the Department of Education and other department programs which will provide greater access to mentors for students.

“They’ll have access to academic mentors from Southern Cross University as well as industry mentors which we’ve found in the past is amazing for schools because the mentors can come into the classroom,” she said.

Dr Cullinane also highlighted that it helps the teachers get the message across.

She said, “It gives the teachers the chance to have the message brought in by someone externally and I think it is really engaging for the students and maybe gives them some lightbulb moments of a career path.”

The resources have been considered for a ready-to-go approach with lesson plans set out for teachers and student worksheets already drafted.

Bridie emphasised that this program allows students who may not be the best at science or STEM subjects in the classroom to flourish in an environment that they may be passionate about.

The Green Innovation Awards is not just for top performing students. Some of our favourite previous finalist and winning entries have come from students who having typically performed well in science and other STEM subjects. The Green Innovation Awards provides all students with an opportunity to show their strengths and hopefully ignite a passion for learning,” she said.

Schools that are interested in piloting the resources can contact the Green Innovation Awards at info@greeninnovationawards.com.au

For more information teachers and schools can visit the online website at greeninnovationawards.com.au

Picture supplied by Green Innovation Awards