Dirrum Festival in review

By Mandy Wang

On Saturday 17 August, a group of compassionate speakers and an open-minded audience gathered at the Boiler Lecture Theatre at the University of Canberra.

The Dirrum Festival aims to challenge and inspire young minds, cultivating the leaders of tomorrow. This year’s Dirrum Festival did exactly that and much more. 

This year’s speakers discussed a wide variety of topics.

Simon Illingworth discussed the implications of being a truth-teller within the justice system. His story was confronting and powerful, posing the question: how can we encourage people to be truthful in law enforcement, when doing so may risk one’s autonomy? Simon’s response is simple, “Just because everyone does it, doesn’t make it right,” highlighting everyone’s responsibility to have the courage to address a problem when they see one.

Professor Ian Chubb’s talk emphasised the problems that his generation are leaving behind for future generations. There is no solution to climate change, rather, it must be managed. Professor Chubb stresses the unrealistic goals set out in the Paris Agreement, if a global effort is not applied. His topic epitomised the purpose of Dirrum: to engage young minds and inspire change.  

Sophia Hamblin Wang is a driving force of change, running a company that provides a solution in reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Her proposal is to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and transform it into building materials.

Valerie Browning provided insight to the one of the hottest inhabited parts of the world, Afar, a place many people have not even heard of. Whilst it is becoming increasingly difficult for this community to live in their ancient nomadic ways, due to the impacts of climate change, we have much to learn from them. The Afar community believe in facing problems together; holding off the consumption of resources to allow renewal before continued use.

Melissa Breen Few people have a better grasp of the feeling of failure and success than Melissa Breen, the current record holder for the Australian Women’s 100m sprint. Her conflict between her own definition of success and the external labels of success has been has seen her battle with mental health on and off the track. Her experience has made her passionate about reaching out to people and highlighting the importance of developing resilience and wellbeing in the community. 

Caitlin Figueredo is an advocate for diversity and equality. Her talk focused on empowering those who are diverse and creating inclusive opportunities for those who are marginalised. 

Unfortunately, Kevin Hines was unable to attend the event due to a flight cancellation, however, his 25-minute video presentation can be accessed through the Dirrum Dirrum website. Kevin’s incredible story of surviving a suicide attempt leaves a powerful message: everyone has their own battles, and our resilience as a community allows us to move forward collectively.

Despite the many complications on the day, the Dirrum team still managed to put together a spectacular event, which was complemented by the festival of live music, local sustainable food stalls, and local businesses.

Well done to the 2019 Dirrum Team for putting together such a successful event!

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