EDUCATION NEWS
News from Universities
University of Melbourne
Sustainability report marks midpoint of 2030 plan
The University of Melbourne has published its 2025 Sustainability Report, showing the university has made significant progress at the midpoint of its Sustainability Plan 2030, with 72 per cent of targets now met or partially met. Among the achievements highlighted, the university secured carbon neutral certification for its business operations under the Australian Government’s Climate Active program for the 2025 calendar year, and now sources 100 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources. The report also points to 6,398 research outputs since 2022 aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, an expanded organics recovery program now covering 26 campus retailers that diverted roughly 43 tonnes of food waste in 2025, and dedicated sustainability leadership roles established across all nine faculties. Chief Operating Officer Katerina Kapobassis acknowledged the work is far from finished, and said the next phase of the Sustainability Plan would accelerate the university’s efforts on global sustainability challenges. The announcement builds on the university’s strong sustainability credentials more broadly, having ranked among the world’s top universities for sustainability in recent QS assessments
New exhibition explores resilience and adaptation through art and science
Science Gallery Melbourne has opened a major new free exhibition, EMERGENCE[Y], timed to coincide with World Environment Day on 6 June, bringing together artists, scientists, researchers, designers and young people from around the world to explore resilience, ecology, biotechnology and the future of life on Earth. A centrepiece of the show is a new commission by Australian artist Patricia Piccinini, created after a year-long residency embedded in stem cell research laboratories at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, revisiting her seminal work Still Life With Stem Cells on its 25th anniversary. Other highlights include a vertical farm built with engineering researchers demonstrating sustainable urban food systems, fire-resistant garments made from mushroom mycelium and recycled cotton, an immersive e-waste installation by a Tsinghua University artist imagining a post-apocalyptic electronic landscape, an artwork using live wind data from NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover, and a sound-based coral reef restoration project with sculptures embedded in damaged reefs worldwide. Gallery director Dr Ryan Jefferies said the exhibition reflects how universities can bring researchers and communities together to engage with urgent global questions, inviting audiences to imagine new ways of living through change. The exhibition runs until 5 December 2026.
New app tackles isolation for people with disability and their carers
University of Melbourne researchers have launched ConnectUp, a disability support platform that helps people with disability and informal carers build social connections online and arrange in-person meetups, while also highlighting accessible venues and inclusive physical activity opportunities. Founder Associate Professor Dominika Kwasnicka said the app was co-designed with people with disability and carers to tackle both social isolation and physical inactivity, noting that making social connections as an adult is hard enough without the added barriers many in this community face. The need is significant: research shows nearly one in five Australians with disability experience social isolation, more than double the rate of the general population, with carers also disproportionately affected. Carers contribute an estimated $77.9 billion annually in unpaid care to the Australian economy, yet frequently experience poorer physical and mental health than the general population. The project has received more than $2 million in state and national government funding to provide the app for free, and is backed by partners including Carers Australia, Carers WA, Ramsay Health Care and the WA Disabled Sports Association, with the project expanding into a national collaboration involving eight Australian universities and the CSIRO.