Last week, we welcomed 30 new projects to the Protostars galaxy!

This is our fifth cohort of Protostars – a microgrant program where we give young people from AU/NZ $1,000 to work on their passion projects. We envelope them in community, encourage them to build in public, and to learn from their peers as they create their projects for 10 weeks. For the first time ever, we lowered the minimum age for this cohort and currently have six high-school-aged students participating in the program!

One of the great insights we get from Protostars is a first-hand understanding of the issues, trends and projects that young people care about and are working on.

We wanted to share some of these insights:

• Young people are taking climate action: 7.4% of applicants submitted projects that were connected to addressing environmental issues or challenges. Last year the World Economic Forum reported that 70% of young people aged 16-25 are very worried about the climate. Some of these projects included vertical gardens, climate writing communities, nature podcasts, and novel ways to repurpose waste;
• Young people are building community to combat loneliness: 10.6% of projects were centred around building community. In 2022, Headspace National Youth Mental Health Foundation released a report that stated that 58% of young people felt isolated from others often or most of the time. Some of the projects tackling this issue included community art meetups, creating shared spaces and youth markets; and
• Young people are reimagining how they learn: 10.64% of projects were educational in nature. We noticed many of these educational projects focused on providing community-centred educational experiences and spaces for young people to gather and learn from one another through storytelling and sharing their lived experiences. Other projects explored novel ways to use emerging technology to reimagine the student learning experience to make it more individualised.
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We are now in week two of the program and are excited to see how these projects and the people behind them grow and develop over the remaining nine weeks!

This season, we’re joined by a person who has been making space lasers since they were a little kid, someone creating a flight simulator in their room, someone using dance to celebrate their culture and more!

You can read about all the projects below 👇

Chloe Htun is a high-school student designing a bike-powered vertical farm with aeroponic and hydroponic systems to provide fresh produce for urban Australians, addressing housing issues and promoting community involvement.

Zack Lewin is a theatremaker creating a transmedia webcomic 'Cumulonimbus,' a melodramatic adventure and love letter to anime and Homestuck, immersing readers in a queer dystopia plagued by the magical 'Ghoul' disease.

Anh Van is a biochemical engineer creating an exhibition showcasing art from biomaterials, uniting creators from diverse fields, highlighting the transformative power of materials, and redefining disposable products for sustainability and environmental awareness. La Foundary

Buddy Malbasias is a Filipino dance artist who is producing a short film, ‘Bugas,’ and aims to adapt it into a live performance that explores cultural reconnection, self-understanding, and hierarchy through the lens of a first-generation queer Asian-Australian perspective, using rice as a metaphorical symbol. buddymalbasias.com

Sian Crowley is an environmental educator who is creating The Seed Pod Hub, an extension of The Seed Pod(cast) that merges photography, design, and environmental education to support teachers and expand environmental outreach through a website and future educational programs.

Shae McKenna is an engineer who wants to revolutionise education with personalised support using deep neural networks. Project Minerva harnesses large language and multimedia models to adapt and empower every student's unique strengths, aiming to eliminate classroom confusion and provide tailored assistance.

Remi Chynoweth is an artist whose project is to combine a tattoo studio with a welcoming garden, aiming to create a safe space for all, particularly those who are queer, of colour, plus-sized, neurodivergent, or have disabilities, while also offering a tranquil outdoor environment and contributing to the local community through gardening.

Jord Howard is a final-year mechanical and aerospace engineering student who is constructing a homemade flight simulator with a previous generic model and is now working on a 1:1 scale Supermarine Spitfire Mk 9 simulator, driven by a passion for creativity, learning, and a mental break from university work.

Kiana Mei is a year 12 student who is running ‘Youth Markets Melbourne,' a social enterprise born from their high school market experiences, aimed at empowering other young entrepreneurs to kickstart their ideas.

Lily Newcombe is a film and television student who is producing 'Meddling With Time, a 1 1/2-hour musical set to debut in autumn 2024 at Swinburne University, Melbourne's first theatre production, weaving together musical history's chronology through 8 medleys and a time-rewinding protagonist.

Sagalee Aba-Omer is a street journalist who is working on Locationest, a multimedia platform sharing candid city stories, fostering relationships and community with over 46k followers, and promoting empathy and open-mindedness in a disconnected world.

Jemima Sirtes is a 16-year-old theatre maker who is developing her own production house, Springfield Majesty Productions. Jemima aims to embrace unique voices and unconventional works and to become a significant presence in the world of theatre.

Jenny Nguyen is an engineer who is creating ‘Time Twist’, a captivating history podcast that explores how people from the past would perceive our modern world, offering an engaging and educational format that encourages critical reflections on history's impact on the present.

Aliyah Knight is a multidisciplinary writer, filmmaker and theatre maker who is producing ‘Consume,’ a 10-minute horror short film delving into queer sexuality, religious trauma, and internalized homophobia in the Black community, exploring these themes through the rivalry between twin sisters and the creator's personal journey.

Celine Goh is a fourth-year commerce student creating AI-assisted children's books for an Indonesian education charity, addressing literacy barriers, promoting eco-tourism, and developing her own AI skills to support Caresumatra's mission in remote Northern Indonesia

Annie Zhou, Olga Pavlovic and Dean Gao are high-school students who created ‘Bloom,’ a platform that simplifies the journey of teenagers finding their first job, offering tailored, safe opportunities that align with their talents and interests with a mission to empower youth to reach their full potential through suitable job connections.

Liam Hansen is a comic editor, student, musician (and more) who is working on SPECK COMICS. Born as a Rat World Magazine sister publication in late 2022, it is an independent comic zine showcasing unique comics and narratives by New Zealand artists.

Emma Clancey is a third-year literature and medical student working on a queer young adult fantasy novel to provide representation and positive narratives for young readers exploring their sexuality and gender identity. Their aim is to counter book bans and emphasise diverse stories in YA literature.

Elizabeth Knight is an entrepreneur and youth advocate who is creating a curated guide and AI chatbot to help individuals navigate heartbreak with meaningful content and companionship, driven by a personal desire to explore AI technology and heal from their own breakup experience. Dear Broken Heart

Archie Hancock and Jack Zimmerman are producing ‘Where the Cattles Go To Drink,’ a film that explores a rural farm boy's relationship with an exploited immigrant farmhand, testing their bond as they strive to retrieve the farmhand's confiscated passport, shedding light on farming industry issues, with an authentic portrayal of rural life, influenced by the cast's experiences. Website: 2knproductions

Bria McCarthy is an emerging theatre maker, writer, director and puppet artist. 'Dragon Hearts' is a one-woman show with an overhead projector and 100+ puppets. Bria delves into global dragon mythologies, eco-feminism, religion, and power dynamics.

Seamus Mintrom is a filmmaker and screenwriting student whose passion project, 'Great Artists Steal,' is a black and white period short film set in 1986 Melbourne. It explores a jazz pianist's quest for redemption by sabotaging his replacement, blending Seamus’ love for jazz and classic crime films while examining the theme of talent and practice.

Maja Wilbrink and Abby Shen’s passion project is The Sydney Creative, a community that aims to cultivate creativity through inclusive, monthly in-person events, challenging the notion of creativity as binary. They believe everyone possesses creativity and seek to provide safe spaces for exploration and celebration.

Jack Anderson is an author and co-founder who is creating engaging educational videos to help young Australians develop essential life skills, values, and knowledge, addressing challenges like loneliness, mental health, finances, and resilience. Working with experts, it aims to empower young people to thrive and contribute to society with compassion.

Saskia van der Peet and Chenthi Heer’s passion is The Real Girls of Tech, a blog highlighting women in tech that challenges stereotypes, encourages girls to explore tech and plans to offer job shadowing to dispel misconceptions. Their goal is to show that tech encompasses various roles and industries.

Frank Dwyer is an electroacoustic composer who is creating ‘Cryptophonics.’ A passion project that transforms short-wave radio recordings used for espionage into ambient soundscapes, highlighting their mysterious quality and relevance in a world where privacy invasion has become commonplace. frankdwyer.net

Nicolas van Hoorick is an electrical engineering student who has been passionate about lasers and optics since creating their first powerful laser at 14. Nicolas is creating a laser and hopes to explore remote drone power, revolutionising energy markets and enhancing flight efficiency, driven by a vision for a greener, advanced world powered by light.

Grace Tang is a chemistry graduate who is creating a portable UV Photobooth for beaches and festivals with a UV camera, TV screen, and sunscreen dispenser accessible to the public to promote proper sunscreen application and potentially expand to surf clubs.

Nileshni Fernando is a researcher who is producing an educational video addressing male genital-focused body image, aiming to boost confidence and challenge societal pressures, making a world-first video to include boys and men in this important discussion.

Ethan Mitchell is a software engineering graduate who is creating a language learning web app that emphasises efficient learning through vocabulary drills, grammar comprehension, and interaction with an AI chat partner, providing guides for natural expression and mistake correction, streamlining language learning for greater effectiveness. helloworldlearn.com