What Happens Next?

In this episode, we’ll find out what space can teach us about life on earth and how to make a better future for all of us.  You might be surprised at some of the ways space exploration is already shaping our daily lives, and will continue to do in future. We’ll discover how learning to live on Mars can help us solve some of the big problems here on earth, budding architects tell us what it’s like to t it’s like to design for entirely alien habitats, and we meet Australia’s very own rocket man, discusses the future of satellites and space travel.

Participants:

Jasmina Lazendic-Galloway runs the most successful Massive Open Online Course ever run in Australia. It teaches people to prepare for life on Mars. But rather than focus on Mars survival, Yasmeena wants the course to help others be more creative in solving problems on earth.

Danica Karacic leads the Space Habitat studio as part of the Monash Bachelor of Architecture in the Faculty of Art Design and Architecture. She and Architecture students Betul and Dima tell us what it’s like to t it’s like to design for entirely alien habitats,

Adam Gilmour is Australia’s very own rocket man. His company, Gilmour Space Technologies, specialises in the development of small, low-cost rockets purpose-built for today’s small satellites. He’s also a Monash Alumni from the Faculty of Business and Economics, and he joins us from his base on the sunny Gold Coast in Queensland.

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What if we stop exploring space? What do we lose? What are the opportunity costs? What’s next for space exploration and what could it tell us/do for us? How can it make our lives better?

This theme will look at why space exploration not only helps us understand how we came to exist, but can also help us solve some of the biggest challenges we face here on earth. We'll talk to experts ranging from astronomers to architects about why it's vital we keep exploring beyond the earth.

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In this episode we've gathered all the very best practical tips and ideas from our experts to help you embrace renewables in your own life and how we can each change our mindset, behaviours and ways of living to help get Australia, and the world, on track to 100% renewable - and reliable - energy.

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Despite the abundance of renewable energy resources in Australia, and huge growth in solar and wind farms, along with hydro, getting it into our cities and households is still a challenge. An old, complex energy grid, our island nation status and the complexity of demand vs supply mean we still have some work to do. But Monash engineers and scientists are confident we can solve these problems. Behrooz Bahrani works on grid integration - how we get all the valuable energy produced by Australia’s sun, wind and waves into the grid and powering our houses. Roger Dargaville is researching pumped hydro and explains how it can help take us all the way with renewables.

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Energy remains front and centre of political debate, a divisive issue among those who want to see a swifter transition away from fossil fuels and end the use of coal-fired power and those who don’t believe such a transition is necessary, or viable, due to potential economic impacts. 
Renewables have long been touted as the solution to reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, and in Australia renewable energy is growing at a per-capita rate 10 times faster than the world average - nearly three times faster than the next fastest country, Germany. So why haven’t renewables taken over yet? Our experts explain that the reason isn’t technical or economic, and the pure lack of political will to change could lead to unmitigated disaster.
Paul Raschky is an economist specialising in insurance. The industry is already planning for situations in which parts of the world might become unlivable due to global temperature rises increasing natural disasters and catastrophic weather events. Liam Smith is a behaviour change expert who fears we’ve missed the window for the move to renewables scientists say is needed to limit global temperature rises at 2 degrees.

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In our last episode of our series on Masculinity, we’ll hear from our experts about the best ways to support men and boys to cultivate positive masculinity. We’ll find out what works and why, and talk about the resources available.

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On this episode we’ll hear a more positive perspective - how masculinity is changing and how men are being encouraged to change past patterns of behaviour. We’ll also discover the programs designed to help men connect in positive ways.

Steve Roberts is Associate Professor of Sociology in the School of Social Sciences at Monash University.  He works with PhD researchers Britt Ralph and Bec Stewart and together they examine a range of social issues around masculinity and its impact on men, women, families and communities.

Dr Sandro Demaio is a medical doctor and globally-renowned public health expert and advocate.  He is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth). 

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The recent murder of Hannah Clarke by her estranged husband in Queensland shows us the frightening reality of domestic violence and makes us question the way we think about masculinity. Today we’ll take a look at what’s been described as the dystopia we are already living in and how we can create a better future for all of us - men, women and children.

In this episode we speak to Associate Professor of Sociology in the School of Social Sciences at Monash University, Steve Roberts. We are also joined by George Variyan an experienced educator, with a background in teaching and school leadership in Australia. 

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This episode features all the best tips and guidance from our experts about how to help parents and young people manage their social media use for mental health and wellbeing, and how it can be used to build communities and share stories.

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Every generation faces their own moral panic over new technology. Even right back to Socrates when the use of written text in books was seen as something that would negatively impact our lives. In the 20th century, wireless radio and television was thought or assumed to bring about the downfall of civilisation. 

In this social media digital age, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Monash University Brady Robards focuses on the positive impacts social media brings to our lives.  Whilst obviously there are negative impacts of social media, he is looking at ways young people are using these platforms as ways to help open communication and help deal with issues they face. Brady is currently working on a publication called Growing up on Facebook. Studying sustained or longitudinal social media use among people in their 20s who have grown up using social media. Gemma Sharp, a Clinical Psychologist and Monash researcher on the impact of social media on body image is also using social media as a positive tool to help at-risk young people.

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