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Thrivability Matters Olympiads - Educating Students on Sustainability, Leading to Thrivability

What is this?

Schools in Australia and around the world are participating in several Olympiads. These are mainly competitions between students on various subjects in science and mathematics. For example, the Australian Science Olympiad (ASO) provides an opportunity for highly motivated science students to participate and enrich their skills in subjects such as physics, chemistry, environmental science and biology.

The competitive spirit in these competitions is inspired by Olympic games. What the athletes achieve in track and field events the students achieve the same high standards in academics.

The THRIVE Project is proposing an Olympiad program for school children for educating them on sustainability and thrivability using innovative and stimulating gamification techniques.

Thrivability Olympiad

THRIVE Project is proposing a Thrivability Olympiad based on the ethos and high ideals of the Olympics competitions in partnership with the Brisbane City Council. This can be done by instilling the inspiration behind the games into the area of Thrivability by setting up a youth awareness program for school students in the years prior to the Brisbane Olympics games.

We know that our planet is already stressed due to overuse, overconsumption and overmining of its resources in the name of economic development. Environmental experts have warned that we are consuming 1.8 earths without realising that we are doing irreversible damage to the planet. This is not sustainable, and the youth need to know what the future will be like if the current damage continues and what they could do as responsible citizens to avert it.

The youth will participate in the awareness program by developing science-based projects and various art forms related to sustainability and thrivability themes. The participating school staff will educate and mentor the students on matters of sustainability, what it means to go beyond sustainability, that is, thrivability and guide the youth on how they could make an impact on the public by communicating their messages through a science project or an art form.

TM Olympiad Poster - Science Project and Art Form Competitions

At end of the academic year, a judges panel will select the top 3 science projects/art forms, this will be followed by an award ceremony. The top three submissions will be despatched to Brisbane City Council for displaying in the Olympic village for the duration of the 2032 games. The top three students will have their names printed on a plaque placed beside their contribution displayed at the Olympics games. The student whose submission will be judged the best for the year will get to attend one of the track or field events free of charge during the games in 2032, as a recognition of their efforts.

A poster series has already been initiated for inclusion on THRIVE Project’s social media channels. These posters will serve as exemplars for schoolteachers teaching the youth about sustainability and thrivability.

The Olympiad App

The THRIVE Project Framework provides the means to establish, measure and assess sustainability thresholds within organisations with the intention of ascertaining the current state and then illuminating the paths that leads to thrivability. This is possible by using dedicated software or the THRIVE Platform technology. We are planning to design and develop a thrivability gamification app that will provide a means to set up sustainability and thrivability competitions. The app will help monitor the progress of these competitions and guide towards their completion. The app shall provide the desired guidance to the students on the features of sustainability and thrivability and how they can apply it to their science project or art form. The whole exercise is meant to bring about a cultural change in thinking and mindsets and guiding the new generation in creating a well-being-based economy, an economy pivoted on flourishing or thrivability.

Development of the Olympiad app as an extension of the existing technology will complement and enhance the existing features on the THRIVE Platform making it suitable for projects involving competition and gamification as well. Schools will formally join the TM Olympiad program via this app.

The key objectives of the TM Olympiad project are listed below:

  • Use best practice technologies to develop a gamification app
  • Provide a framework for sustainability and thrivability competitions
  • Promote sustainability and thrivability through education, engineering and endowment (triple E)
  • Specifically engage youth through competitions
  • Assist in research specifically focused on gamification data for competitions
  • Assist in research on how behavioural patterns could be influenced and modified through competition
  • Provide for analysis of data from competitions
  • Have lessons learnt sessions after every competition.

The app development process is envisaged to have the following steps:

Step 1: Research and Data Collection
  • Extending the gamification aspects of the THRIVE Framework to include youth competition concepts
  • Gather data on school competitions within Australia and abroad
  • Look for existing APIs that provide youth competition-related data such as Olympiad Coach and Olympiad Trainer apps
  • Select features that will be used for developing the MVP – Pilot Project
  • Partnerships established for technical collaboration knowledge sharing and sharing resources
Step 2: Design
  1. User Interface (UI):
    • Create wireframes and mock-ups for the app
    • Ensure the design is intuitive and user-friendly
  2. User Experience (UX):
    • Focus on ease of input for travel data
    • Make navigation simple and intuitive
Step 3: Development
  1. Choose a Technology Stack:
    • Frontend: React Native, Flutter, or native development (Swift for iOS, Kotlin for Android)
    • Backend: Node.js, Python (Django or Flask), or Ruby on Rails
    • Database: Firebase, MongoDB, or PostgreSQL
  2. Build the Backend:
    • Set up a server to handle user data and perform calculations
    • Implement an API to communicate with the frontend
  3. Develop the Frontend:
    • Create screens based on the UI design
    • Implement features for data input, calculations, and displaying results
  4. Integrate APIs:
    • Integrate with other Olympiad apps such as, Olympiad Coach and Olympiad Trainer apps
    • Integrate social media APIs for sharing features
Step 4: Testing
  1. Functional Testing: Ensure all features work as intended
  2. Usability Testing: Gather user feedback to improve UX
  3. Performance Testing: Check app performance and load times
Step 5: Launch
  1. Beta Testing: Release a beta version to a small group for final testing
  2. Marketing: Plan a marketing strategy to reach your target audience
  3. Release: Launch the app on app stores (Google Play Store and Apple App Store)
Step 6: Post-Launch
  1. Monitor Feedback: Collect user feedback and reviews
  2. Update and Improve: Continuously update the app to fix bugs and add new features based on user suggestions
  3. Community Engagement: Build a community around the app to encourage regular use and engagement
Additional Considerations
  • Privacy and Data Security: Ensure that user data is handled securely and complies with relevant regulations
  • Localization: Consider offering the app in multiple languages to reach a broader audience

Developing the app will need a core team that might consist of:

  • Project/Product Manager
  • UI/UX Designer
  • Developers with skills in frontend, backend, and mobile app design
  • Data Analyst
  • Game Designer
  • API Integration Specialist
  • QA Tester

We shall be seeking partnerships and sponsorships for the development of the Olympiad app to bring the proposed project to its fruition.

Pilot Project

It is proposed that the project runs for 5 years from 2027 to 2031. All public and private schools in Australia will be eligible. The schools will be provided necessary guidelines detailing the nature, scope and categories of submissions that could be undertaken by the youth via the Olympiad app. The recommended school year is from year 6 to year 12. Schools will need to register by downloading the app and going through the registration process.

A pilot project with a small group of schools is proposed to be undertaken in 2025/2026 to test the concept before the number of participating schools is scaled up.

Conclusion

Humans are causing serious damage to the environment in the name of economic development. Olympiad competitions are held in schools on subjects like science and mathematics to improve their comprehension of these subjects and bring about the best in them. We need to create the same sense of competition to teach the students about sustainability and thrivability.

The Olympiad competitions are designed to create awareness about the negative externalities of human development. The competitions will be designed to bring out the best ideas from the students on how we can make human development not only sustainability but also thrivable. The ‘Thrivability Olympiad’ will help in making the youth aware of the damage humans are causing to the environment and what can be done to avert it.

The THRIVE Project intends to partner with the Brisbane City Council to plan and execute this project as part of Brisbane Olympics in 2032. The students will participate in the project by developing science projects and art forms expressing their message to the community. It is proposed that the best submissions be displayed in the Olympics village area for all to see and appreciate. It is expected that the project will provide an opportunity to the members of the next generation to learn about sustainability and thrivability and be able to voice their feelings about serious environmental issues through the auspices of the 2032 Olympic games.

A pilot project with a small group of schools will help to test the concept before it is launched on a wider scale for the Olympics.