The Hub’s annual Climate‑Smart Innovation Challenge invites high school students to design practical solutions for farming in a hotter, drier, and more variable climate. Students work on real problems faced by farmers in their own region, making the challenge meaningful and grounded in local experience.
By encouraging students to think creatively, test ideas, and work together, the Challenge helps build the curiosity and problem‑solving skills needed for the future of agriculture. It also shows young people that they can play an active role in shaping a resilient, climate‑ready farming sector.
Benefits of the program
Teachers who delivered the Challenge reported strong benefits for their students. They observed that:
- Students developed a clearer understanding of how a changing climate affects agriculture
- Teams drew ideas from both local examples and global innovations
- Students became more confident tackling real‑world problems
- The Challenge helped them explore sustainable farming practices and their environmental impacts
- Many students strengthened their critical thinking, which they can apply to their future careers in the agricultural sector
One school has now embedded the Climate‑Smart Innovation Challenge into its Year 12 Certificate III in Agriculture program, showing how easily the Challenge can support existing learning pathways.
How the Challenge works
Each year, year 11 and 12 students work individually or in teams to develop climate‑smart ideas that could improve resilience on farms. Their solutions must be practical, achievable, and relevant to local farming systems
Recent themes have included:
- Improving water management and reuse
- Reducing bushfire risk
- Alleviating heat stress in livestock
- Enhancing farm‑level weather information
- Improving nitrogen fixation
- Increasing soil‑moisture retention
Get involved
The Climate-Smart Innovation Challenge is open to all Western Australian Colleges of Agriculture. If you would like to enrol your school in this program, please email us at swwadroughthub@gga.org.au.
News
- Media Release, College of ag
- Media Release, College of ag
- Article, College of ag