ILLUMINATE EDUCATION AUSTRALIA EDUCATION EXPERIENCES
illuminate Impact Lab | Co-Design Workshop
The illuminate Impact Lab is a dynamic three-day experience that empowers high school students to explore ideas that matter most to them – school change, wellbeing, youth engagement, and community impact.
Rooted in the same innovation framework as the full illuminate Challenge, this condensed program focuses on creativity, collaboration, and purpose over technical depth.
Students work in teams to identify real issues, shape meaningful solutions, and pitch their ideas with confidence. With expert facilitators guiding the journey, participants build leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills in a fast-paced, supportive environment.
The Impact Lab is ideal for schools seeking a powerful, time-efficient way to activate student voice and drive positive change. Whether it’s reimagining school culture or tackling youth challenges, students leave inspired, capable, and ready to make a difference.
It’s not just a workshop—it’s a launchpad for ideas that matter.
Outputs of the Challenge
During the illuminate Impact Lab experience, a lot is achieved and developed by the teams to address the problem being raised, which in this instance is looking at community connection and engagement.
The outputs of the challenge experience includes all teams developing:
- Problem Frame that is unique, based on an issue that resonates with the students presenting it, and creates clarity of what they can do next.
- Innovative Solution that addresses the problem they have identified, designed with empathy and impact, but also sustainability.
- Elevator Pitch that communicates the idea clearly and concisely, both to capture the direction for the team as well as to receive feedback.
- Financial Forecasts for investment to start for the idea in it’s inital stage.
- Project Outline that goes into why the situation should exist, the new idea and how it can be started, that can be shared with stakeholders after the event.
- Marketing Materials with strategies involving digital marketing materials and creative communication strategies to drive traction and interest.
- Pitch Presentation to showcase the idea verbally for investment and support that outlines the idea, the impact and who will benefit.
Alongside a range of prototyping exercises and planning steps to support students through the design process that underpins the challenge.
Outcomes of the Challenge
Beyond the work that the participants generate in the challenge environment, the focus is on the confidence and transferable skills that young people can take into their learning environments, workplaces and the wider community, which include;
- Developing Employability and Transferable Skills, as shown with the framework displayed below, which are critical to grow existing businesses and employment opportunities, start new community solutions and also navigate a life-long learning pathway.
- Leadership and Personal Effectiveness Skills, as participants spend the challenge experience focused on leading change, solving problems, and leading themselves to achieve throughout the process.
- Increased Awareness of Local Issues in an applied fashion where young people raise what matters to them and then look to address that challenge. The authentic process then allows participants to not just deeply understand the challenges, but also give them the confidence to be part of the conversations to address these.
- Community Connections through bringing stakeholders into the challenge environment in short manageable sessions, so young people can see who is out there to help them and benefit from their experience in the program. This creates increased engagement with schools, local government, businesses and community organisations, with the focus around investing in and empowering young people through the challenge environment.
- Creative Solutions for Community Challenges, as the teams will present ideas to address challenges from their perspective, but this also creates the capacity for these young people to complete design-thinking approaches into the future for other community opportunities.
- Connection between Learning and Application, as the illuminate Impact Lab gives a way for students to take skills from across the curriculum and opportunities, and helps to showcase their value in an applied fashion that allows this knowledge and skills to resonate, and then drive engagement when further learning occurs.
And much much more!
What Others Say…
FROM COMMUNITY PARTNERS & COLLABORATORS
FROM THE STUDENTS THEMSELVES
The illuminate Innovation Process
In all illuminate Education Australia experiences, we have mapped out a structure underneath the innovative process students step through as shown below.
Across an illuminate Impact Lab (that runs for three days), this maps closely to completing two stages each day, shifted during delivery to match the capacity of the student teams and the depth in which they go at each level – with the focus on developing quality ideas, raising student voice and an immersion in the rich skills framework that underpins everything illuminate Education Australia offers.
Stage 1) Foundations.
Teams begin by forming strong collaboration habits and exploring issues that matter to them. They identify challenges in their school, community, or world, building empathy and awareness. This stage sets the tone for teamwork, purpose, and engagement, helping students connect personally to the problems they’ll work to solve.
Stage 2) Ideation.
Students brainstorm creative, impactful solutions to the challenges they’ve identified. Using design thinking, they explore possibilities and prioritise ideas that balance innovation, empathy, and sustainability. This stage encourages bold thinking and helps teams focus on ideas that matter and can make a real difference.
Stage 3) Developing.
Teams shape their chosen idea into a viable concept. They build financial forecasts, marketing strategies, and operational plans. This stage introduces practical enterprise skills and helps students understand how to turn a creative idea into something that can work in the real world.
Stage 4) Presenting.
Students shift focus to communicating their ideas clearly and persuasively. They develop pitches, presentations, and visual materials to engage stakeholders and seek support. This stage builds confidence in public speaking and storytelling, helping students share their vision with impact.
Stage 5) Testing.
Teams test and refine their ideas through prototyping and feedback. They explore how their solution performs, identify challenges, and adapt based on user input. This stage builds resilience and problem-solving skills, helping students strengthen their ideas through real-world testing.
Stage 6) Implementation.
Implementation happens after the illuminate Challenge ends, when students take their ideas into the real world. Whether launching a school initiative, community project, or continuing development, this stage is about turning concepts into action. While it’s beyond the formal program, illuminate Education Australia offers ongoing support to all teams—helping them refine next steps, connect with partners, and keep momentum going. It’s where ideas grow into lasting impact, with guidance still available.
Capacities to Drive Change
At illuminate Education Australia, we believe young people must be equipped with essential, transferable skills to lead change now—not just in the future. Our skill framework was developed through extensive consultation with industry partners and educational research to ensure relevance and impact. It underpins every program we deliver, helping students become confident, creative, and capable. These skills are embedded in real-world challenges, allowing students to apply them immediately and build lifelong capacity. Whether in entrepreneurship, community engagement, or innovation, this framework ensures students grow in ways that matter—personally, academically, and professionally.
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Communication
Understanding
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Solving Problems
Working Smart
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What Drives Us
Beneath our vision, purpose and skills we focus upon, illuminate Education Australia has six core passions that drive everything we do and helps set apart our approach.
Leaders for Now.
We do not prepare for the future – we need our young people to lead change right now! Everything we do is for now and to create impact right away, for the idea created in the experience or for the next impact idea.
Young People to Community Shift.
Our focus is to support young people to be confident, creative and capable, who agitate and drive change across families, communities and the generations.
Education is a Contact Sport.
Young people need to be stretched and tested in real world environments now, to push themselves, to develop their capacity and reflect on how they perform for future change.
Reaching All Communities.
We prioritise (and support with our own funds as a social enterprise) opportunities to reach regional, remote and disadvantaged communities, ensuring they do not miss out developing these core skills.
Educationally Relevant.
Although we deliver our programs with an authentic real world focus, we ensure everything we do is educationally relevant and aligned, underpinned with engaging pedagogy that allows students to learn authentically.
Results Driven.
We know that we measure what matters, and for us it is not about the quantity of the students, but the quality of the impact. We are focused on delivering results for all involved, and closely track data to measure the impact of our programs as well as the benefits for all stakeholders involved.