In September, Karina Del Mar Figueroa, from the Diploma of Sustainable Operations, alongside her team, took out first place at the National Innovation Games Northern Territory Series: Transitioning to Renewable Energy.
Karina Del Mar demonstrated an outstanding commitment to the challenge and received the Champion award for her leadership and for bringing a holistic sustainability approach to the winning project - Sun Healing Homes.
The National Innovation Games is a series of Innovation Challenges across Australia, sponsored by state and federal government and industry leaders. The vision is creating more sustainable communities for everyone. The challenge’s big question in this edition was how to transition to renewable energies in specific sectors of the NT.
The solution designed by the team is a pilot program using energy and education. It will bring renewable energy and a nutritional health education programs to remote indigenous communities to assist and ease the health care system’s pressure.
This pilot program is proposed to run on the Tiwi Islands, where one out of three people live with a chronic or acute disease. The hospitalisation fees are around $9000 per person and only 10% of the community members possess a fridge.
Sun Healing Homes has the vision of remote communities with the freedom to choose an independent affordable energy system and the freedom to participate in an education program that will improve their health and bring independence and strength to their communities.
