Sally Giblin started her career in the corporate sector, but she was always searching for ways to make a more positive impact. So, one evening, while living in the UK, she watched David Attenborough’s Our Planet while her child slept. Her stomach flipped as the urgency - and magnitude - of change required hit her. Giblin decided then and there to help change hearts and minds.
“I met my UK based cofounder Helen on the #tacklethecrisis hashtag, emailed her with a vague idea, and met her twice before moving back to Australia,” Giblin recalls.
That glimmer of an idea turned into ‘Be The Future’, an award-winning social enterprise that creates playful, interactive sustainability experiences for children, using awe-inspiring storytelling and interactive play, which inspires collaborative action.
“We facilitate Growing Future Makers incursions for primary school students across three themes, with three more coming soon,” Giblin said.
“Our experiences offer hands on activities which bring environmental education to life, such as engaging in interactive storytelling; using motion to change floor projections; reimagining the future with preloved Lego; and designing community solutions using recycled materials.”
“Our award-winning, playful sustainable learning approach has three components: highly interactive, play-based learning; evidence-based solutions; and curriculum-aligned activities – particularly STEAM and sustainability.”
The initiative has had glowing feedback from teachers, which rate Be The Future’s ‘Growing Future Makers’ program 4.9/5 stars, while 84% of students rate the program with a “😊”.
Giblin said 100% of the teachers who used the program say ‘yes, they / their students gained new sustainability knowledge or skills’, with an equal number saying ‘say yes, they’ll incorporate more sustainable learning activities with their students in future.’
“Sally’s enthusiasm for the environment and sustainability was infectious, and our students were engaged throughout the presentation and hands-on activities,” one principal whose school used the program said.
A teacher at the school said students who participated in the program were all “very engaged and loved all the activities”, while the school’s P&C president said they would highly recommend “inviting Be The Future into your school ASAP!”.
Looking ahead, Giblin is optimistic about the program’s growth.
“In Australia, we’re rapidly growing the reach of our interactive experiences in collaboration with early learning centres, primary schools and governments,” she said.
“We’re also collaborating to create interactive experiences which intertwine the magic of climate solutions with First Nations knowledge.”
In the UK, the company is creating ‘TOGETHER’ – a blend of location based, touring and digital immersive experiences to help children connect with climate solutions, and set to “revolutionise” climate education in the UK.
“And in the near future, we’ll be creating a professional development platform for educators, to support them to bring our playful, interactive approach to environmental education into their classroom.”