BMW Group Australia has launched the fourth edition of the YourMelbourne student competition in partnership with two of Melbourne’s prestigious universities, RMIT University and the University of Melbourne.
In this year’s iteration, the competition is open to all students – undergraduate and graduate – enrolled at both RMIT University College and the University of Melbourne, and challenges students to bring to life their sustainable vision for Melbourne in the year 2030.
Students are encouraged to think of innovative and sustainable ways to manage climate change, a growing population and the need for mobility amid Melbourne’s expanding population and sprawling urban landscape.
For even greater relevance to humanitarian goals, students are also asked for ideas that can contribute to fulfilling the United Nations’ 17 sustainable development goals by 2030.
Each entry will be judged on five core pillars: Public Mobility, Private Mobility, Urban Planning, Connectivity and Sustainability.
Students are asked to integrate their ideas and execution concepts across a diverse range of academic disciplines, spanning from design and technology to user experience, engineering, and business aspects.
Students can participate either as individuals or as a group, with more than $10,000 combined in cash prizes for the three winners in each category group. Additionally, the first-place winners in both categories will be awarded with a week-long internship experience at BMW Group Australia headquarters, providing an invaluable opportunity to immerse themselves in a multi-national workplace environment.
| Individual category prizes | Team category prizes(prizes awarded to team as a whole) | |
| 1st | $5,000 (by way of EFT to the bank account nominated by the winner) | $7,500 (by way of EFT to the bank account nominated by the winner) |
| 2nd | $1,000 Apple Store Gift Card | $1,500 Apple Store Gift Card |
| 3rd | $500 Amazon Gift Card | $750 Amazon Gift Card |
The winning entries of each category will be selected by an expert panel comprising of representatives from BMW Group Australia, RMIT University, University of Melbourne and the Lord Mayor, Sally Cap from the City of Melbourne.
Wolfgang Buechel, CEO of BMW Group Australia, said the YourMelbourne competition is an important investment into the community that he looks forward to each year.
“The competition has gone from strength to strength over the years. We are pleased to continue our long-standing partnership with RMIT University and announce the expansion to include the University of Melbourne. We are also delighted to have the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Sally Capp joining the judging panel and offering her experience as the leader of the city’s development.
Wolfgang Buechel, CEO of BMW Group Australia
The growth of the competition allows us to cast the net wider in search of next-generation visionaries.
In the past three competitions, I have been impressed by the level of creativity and innovation shown by the students through their submissions. The solutions presented each year demonstrate the students’ passion to improve mobility in the city of Melbourne and give us the opportunity to see a more sustainable future through their perspective.”
YourMelbourne has proven to be an effective platform in encouraging students to think about the future of their city and recognising those who rise to the challenge with groundbreaking ideas. We are eager to continue our contribution to the advancement of this program which ultimately enables our students to exercise the learnings from their education.
Professor Heath McDonald, Dean of School of Economics, Finance and Marketing – College of Business and Law at RMIT University
Professor Peter Gahan, Commerce Course Director at the University of Melbourne, sees the potential to harness students’ passion for sustainability through the competition.
Being an integral part of the fabric of Melbourne for more than a 150 years’, we appreciate and value the importance of futureproofing our city with the topic of sustainability at the forefront of discussions.
Professor Peter Gahan, Commerce Course Director at the University of Melbourne
We are excited to be joining our sister university, RMIT, in offering the YourMelbourne competition to our students for the first time this year. We believe this initiative will activate an already strong interest in climate action, and generate new and novel ideas that can positively impact the city we live in. We look forward to being inspired.
Sustainability is an important part of BMW Group’s global and local strategy. It encompasses the entire business footprint and considers how we can rethink, reduce, reuse and recycle in all areas of the value chain.
By 2030, BMW Group aims to reduce its carbon emissions by 40 per cent per vehicle and have at least half of all cars sold to be fully electric. MINI will also be the first brand under BMW Group to become fully electric.
For more information on the YourMelbourne 2023 Competition, please visit the competition microsite, which can be accessed via bmw.com.au/yourmelbourne.
