Vice Chancellor's Award for Excellence

Prize

Description

‘2023 Referendum Project (Empowerment and Creativity: Students as Engaged Citizens’) for leading a project that brought together members of the legal profession, students, community and academics, to create an exceptional and innovative learning opportunity that had significant social impact. The project engaged students as informed citizens and political actors with a diversity of experiences and viewpoints that are relevant to broader social discourse on the political questions that will shape the future. Successfully applied for internal funding to support the Project, and created (i) an interdisciplinary subject about political and legal change, hosted by the Law School; (ii) a design competition for students to produce symbols suitable for translation into merchandise promoting issues around the Referendum (iii) a schedule for a series of debates that staff and students engage in both within the university and more broadly (iv) the production of T-shirts, badges and tote bags for students who sign up to the project or complete the subject; (v) a media/video/photographic exhibition where students display representations of their political engagement on the referendum question. The Project was a-political and did not adopt a particular stance on the referendum question - its aim was to show students that they are empowered, that their views matter and that participatory democracy requires them to be informed and engaged in civil discourse. Inclusive and productive team-building and management skills were embedded in the project.
Granting OrganisationsWestern Sydney University

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