VDC’s VET National Teaching & Learning Conference is back in-person at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on 14 & 15 August 2025 and tickets are selling fast – Register today.
Let’s introduce keynote speaker: Tim Cope, Australian Adventurer, Founder-Owner Tim Cope Journeys, and Author. Tim’s presentation is titled “Learning to Rush Slowly”.
Tim Cope is a celebrated Australian adventurer and author renowned as much for his iconic journeys, as for championing the people of the lands he travels through. He is a model example of resilience, responsible risk-taking, and the importance of building strong relationships, but has also earned the unique title from National Geographic of cultural ambassador.
Tim passionately presents the case that there are crucial lessons to be learned by stepping outside the comfort zone of our social constructs and reassessing life through the lens of unfamiliar cultures. He believes that the experience of adventure remains important in our digital era, in part because of the human wisdom to be learned from lands and people different to our own.
The Odyssey: Tim is best known for his ambitious odyssey riding horses on the trail of Genghis Khan, 10,000km from Mongolia to Hungary across the great Eurasian Steppe. Australian Geographic billed this ‘one of the greatest journeys of modern times.’
At the beginning of the journey, Tim could barely ride a horse, but three and a half years later he made world headlines when he rode onto the banks of the Danube, along with his three horses and trusty canine companion, Tigon. To get there he had endured challenges that ranged from wolves and thieves to isolation in freezing steppe and searing deserts, social unrest and bureaucratic bungling. Nearing the end he received the tragic news of the sudden death of his father.
Through it all Tim drew inspiration from the nomadic people of the steppe who offered friendship, wisdom, and extraordinary hospitality. They taught Tim how to have patience, resilience, to make friends with the unfamiliar, and to retain both a sense of humour, curiosity, humility, and humanity in the face of adversity.
VDC would like to thank this year’s Conference Sponsor
