Thought-leaders, impact-seekers

Volume 10 Number 1 January 13 - February 9 2014

In just the first year the University has been involved in the competition, Community Volunteering for Change Program Co-ordinator Dr Violeta Schubert says the program has been valuable in linking participating students with real-world issues. Dr Schubert (second from right) is pictured here with the ‘Seasons’ team (from left) Yvonne Xu, Benjamin Wee, Keith Wong, Jessie Yu and Cynthia Huang. Photo: Peter Casamento
In just the first year the University has been involved in the competition, Community Volunteering for Change Program Co-ordinator Dr Violeta Schubert says the program has been valuable in linking participating students with real-world issues. Dr Schubert (second from right) is pictured here with the ‘Seasons’ team (from left) Yvonne Xu, Benjamin Wee, Keith Wong, Jessie Yu and Cynthia Huang. Photo: Peter Casamento

 

Bold ideas have the power to change lives – that’s the philosophy behind The Big Idea, a nation-wide competition designed to get undergraduate university students thinking about social justice. By Kate O’Hara.

The magazine, The Big Issue is undeniably part of the city streetscape. Since its launch under the clocks at Flinders Street Station in 1996, the social enterprise has worked to support homeless, marginalised and disadvantaged people to positively change their lives.

Last year The Big Issue launched The Big Idea, inviting tertiary students to develop a concept and business plan for a social enterprise that might become the next ‘Big Issue’. That call was answered by the Faculty of Arts at the University of Melbourne, and nine other Australian universities. 

This year three University of Melbourne teams from the undergraduate cohort have taken part in the competition, working to research, develop and build a social enterprise business plan. Last month a judging panel – which included Maria Tarrant from the Business Council of Australia and Robert Hudson from the Brotherhood of St Laurence – selected one team to represent the University of Melbourne at the national competition.

Team member Jessie Yu, a second-year Bachelor of Arts student, says the opportunity to participate in the competition as part of her studies was highly appealing. 

“A large part of our study is quite theoretical, so this was a chance for us to really consider the things we would need to think about if we were to work in the not-for-profit sector, whom we’d need to talk to and what sort of research we’d need to do. It’s great to have that application-based approach alongside theoretical learning,” she says.

“There are a number of social issues we’ve tried to address in our ‘Seasons’ social enterprise, one being the idea that supermarkets and bakeries have a lot of surplus stock due to really high product standards. That means a lot of edible food gets thrown away and becomes waste, so we wanted to intervene at this point and be able to create products out of that excess, with a seasonal focus. We also have a significant focus on employment options and the development of transferable skills for disengaged youth.”

The team behind the Seasons social enterprise proposal – Ms Yu, Cynthia Huang, Benjamin Wee, Yvonne Xu and Keith Wong – were supported throughout the project by a program of webinars, access to social entrepreneurs and Australian thought-leaders across a range of business sectors, and in-classroom as part of the undergraduate breadth subject, Community Volunteering for Change. 

The Big Issue, in partnership with the Faculty of Arts, has worked to embed the competition in the curriculum to provide real-life development for students from all disciplines.

It’s an approach which Sally Hines, National Manager, Enterprise and Community Engagement at The Big Issue, says is tailored to suit each university’s participation in the competition.

“The Big Idea competition came about in response to demand from the tertiary sector,” she says.

“We were often getting phone calls from people at universities seeking opportunities for collaboration, whether that might be volunteer opportunities for students, or whether we could come and talk to students about The Big Issue, or for universities to hear from one of our vendors.

“As a social enterprise, everything that we do needs to generate an income and create an employment opportunity for a homeless or disadvantaged person, so the competition is an effective way we can meet those business requirements and provide valuable experiences for the students.”

Throughout the competition students are encouraged to think about the role that community organisations play, the range of approaches to working in community, and the challenges these organisations face in terms of grants and staffing. It’s about developing skills and competencies which will help students move from a university context into a broader understanding of how social enterprise might evolve in the future.

“Overall, the main goal of The Big Idea is to educate the next generation of leaders about social enterprise and how working in social enterprise is a viable career option,” Ms Hines says. As a movement, if we’re truly going to succeed, social enterprise needs smart, bright people working with us.”

The Community Volunteering for Change subject is offered each semester to undergraduate students across all disciplines.

www.arts.unimelb.edu.au

 

www.thebigidea.org.au