Festival of Social Impact
The Festival of Social Impact is a celebration of RMIT’s commitment to achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals through its work with industry partners, transformative research and innovative teaching.
RMIT’s College of Business and Law proudly operates at the intersection of business, law and technology - with social impact.
We create social impact through research, innovation in education, and external engagement with industry, community, professions and government, enabling us to deeply embed the UN Sustainable Development Goals in our wide range of work.
The 2024 Festival of Social Impact brought together educators, researchers, industry and students from across RMIT's campuses in Australia and Vietnam to share and highlight the social impact created by our community.
Spanning two days in Melbourne and two days in Ho Chi Minh City, the 2024 festival comprised of exhibitions and interactive installations, presentations and workshops focusing on a range of impacts, including sustainable practices, decent work, gender equality, and embedding Responsible Practice.
The exhibition, curated by Dr Ying Zhou, offered an opportunity for people inside and outside RMIT to learn about the extraordinary depth and range of social impact activities in the College of Business and Law.
Through posters, digital displays and discussion, the exhibition encouraged participants to share their ideas and generate collaborative opportunities delivering mutual gains.
As part of the exhibition, we introduced our innovative VR space to engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives. This VR experience, created by Mr Henry Purcell and our Multimedia & Digital Development Team, was designed to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, history and knowledge and foster ways of working that value and incorporate Aboriginal viewpoints.
View the highlights video from the VR experience.
Taking a diversity, equity and inclusion lens, this Festival of Social Impact event looked at how to prepare your organisation for a sustainable, productive future, making the best use of people's abilities and respecting the value of their diversity.
Topics included neurodiversity in the workplace and digital transformation, men's uptake of parental leave, older people's adoption of technology and building an inclusive workplace for CALD employees in the outdoor.
Chaired by the Centre for Organisations and Social Change (COSC) co-Directors, Associate Professors Lauren Gurrieri & Lena Wang, panellists included:
This event highlighted RMIT students’ commitment to positive social impact through a pitching competition, showcasing their work on achieving fair, sustainable, and socially impactful futures.
Participating students had three minutes to pitch how their project would create a better future. Each pitch was supported by a short explanation of the course in which the work was created.
The session was led by the inaugural and current coordinators of the Bachelor of Business Social Impact major, Dr Janneke Blijlevens and Dr Carol Bond. An expert panel comprising an industry partner, an academic staff member, and a social impact expert judged the pitches.
Chris Dodds, Managing Director of Growth & Innovation at Icon Agency, and Jessica Palti, Creative Director at Lifestyle Brands International, joined as industry panellists. Skye Godlee also joined as student panellist. The winner of the pitching competition received a one-day internship at Icon Agency, providing hands-on experience in a leading integrated communications firm.
In this event, academics from the College of Business and Law showed how they collaborate with social actors worldwide to generate positive change through:
Chaired by Professor Paul Childerhouse, the examples and plenary discussion explored the advantages and challenges of these and other potential approaches to generating social impact abroad.
The Laurie Carmichael Lecture is an annual keynote lecture hosted by the Carmichael Centre, an initiative of the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work, and RMIT University’s Business and Human Rights Centre (BHRIGHT). The Lecture is named in honour of Laurie Carmichael, the legendary manufacturing trade union leader.
The 2024 keynote featured Professor Allan Fels AO, former Chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and Chair of the recent ACTU-commissioned Inquiry into Price Gouging and Unfair Business Practices, in conversation with ACTU Secretary Sally McManus.
Whether professionally or academically qualified (or both), this session provided practical guidance and advice on how to create and demonstrate social impact and build a satisfying and sustainable career.
Chaired by Professor Johanna Macneil, topics for discussion included:
The panel, providing examples and advice from their own careers, were:
At RMIT Vietnam, the Festival of Social Impact was held from 19-20 September at the Saigon South campus, uniting educators, researchers, industry leaders, and students to showcase and celebrate the social impact generated by the RMIT community.
Acknowledgement of Country
RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Sentient' by Hollie Johnson, Gunaikurnai and Monero Ngarigo.