Djuke Veldhuis works full time at a faculty of science and even she feels overwhelmed by the pace of development in science and technology. But to solve the global challenges facing us, we need to make sure that we don’t leave people behind. So National Science Week, and initiatives by Inspiring Victoria’s partner organisations, offer a superb platform for community involvement. 

With teachers and schools possessing limited and uneven resources, it is vital that we support each student to have greater access to quality learning. Two state-based initiatives work to support Victorian STEM education; the ten Tech Schools (with six more coming), and six Science and Mathematics Specialist Centres, each providing programs to support students and teachers across the state.

A student’s aspirations to engage with higher education are shaped by their access to economic and cultural resources, as well as experiences of success in education. These ‘economic’ resources are self-explanatory: more money, and everything that comes with it. However, the ‘cultural’ resources in the home and in the classroom are more complex.

Local secondary school students come year after year to participate in a program at Ballarat Tech School, where they design and produce their own local, sustainable, and ethical chocolate. The program has evolved since the Tech School opened in 2018, and more recent iterations combine indigenous bushfoods to create a more uniquely Australian alternative. 

In the coming years, plant species in botanic gardens and urban landscapes will likely confront conditions they have never experienced before. The lessons learned in the context of a botanic garden are applicable to landscapes beyond their own garden gate. Collaboration between botanic gardens across the globe is essential in understanding how plants will grow and survive in a warming climate.