Issue Seven

Welcome to the seventh edition of Future-Makers — a magazine dedicated to highlighting the impactful research being conducted at Western Sydney University. 

At Western, we pursue global impact through a commitment to excellence, outward focus, and strategic alliances. We seek to address complex societal, environmental, health and economic global challenges, including those involving inequality and social exclusion. Accordingly, a significant portion of our research addresses real world challenges whilst displaying sensitivity and respect for local voices. 

The success of this focus is reflected by the fact that Western has been ranked overall first — for the fourth year in a row — in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings, which assesses the achievements of 1,700 global universities against the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. 

In this issue, we present stories about ways in which Western research has changed lives — from providing transportation solutions for women in rural Zimbabwe to creating a digital agri-food ecosystem for farmers in Sri Lanka. 

We also present stories of more local significance. For example, we celebrate Alexis Wright’s award-winning collective memoir Tracker, take a deep look into the needs of queer Indigenous young people, learn about the links between China and Australia through a story of two grocery stores, and discover how Australian students can make better financial decisions. 

This is just a taste of the stories of global and local impact in these pages. We hope you enjoy this issue and encourage you to connect and collaborate with our researchers.