UNSW launches 'UNSW Strategy: Progress for All'

This month 悉尼新南威尔士大学 launched our University’s strategy for the next 10 years, UNSW Strategy: Progress for All. The Strategy highlights our commitment to advancing the public good and drives this over the next 10 years through areas where UNSW can really 'turn the dial' on some of the greatest challenges – and opportunities – global society has ever faced.

This Strategy was created by and with the people who will be critical to its success: our students, colleagues, alumni, University partners in industry, philanthropy and the community sector, and the community more broadly. More than 9000 discrete ideas and pieces of feedback are part of its fabric.

Nine Strategic Pillars will guide us in applying our transformative education, innovative research and meaningful engagement with the world around us to drive progress in ways that benefit people here in Australia and around the world.

UNSW Strategy: Progress for All values ‘collective progress’. It’s an ambitious strategy – but not for our own sake. It’s ambitious for people and communities everywhere. The Strategy’s success will be measured by the positive impact we help enable for others.

?‘Collective progress’ is how we apply our education, our research and our engagement with the world around us to help people everywhere prosper in this increasingly complex, global world — to drive progress and ensure the benefits of progress reach all segments of society.

The launch was a wonderful showcase of areas where UNSW colleagues are already having tremendous impacts.

Aunty Maxine Ryan from the Aboriginal community of Botany Bay and Dharawal nation, and member of UNSW Council opened the event by acknowledging the Country of the Bedegal People, on whose lands our Kensington campus stands. Aunty Maxine spoke of the importance of continual learning, of respect and of different perspectives, imploring us to be strong role-models for future generations, and to keep on looking after Country – “because you look after Country and Country will look after you.”

UNSW fourth-year Chemical Engineering student and Gateway Ambassador Doha G. is inspiring students who might not have considered university possible, showing them success at university is achievable. Doha demonstrated that UNSW’s Gateway Program is excellence and equity in action.

Doha’s experience illustrates the talent, high performance and potential to be found in students right across the community. Her work with the successful Sunswift Racing Team and her incredible outreach as a Gateway Ambassador show that tackling barriers to access is critical for empowering students to come to university with the confidence and support to thrive and to achieve true excellence.

Professor Heidi Norman , a descendant of the?Gomeroi people?and a researcher in Aboriginal political history from UNSW’s Faculty of Arts, Design & Architecture, spoke about Aboriginal land justice in a climate changing world and how, in concrete ways, Indigenous Knowledges that have been fundamental to life in Australia for countless generations are solving urgent climate sustainability challenges for all Australians.

Associate Professor Rebecca Deans from UNSW’s Faculty of Medicine & Health, who made history by performing the first uterine transplant in Australia, shared insights into her trailblazing work, which is offering hope and new possibilities for many. Driven by the desire to help her patients, A/Prof. Deans’ efforts exemplify the power of collaborative research on a global scale to transform lives here in Australia and around the world.

UNSW alum and entrepreneur Martin Collings , the founder of sustainability business Charopy, talked about how his innovative waste management system (smart bins that let you know whether you’re putting the right rubbish into the right receptacle!) is helping to drive a cleaner planet.

The event’s MC, UNSW Business School’s Engagement and Communication Coordinator, Neda Dowling , spoke of her deep understanding of what ‘Progress for All’ seeks to achieve, sharing her experience as a first generation Australian and refugee from Afghanistan.

Everyone at UNSW is a steward of our enduring purpose that started in 1949. Every person at UNSW has a role in advancing the UNSW Strategy: Progress for All. I’m honoured to stand beside each person in the UNSW community as we embark on the next part of UNSW’s journey, together.

I invite you to explore the UNSW Strategy: Progress for All at https://www.unsw.edu.au/strategy.

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