Central West Leadership Academy place at International Future Problem Solving finals

Central West Leadership Academy students have placed third and fourth at the 2023 International Future Problem Solving finals at the University of Massachusetts in America.

In 2022, two Year 11 projects qualified for the international competition by winning at the national finals in Melbourne.

The students were asked to identify a problem in their community and make and enact a community change project.

Between July 8 and 11, the students took part against some of the best problem solvers in the world.

One team from Dubbo, consisting of George Ashcroft, Carrigan Baker and Noah Randell, completed a project called "Democratising Democracy" in which they made easy to understand resources to help diverse candidates run for local government.

"It is crazy how complicated it is to understand how to run for local government and we hope that by making these easy to use resources, we have demystified the process and encouraged a more diverse candidature in future elections," Ms Baker said.

Mr Randell said a thriving town relies on a strong connection between the council members and community, and feeling excluded "can cause community disenfranchisement" from council affairs.

"This sort of real world learning is absolutely essential for developing strong leadership skills and building confidence and empathy with your community," he said.

This project came third overall in the world.

Finn Randell entered in the individual category for Community Problem Solving with his project completed alongside Charles Sturt University.

'Capturing our Histories: Podcasting with Local Elders' was a reconciliation project that aimed to give agency and voice to Elders' lived experiences.

"It was an honour to get to know the Elders and really help their voices be heard," he said.

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"I was able to extend the project reach through working with CSU and Apollo House and trained five young First Nations students how to run these podcasts in their own communities. I can't wait to hear their stories."

This project came fourth overall in the world.

Academy principal Mandi Randell said it was absolutely amazing to see that the academy students are among the best in the world.

"Our focus on making real world change and leadership have enabled our students to thrive on the global stage," she said.

"Our region and Dubbo should be very proud of what our students have accomplished."

As well as coaching Mr Randell to fourth, she ran a workshop at the International Conference on Scenario Writing, one of the competition categories.

Ms Randell was also asked to present at the Australian Future Problem Solving Conference in Melbourne last year.

"It is an honour to be asked to conduct the workshop for students and coaches. It is a great way to highlight our excellence in pedagogy and practice at the academy," she said.

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