Key Dates
19 Dec -Extended Deadline
26 Dec -Judging
08 Jan 2026 -Winners Announced
Image Credit : Images are courtesy of Melbourne Water and in some instances S1T2
Project Overview
The Future Water Story is an immersive digital learning experience that transforms the complexities of water management into an immersive, collaborative game for young people. Set within Melbourne Water’s Western Treatment Plant, the project brings together interactive technology, live facilitation, and rich storytelling to help students understand the real pressures shaping Melbourne’s water future.
Rather than being told what to think, students step into the role of decision-makers. They debate evidence, negotiate with peers, and witness the consequences of their choices in real time. The result is a learning experience that is active, memorable, and deeply empowering: one that inspires the next generation to take an informed, meaningful role in shaping a sustainable future.
Organisation
Team
This project was delivered through a collaborative effort led by Melbourne Water, bringing together its Education team, Aboriginal Engagement, Western Treatment Plant Operations, and IT–Corporate Services, in partnership with experience design studio S1T2.
Project Brief
The Future Water Story is an interactive, collaborative learning experience that confronts one of our most pressing challenges: how we manage water in an increasingly uncertain world. Designed to feel less like a lesson and more like stepping into a living system, the experience empowers young people to experiment, negotiate, and imagine new pathways towards a sustainable future.
This groundbreaking initiative led by Melbourne Water, was delivered in partnership with experience studio S1T2. Together they have redefined what digital education can achieve - demonstrating how interactive technology and immersive storytelling can translate complex educational content into a deeply personal, emotionally resonant learning experience.
The experience invites secondary school students to work collaboratively as they make decisions on behalf of community groups within a fictional town. With every choice, they feel the impact of their actions, discovering how water can both empower and constrain the places we live.
Here, technology acts not as spectacle, but as a scaffold for collaboration, agency, and critical thinking. Multi-touch interactive tables make complex information tactile and accessible, a large-scale central LED supports shared moments of reflection and meaning making, and a themed environment - enriched by Indigenous artwork and site-specific design - grounds the experience in place.
As a result, visitors leave not only with stronger water literacy, but with a lived understanding that their choices shape the world around them - and a renewed sense of agency to act sustainably in their own lives.
Project Need
Water education faces a critical challenge: how might we make complex, future-focused issues relevant to students who have grown up with an abundance of water and never experienced drought or restrictions? Many young people are insulated in suburbia, unaware of how water scarcity impacts communities across our state and nation. In Melbourne, where clean water is readily available, it’s easy to forget that water security is not guaranteed for future generations.
The Future Water Story breaks through these barriers with a novel, game-based collaborative approach that transforms passive learning into active problem-solving. Students tackle real-world water management scenarios, connecting classroom learning to urgent, place-based challenges. Unlike static resources, the experience uses real-time feedback, immersive storytelling, and collaborative gameplay to make abstract concepts tangible. Students step into leadership roles, navigating climate uncertainty, population growth, and competing community needs- issues that will define their future.
This program is cross-curriculum aligned, extending beyond its original Geography Years 7–8 audience to engage students across English, Humanities, and Science. Its innovative pedagogy combines digital interactivity with educator facilitation, creating a flexible design that resonates with diverse learners and communities. By integrating Indigenous artwork and cultural storytelling into spatial design, the experience connects students to the land’s history, making sustainability personal and relevant.
Students leave empowered, with learning moments that demonstrate the power of collaboration and systems thinking-taking their understanding beyond simple actions like turning off taps to shaping a sustainable water future.
User Experience
Set within a transformed Education Centre at Melbourne Water’s Western Treatment Plant, The Future Water Story invites visitors to step into the shoes of community leaders tasked with shaping the future of a fictional town.
Upon arrival, visitors are split into six community groups, each representing a different perspective within the town. Each round, these groups are given different water-related scenarios that they will need to respond to as their town grows, all while managing the economic, environmental and emotional wellbeing of their town.
Using multitouch interactive tables, visitors sift through hundreds of pieces of evidence - community opinions, scientific data, reports, news articles, and more - before debating their options and making a collaborative decision on how to move forward. For some scenarios, visitors might need to work collaboratively with other groups, forging partnerships that allow them to make more powerful decisions.
After each decision, visitors come together to witness the results of their actions on a striking 2.5m circular floor LED. With the support of a trained educator and real-time game metrics, visitors unpack the consequences of their actions, making crucial links between gameplay and real-world water challenges.
The user experience of The Future Water Story is powered by a hybrid ecosystem of technology and storytelling. Together, these elements create an active, memorable learning journey that deepens water literacy and empowers visitors to understand their role in shaping a sustainable future.
Project Marketing
The success of The Future Water Story lies not in its technology alone, but how it drives interaction, collaboration, and critical thinking. Since launching in July 2024, the experience has welcomed over 2,000 Year 7-10 students from schools across Melbourne and engaged broader audiences through community and industry events.
Feedback highlights exceptional engagement and learning outcomes. Surveys collected between February and November 2025 show:
• 98% teacher satisfaction (86% “very satisfied,” 12% “satisfied”)
• NPS score of 73, with 79% rating 9 or 10 for likelihood to recommend
• 96% agreed students were fully engaged
• 96% agreed students gained a stronger understanding of sustainable water
• 93% agreed students learned their actions impact the water cycle
Teachers describe the experience as “inspiring,” “collaborative,” and “highly engaging and “inclusive” with one noting:
“The experience suited the learning style of our neurodiverse students”
Students echoed this enthusiasm:
“My favourite part was collaborating with other groups, making deals and bartering… We could see how our actions changed the city over time.”
More broadly, The Future Water Story supports Melbourne Water’s vision to empower future generations to shape sustainable water solutions. Victorian Minister for Water Harriet Shing praised its ability to teach compromise and systems thinking:
“The kids learn through the simulation that what works for the wider community doesn’t always work for them, so they have to find a way through with compromise.”
This program sets a new benchmark for digital education-delivering measurable impact and inspiring future sustainability leaders.
Project Privacy
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(https://www.melbournewater.com.au/about/what-we-do/policies/privacy-policy)
Digital - Education
EdTech focuses on how education is changing through technology, changing the way we learn and process knowledge. What will stand out here is those that enhance the learning experience and make a lasting impression.
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