STEM students collaborate to foster flood safety behaviours

10/07/2025, 2:46 PM
Year 9 and 10 Girls in STEM students from Geelong Tech School were given a tour of VICSES' Geelong office headquarters by VICSES Acting Community Resilience Coordinator Steve Cunneen as part of the program.

Emergency-conscious Geelong teenagers have come together to share their insights into how best to improve floodwater awareness in Victoria, as part of a behaviour change program held in partnership with Victoria State Emergency Service (VICSES).

At an event earlier this month, Year 9 and 10 students from the Geelong Tech School’s Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) program joined VICSES Acting Community Resilience Coordinator, Steve Cunneen, in exploring ways to limit flood-related emergencies.

Throughout the two-day program, students were tasked with tackling a pair of scenarios exploring ways to prevent vehicles entering floodwater, and alternatives to traditional sandbagging techniques.

Students were also given a tour of VICSES’ Geelong office headquarters to learn about the role VICSES and its volunteers play in their communities, the skills they possess, and the emergencies they respond to, improving hazard awareness and prompting broader discussion.

Operating in groups of five and having also engaged with local Geelong manufacturer Barrier Group, students exhibited fantastic critical thinking skills to address each scenario while drawing on their knowledge of VICSES hazards and key community safety messages throughout.

Students developed and collaborated on a range of methods to improve flood awareness in their community and promote behaviour change.

In pitching their ideas to VICSES and private industry partners later in the program, students showcased their progressive approach by highlighting:

  • A mobile app which could override phone settings to alert drivers of flash flooding in real time, before devising an alternate route to safety.
  • An alternative sandbagging approach utilising mixed corn starch media, the result of extensive prototyping over a 24-hour period.
  • A highly visible and easily deployable flood barrier featuring an emergency lighting system to block and divert drivers from known flood areas.

Each presentation exhibited a clear understanding of the danger flooding can pose in the community and role VICSES volunteers play in an emergency, while reinforcing the value of proactive community behaviour change initiatives.

To find out more about how to stay safe during a flood event, visit www.ses.vic.gov.au/plan-and-stay-safe.

Quotes attributable to Steve Cunneen, VICSES Acting Community Resilience Coordinator:

“It was fabulous to be able to support this program and aid students in developing resilience and emergency awareness, which they can then pass on to their friends, family and the wider community.

“Students showcased an excellent understanding of the important role emergency preparedness plays in the community, while investigating a range of methods to improve flood safety behaviours more broadly.”