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About Living STEM

Living STEM is an education initiative and program aimed at connecting national STEM curriculum to Indigenous Knowledges.

The program recognises and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as Australia’s first scientists; first engineers; and first mathematicians.

Living STEM supports primary and secondary school teachers to embed Indigenous scientific knowledges in classes, through hands-on projects, increasing student engagement and achievement in STEM.

The name 'Living STEM’ was chosen to reflect that Indigenous Knowledges shape the future of STEM education as a living network, intertwined with Australian STEM curriculums and knowledge systems.

CSIRO is partnering with Chevron Australia to deliver the program till 2026.

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Living STEM Community of Practice Conference 2026

Living STEM’s ‘Waterholes’ artwork

In commissioning a local artwork to use in the Living STEM materials, we engaged Saltwater People and Ngarluma and Yindjibarndi woman, Sheryl Hicks, a local artist from the Pilbara. Sheryl is a long-standing member of the teaching community in Western Australia. Here Sheryl shares the story about her artwork titled ‘Waterholes’.

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How industry can get involved

Find out more about Living STEM and how you might get involved.

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If you are a student, teacher, or parent, please use our Education and Outreach contact form

Find out about how organisations and STEM professionals can collaborate with CSIRO Education & Outreach.

CSIRO will handle your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and our Privacy Policy.

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Our programs and services

Living STEM for Schools program

Living STEM facilitates professional learning for primary and secondary school teachers to embed local Indigenous scientific Knowledges in classrooms.

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The challenge

Connecting students and families to inspiring STEM experiences can be challenging, especially for those working in regional and remote Australia where opportunities to connect with institutions, experts and industries may be fewer. By providing Educators with tailored, local teacher professional learning, we can bridge the gap between community and the classroom, with the co-design of hands-on science activity by teachers and other locals.

This Two-way Science approach promotes Indigenous leadership in education, and fosters partnerships between schools, communities, Indigenous ranger programs and scientists.

The solution

By empowering schools with confidence in the integration of local knowledges to their classrooms, we create sustained and meaningful connections to science, technology, engineering and maths for students. This connection may support regional and remote students to pursue higher education and access STEM jobs of the future as well as empowering them to work locally with their knowledge.

Living STEM aims to ensure local STEM knowledge is sustainably connected to classrooms all year around through Teacher-Community relationships and knowledge sharing, and these outcomes can be confidently applied to all learning levels and interests of students.  

Our impact

In 2025, the Living STEM program engaged with 31 schools and delivered professional learning to 57 educators, including 39 teachers, 10 school leaders, and six Aboriginal and Islander Education Officers.

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Our partners

Chevron Australia are major sponsors of CSIRO’s Living STEM. Chevron Australia’s General Manager Asset Development, Michelle LaPoint, said that the company is proud to partner with CSIRO to deliver the Living STEM program, saying at launch, "We’re proud to partner with a well-respected organisation like CSIRO to deliver this exciting initiative,” she said.

“Living STEM encapsulates the benefits of learning from the world’s oldest continuing living culture and deepening the connection between First Nations' people and school children across Western Australia.”

 

Our Two-way Science connection

Our partnership with the Department of Education, CSIRO and the Western Australian Department of Education (the Department) have also identified aligned objectives of supporting primary and secondary teachers to embed Indigenous Knowledges into the classroom through teacher professional learning, connections with local Indigenous communities, and building communities of practice.

This follows previous efforts by CSIRO in delivering Two-way Science initiatives, with the former CSIRO Education program, Science Pathways, part of the award-winning Indigenous Science Education Program.

The Department then delivered a successful proof of concept of Two-way Science between 2021 and 2023, and in 2024 began implementing the Ngaparrtji Ngaparrtji Two-way Science Program, a second phase of their Two-way Science program across Western Australia.

CSIRO’s Living STEM program is a complementary yet separate offering for schools, using the Two-way science methodologies and principles in partnership with community.

Living STEM showcase - 2025

We held our 2025 Living STEM Showcase in Dampier, Western Australia.

Thanks to support from Chevron, the event brought together community, principals, teachers, Aboriginal and Islander education officers, Elders, rangers, business owners, CSIRO staff and government representatives. All united around a vision for culturally grounded STEM education.

CSIRO is committed to ensuring its online content is accessible to everyone regardless of ability.

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We held our 2025 Living STEM Showcase in Dampier, Western Australia.

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