The Dementia Research Centre (DRC) team is getting ready for the 20^th anniversary Blackmores Sydney Running Festival event on 18 September, where they will run to raise funds towards the Centre’s world-leading research.

About 40,000 people from around Australia are expected to turn out for the event, with courses to suit different fitness levels, including full and half-marathons finishing at the Opera House, a 10km Sydney Harbour Bridge run, and a 3.5km family fun run.

The team is excited to participate in the first in-person event since Macquarie started participating in 2019.

“The first year we took part, we had 57 people on the team, but numbers have understandably been down a bit in 2020 and 2021, when the pandemic forced the event to go virtual,” says DRC Centre Manager Amie Law.

“We did the virtual run in the streets near our homes due to the COVID restrictions, so it’s great to see the in-person event taking place again because nothing beats the buzz of being involved in a big event.

“It’s a great way to spread the word about dementia, while getting exercise and having some fun.”

The team has raised a total of $9,330 with its efforts to date and looks forward to adding to that this year. They are hoping to get a big team together to support the cause and the event, which is taking place in Dementia Awareness Month.

Not a runner? Not a problem. You can do any of the courses at your own pace.

Sign up to the DRC team by 31 July to qualify for early bird registration, and you’ll save $20.

If you can’t take part yourself, please consider supporting the team with a donation. Every dollar raised will go towards the DRC’s research.

If you have any questions, please email Amie at amie.law@mq.edu.au

Learn more about the Sydney Running Festival

One of these organisations is ReachOut, which has been changing the way people access help since it launched the world’s first online mental health service nearly 20 years ago. ReachOut is accessed by more than 200,000 people in Australia every month.

The partnership between ReachOut and the Department of Indigenous Studies will lead to the creation of one of the first resources ReachOut has produced specifically for Indigenous youth. Head of the Department of Indigenous Studies Professor Bronwyn Carlson, tells us about this impressive partnership below.

What was/is the aim of the project?
The project, ‘Meeting where you are: social and emotional wellbeing resources and social media to help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people build resilience, seek help and to prevent suicide’ aims to design, deliver and evaluate an innovative and culturally-safe social media campaign and supporting online resources to promote the social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people. The ultimate objective of the project is to build resilience, support help-seeking and prevent suicide.

Who are the key players?
This project is a partnership with the academic researchers in the Department of Indigenous Studies: Professor Bronwyn Carlson, Dr Tristan Kennedy, Dr Ryan Frazer, and Madi Day with ReachOut Australia, Mariesa Nicholas, Director of Research and Hilary Miller, Research and Evaluation Manager.

Project budget
$950,000

How did the partnership project come about?
We first met the ReachOut team when we hosted an Indigenous youth and cyberbullying forum with one of our other partners, the Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council. ReachOut does significant work with young people and online violence. We were then invited to collaborate on a grant application with the Department of Health (Commonwealth) for this project.

Which Macquarie people/teams helped make it happen?
We have a fabulous relationship with the Faculty of Arts Research Office who are always very supportive of our research aspirations. Particularly Dr Jan Zwar and Associate Dean Research Professor Robert Reynolds. Also Daniel Johnston, Research Partnerships Manager.

How did you approach the management of the project?
It was a pleasure writing the grant application with ReachOut as they are very collaborative and they are used to co-design in their approach. We are also fairly tech savvy and happy to use digital platforms as well as more traditional ways of collaborating.

Any cultural or business process differences that you had to navigate?
As Indigenous people and working in Indigenous Studies our priorities are to ensure the work we are engaged in also benefits our communities. ReachOut were very responsive to this. There are always moments where we have the opportunity to learn from each other and our role is to make sure we are true to Indigenous philosophies and ways of operating.

What has been the outcome?
The outcome was being awarded the grant. We have made some initial progress on the project and are submitting our ethics application shortly. We have had a few meetings and we are trying to recruit the research associate. COVID has impacted our progress but we are fairly happy with what we have achieved so far. We have held one workshop where we have begun to think about the evaluation phase and we have done some work on the co-design of the project.

What is your advice to staff that are thinking about partnering with industry?
Partnering with industry can be very rewarding and you can see your research have real world impact. Our industry partners are keen to work with the University and our involvement brings a lot pf prestige to the outcomes. Look for partners who share your values and for us we always like to work with industry that will benefit the communities we also work with.

One of the world’s longest running film festivals, the 12-day festival is one of Sydney’s premier cultural events and attracts more than 176,000 attendees at 11 iconic venues.

The Department of Media, Music, Communication and Cultural Studies has been instrumental in the planning of this partnership, which will specifically focus on women in film. As the Festival notes: “Women are directing less than 10 per cent of the 250 top grossing films worldwide. That figure underscores a known problem in the industry: women simply aren’t getting the same opportunities to share their voices and visions as their male counterparts.”

As part of the partnership. Professor Kathryn Millard – one of the University’s award-winning filmmakers – will host a discussion on 13 June with Academy Award-winning director Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy. Chinoy will discuss her personal experiences as a woman making films in Pakistan, following a screening of her film Journey of A Thousand Miles.

“Macquarie University has outstanding strengths in screen production and critical thinking in this field,” notes Kathryn.

“A deep engagement with the screen production and cultural sector is critical to our ability to keep re-imagining the future of cinematic storytelling and screen media. We are delighted to partner with Sydney Film Festival as it brings people together to view, discuss and passionately debate cutting-edge films from around the globe.”

Macquarie’s presence will also be included before screenings of 20 films by women throughout the festival. Macquarie Screen Studies lecturer Dr Ilona Hongisto says she is particularly thrilled about the diversity of this year’s festival program.

“From foundational works by the late Chantal Akerman to the ground-breaking cinema of Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy – this edition of the Sydney Film Festival makes its mark with cinema that has the capacity to change the world,” she says.

To find out more about what’s on at this year’s festival, or to purchase tickets for film screenings and festival events, visit the Sydney Film Festival website.