Conversation and collaboration the key: top innovators on building a better future

What’s struck me as the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences & Engineering 's 2022 new Fellows have shared their work and passion at our ACTIVATE event this week is how much common ground there is – regardless of discipline, sector, or personal attributes.

?Scientists, engineers and innovators are fundamentally driven by a desire to do things better; to make things better.

?Our new Fellows hail from a huge range of backgrounds and have an impressive array of professional achievements under their belts. And they’re united as we face the massive challenges of climate change, on the need to learn from the past as we build the future; on the urgent necessity of building a much more diverse and inclusive STEM sector; and on the importance of leading respectfully, with consultation and conversation, rather than blasting information out in a one-way transmission.

?ATSE’s 2022 Honorary Fellow, Kim Carr, made an impassioned and articulate call to action. The new government brings new opportunities – and Kim asked us to use our authority and expertise to drive public benefit, and to hold our political leaders to account.

?As a species, Fellows agree we’re undertaking the biggest change since the industrial revolution, and a comprehensive, inclusive and holistic approach is absolutely vital if we’re to have a hope of tackling our species’ and our planet’s biggest challenge yet.

?The impacts of climate change are not equitable – so we have a challenge within a challenge. The new Fellows signalled strongly that it is our job, as change-makers, and as leaders, to tackle this inequity.

?Of course one of the fundamental starting-posts is education. Our education system was designed during the industrial revolution, and it’s no longer fit-for-purpose. It’s failing our kids and our problem-solving capabilities, with Australian educational outcomes sliding by international comparison. We need to evolve our education – to make it more flexible, personalised, and inter-disciplinary – if we want to move on from that factory model.

?Mentors, role-models, inclusive leaders, and good teachers can make all the difference. Whatever any of us do, we rely on relationships. We get the best results not from one-way information dumps, but from collaborations and conversations.

I look forward to working with ATSE’s 2022 new Fellows to lead those crucial conversations and collaborations to build a more inclusive, more sustainable Australia.