VU Academy for Social Change & Leadership

VU Academy for Social Change & Leadership enables students to learn leadership skills and achieve success, while making a positive impact on society and the environment.

At VU, we believe in providing an educational experience that prepares students for life, helping them to make a real impact by creating and working on real-world social and environmental projects. These opportunities allow students to develop leadership, entrepreneurship and 21st-century skills that will aid them in their future careers and day-to-day lives.

The Academy is a place for students to explore and create ideas that can make the world a better place.

There has never been more of a need for good in the world. VU students are invited to activate their social conscience by taking part in our social-impact programs.

This stream of programs has been designed especially for VU students who are socially aware and want to make a difference. They include the international university program Enactus, and VU Space School.

By participating in a VU Academy social-impact program, students will have an opportunity to develop skills in areas such as:

entrepreneurship
sustainability
teamwork
innovation
community building
design
engineering
business and marketing
technology.

Check out the programs below for more information, or propose your own idea.

EnactusVU

EnactusVU supports student-led projects that create solutions for social and environmental problems in our communities. EnactusVU is the Victoria University branch of Enactus, an international not-for-profit organisation dedicated to inspiring students to improve the world through entrepreneurial action.

Working as a team to tackle global issues - as defined by the United Nations Global Goals - students will be mentored by educators and business-people. This collaborative work aims to positively transform the lives of people in their community and around the world, by developing and implementing solutions to real-world problems.

As a member of EnactusVU you will:

be challenged and stimulated with hands-on experiential learning to develop the attributes and characteristics of a leader
build key skills that include inspiring and leading, building teams, critical thinking, effective communications and sustainability - skills that will increase your employability and 'future-proof' your career
build confidence and enhance your problem-solving skills through real-world challenges
increase your social awareness as a citizen of the world
gain new perspectives
make a genuine contribution and a positive difference to the lives of people in communities that you will work in.

Each year, Enactus university teams across Australia compete for the ‘Best Social Enterprise Project’ award. The winning team has the opportunity to compete internationally against other Enactus teams, in the Enactus World Cup.

If you have a desire to make a difference, to use entrepreneurial action to empower people and improve their livelihood in an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable way, then the EnactusVU program is for you.

Time commitment for this program is approximately 2 -5 hours per week.

See project stories from Enactus participants around the world.
For more information and to join, visit our EnactusVU site.

VU Space School

VU Space School is a science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) outreach program for high school students, with a focus on space and space exploration. Our goal is to inspire future generations of scientists, space explorers, and innovators who will contribute to positive social change.

Our program is run by two amazing teams: the Activity Development Team and the Program Management Team. You can choose whether you would like to take part in developing space-themed workshops, or contribute to managing the VU Space School program in a business, media or event-management role.

Flying with VU Space School, you'll have the opportunity to practise your skills in real-life situations to further your self-development and industrial experience, and to make valuable connections in the VU Community. We welcome students from all backgrounds to join us in this thrilling expedition!

Current STEM workshops include:

Rocket Challenge: Become a rocket scientist to design and build a rocket which can launch up to 60 metres!
Martian Lander Challenge: Test your creativity by building a capsule to protect your egg sufficiently to survive a Martian landing!
Martian Rover Challenge: Become an engineer and IT specialist, designing and programming an autonomous robotic rover to traverse on Martian terrain to collect valuable specimens.
Mission-2-Mars: Take part in an inter-school competition where young entrepreneurs compete to successfully complete the Earth to Mars expedition!

If you are passionate about innovative opportunities to test yourself, then VU Space School is the program for you! Time commitment is at least 2 hours per week.

Register your interest to be a part of our space crew
Follow VU Space School on Facebook
Find out more on the VU Space School website

TEDxVictoriaUniversity

TED is a global platform dedicated to spreading ideas and a mission to research and discover "ideas worth sharing". TEDx is a local and independently-run conference held in the spirit of TED.

TEDxVictoriaUniversity is an annual event organised by a dedicated group of VU students with the aim to inspire other VU students to take action on their own ideas to make the world a better place. It is a festival of ideas that brings together inspiring and thought-provoking speakers from our university community and from the local community. If you're interested in being part of the TEDxVictoriaUniversity organising committee, get in touch with us through the TEDxVictoriaUniversity website.