Today Derek “Veritasium” Muller is opening the event – “at this conference, action is required!”

By bringing together a group of science innovators, such as Inspiring Australia, TechNyou, UNSW – and by considered and vetted solutions that we’ve created at this event, we will walk away with something that we can act upon.

He starts by demonstrating a number of videos that reflect the different understandings that people have of science. People have challenges when it comes to thinking about science – so what can we do about it?

Introducing Anna-Maria Arabia, who is General Manager at Questacon – the National Science & Technology Centre, responsible for Strategy and Partnerships. She has a confession to make – as CEO of science technology Australia she said that has met a brilliant Inspiring Australia team and learnt about the depth and breadth of its impact that she didn’t realise existed before.

She’s learned that partnerships can be powerful; that the strategy that has been put together with consultation is shared, owned and developed. It’s a guide for everyone and the force behind the science communication industry that has been born. The call for national leadership and collaboration has been responded to by the creation of a legacy network. She says that impact of the many projects that have been supported has been great – the journey has been phenomenal and she will take us through some of the work we’ll be doing during the course of this summit.

A piecemeal approach doesn’t work; recognise that making good of the multi-billion dollar effort needs to be done right. Ignight imagination of people everywhere and would have the best chance if able to deal with scientific information if engage with population. Best chance of healthy workforce is through science engagement today: inspire, interest, engage and pursue scientific endeavour. There’s fifteen key principles, found on the Inspiring Australia site.

The strategy team goes across the nation, from Prime Minister’s Awards for science, to Science Week to indirect and direct support – all are delivered for audiences, none of whom are too large or small. Evaluation and measurement of impact is important – it’s fed back through the leadership, in order to be practicing best practices. On behalf of everyone, she congratulates the Inspiring Australia team for their work, as networkers-extraordinaire.

She gives an example of a success story – Art, Science and Schizophrenia: CRC for Mental Health. It makes a point that Inspiring Australia isn’t just a grants project, it’s an investment that can deliver so much more.

• “Real science, everyday communities, and Australians participating” - Citizen Science.
• “Not just the likely suspects!” – Engaging ALL Australians.
• “If you’ve ever organised an activity – you often come undone at this point! So, Inspiring Australia evaluation tool will be demonstrated later at this summit - complacency in this area is death” - Evidence-Based Decision Making

Collaboration – we really want your feedback, good and bad – make the most of this summit.