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Hau Kāinga: Lots of Little Fires | He pakipūmeka

An Update from Lead Social Innovator: Joe WilsonThe concept of ‘lots of little fires’ captures the idea that there are many small ‘fires’ of passionate people ‘burning bright’ across the Waikato. In the night sky, from above, we can see them all and it is a beautiful sight, but often at the ground level all we see is the fire in front of us and we feel the constant heat. When we rise above and look down from the sky, we can see there are so many others fuelling their own fires of pas...

Waha: Using our Voice to Advocate for Positive Change

In late February we submitted on the Future for Local Government Review. You can read the review report here. The WWP has submitted on this report because of the important and far reaching recommendations it makes about the form, function and role of local government in New Zealand. Like the review panel, we are not overly concerned with administrative boundaries, are and more interested in how local government functions in contemporary communities which re diverse, complex and dynamic.Some of t...

Aotearoa New Zealand SDG Summit Series

The 4th Aotearoa SDG Summit Conference was held 9-10 February this year in the Waikato. Co-hosted by the University of Waikato, Waikato Wellbeing project, Te Pukenga and Waikato Tainui. A wide range of speaker from the Waikato and across Aotearoa spoke to the summit’s theme of indigenous perspectives on sustainable development. Keynote speakers included Waikato Regional Council Char Pamela Story, WWP Co-Chair Mike Rolton, Hamilton Mayor Paula Southgate, Koi Tu Director and President of the Int...

The Waikato Kai Challenge Project Activator 

12 month role | 20-25 hrs per weekFlexible Work Options AvailableAre you an experienced Project Manager looking for a role where you can use your creative thinking and strong people skills to achieve a food secure Waikato? We're on a journey to understand how we might create a region where all whānau have access to healthy kai, and are seeking a motivated Project Activator to activate the Waikato Kai Project.The Waikato Kai Project is an exciting and evolving ...

2022 in Retrospect

As the final newsletter for the year, it’s a time to reflect on 2022 and the WWP. Work led by our Kaitiaki Advisory Board has reframed our strategic goals and priority areas. Our new vision of “Our mokopuna are thriving” is a much clearer statement of what sustainable development in the Waikato looks like to us. Our mission makes clear our role as careful and active listeners, looking to really understand the root cause of our wellbeing challenges, and applying that to find transcendent b...

Waikato Awa Tira Hoe

On 12 December the Waikato Wellbeing Project team, manu taki, kaitiaki and partners joined together with Rahui Pookeka Water Sports to undertake a tira hoe journey from Turangawaewae Marae to near Waahi Pa at Rahui Pookeka | Huntly.  The purpose of the tira hoe was for us to all gain a deeper and better appreciation of the Te Ao Māori dimensions to wellbeing in the Waikato, to better appreciate te mana o te awa, and how it forms the backbone for any conversation about cultural environmenta...

Poutoko: Impact Project Update

The Rangatahi Opportunity Project reached a major milestone with the launch of our Case for Change “YouThink You Know” on 26 October. An event at the WINTEC Atrium was attended by community, government, philanthropic, youth and iwi leaders from across the Waikato. As well as sharing the major findings from our multi-year research, the event also celebrated our rangatahi and showed their incredible talent and potential. We were thrilled to host performances from Dujon Cullingford, Rosalie N...

The Waikato Kai Challenge | He wero whai hua

The WWP has an ambitious goal of reducing child poverty in the Waikato region to less than 1% and eliminating child hunger by 2030 and a vision that “Our children can thrive because none are hungry at school or cold at home. They can afford to participate in social, artistic, cultural and sporting activities.”  To date our Manu Taki for SDG 1 and 2 Anna Casey-Cox, Norm Hill, Ioana Manu, Cilla Abbott and Jo Wrigley have undertaken a series of consultation hui to understand how we can dev...

Waha: Using our Voice to Advocate for Positive Change

In November we lodged a submission with the New Zealand Productivity Commission in response to their interim report on ending intergenerational disadvantage in New Zealand (Productivity Commission | Interim report on A Fair Chance for All). Our submission can be viewed here: The key points we made included: Centralisation and localism- many effective wellbeing programmes have their origins at grassroots levels, especially in terms of their design, delivery and governance. Those interventions sh...

Hau Kāinga: Lots of Little Fires | He pakipūmeka

An Update from Lead Social Innovator: Joe Wilson...

Pūrākau: Waikato Wellbeing Knowledge Centre | Te Kikokiko o te Whakaaro

We have continued to evolve the concept we have been developing since late 2021. Our advisors from MartinJenkins and Melde have been working to develop the Strategic Case (the Case for Change) and then a framework for turning this case into action. Our work has confirmed that the current arrangements around how we generate, access, and utilise both data and insights could use enhancements and that there is a need to: Increase visibility and accessibility: with better communication, visualisatio...

Aotearoa New Zealand SDG Summit Series

The 4th Aotearoa SDG Summit series has now concluded its lead up webinars, and we are now less than 60 days away from the 2 day summit in early February 2023. The final webinar on “Reimagining the Economy” was held on 7 December. Speakers included Taiporutu Hauraki(Ngaati Hauaa, Ngaati Werewere) and SDG 6 manu taki; Justin Connolly, founding member of the Aotearoa New Zealand hub of WEAl and WWP Kaitiaki Advisory Board member and Reza Yacobi, founder of XertCoin. A big thanks to our amazin...

Aotearoa SDG Alliance

The Aotearoa SDG Alliance continues to develop and grow. We have been a member of the Steering Group since the idea of the alliance was agreed to at the 3rd SDG Summit series in 2021. We have widened the Steering Group to include more community leaders from across Aotearoa. We are currently recruiting co-chairs to lead the next stages of development of the Alliance. Iris Pahau has agreed to be the tangata whenua co-chair for the alliance, and a tangata tiriti co-chair will be announced shortly....

Seeking Expressions of Interest for a Project Activator - 6 month contract role

We're on a journey to understand how we might create a region where all whānau have access to healthy kai, and are seeking a motivated Project Activator to activate the Waikato Kai Project.The Waikato Kai Project is an exciting and evolving project, providing an opportunity for the right candidate to shape and define the best pathway in creating systemic change, through collaboration.As our Project Activator, you will have a passion for kai security/resilience, the abil...

Manu Taki Voice: Jo Wrigley, Manager of Go Eco and Manu Taki for SDG 1/2 and 13

Black Friday: Are you dying of consumption?If you are anything like me, you have an inbox quickly filling with marketing emails for Black Friday, not to be confused with Friday the 13th. True to the name, Black Friday sales are the coal smudge of retail marketing, clogging our inboxes and minds with messages about how buying new stuff will make us happy. Messages that fool us into thinking we’re getting a deal, on an item we didn’t know we needed. Black Friday sales are a lazy, yet profitab...

An introduction to the Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll) - networking event

The Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll) is a global collaboration of groups, movements and individuals working to transform the economic system into one that delivers a healthy planet for healthy people. To achieve this, WEAll seeks to create a space for the important concepts and discussions to enable such change to occur, and to support and encourage them by providing a wealth of knowledge and narratives for people to draw on. This event is one of a number of networking events we have been hold...

Case for Change Highlights Waikato Rangatahi Strengths and Opportunities

A major report from the Waikato Wellbeing Project (WWP) shines light on wellbeing for rangatahi (youth aged 15-24) in Hamilton | Kirikiriroa. The report is the culmination of nearly two years’ work by the WWP, to facilitate insights into the root causes of rangatahi wellbeing in the Waikato. It brings together data collated by Te Ngira at the University of Waikato, learnings from other regions and the lived experience of local youth and youth supporters, captured through face-to-face intervie...

Te wiki o te reo Māori

Te Wiki o te Reo Māori Māori Language Week We are on a continuous journey to incorporate te ao Māori into the way we work, communicate and express ideas. Like many, we have a long way to go, so Te Wiki o te Reo Māori is a great opportunity for us to put greater focus and energy into te reo, making it a regular element of how we communicate.  Clink on the link below to access some great resources from Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori (Māori Language Commission) to help you on your reo jou...

Acknowledging Samantha Lee | Te mihi Samantha Lee

Samantha has decided to step down from the WWP Kaitiaki Advisory Board to dedicate her full attention to important family professional and community development opportunities in her home communities of Haruaki and Thames-Coromandel. Sam has been a key contributor to the first operational year for the WWP, and her insightful advice has bene a key factor in our progress to date.  Haere rā Sam - we wish you all the very best for your future and sincerely thank her for your leadership sup...

Aotearoa New Zealand SDG Summit Series

The Waikato Wellbeing project, along with the University of Waikato, Waikato Tainui and Te Pukenga are proud to jointly hosts of the 4th Aotearoa SDG Seminar series. The WWP is thrilled to be a key sponsor of the seminar series. The theme for the 4th SDG Summit is: Māori, Indigenous and flax root community perspectives. The series follow the same format as previous series, with lead up webinars and a two-day in-person summit where ideas can be explored in far more depth, including through ...

Collaboration in real time…Embedding cross sector collaboration into our organizational practices

Our lead Social Innovator Joe Wilson reflects on collaboration in the real world- and how it really works. Collaboration is the latest ‘buzz word’ most commonly found being floated around numerous social sector org’s and in progressively minded funding bodies. It is usually spoken about in high-level hui’s where everyone agrees we should all collaborate more. No doubt about it. Let's collaborate. We should definitely collaborate more…and so it is decided, we will collaborate. This...

Hau Kāinga: Lots of Little Fires | He pakipūmeka

We’ve got some exciting irons in the fire! Filming for the first story took place last week down at the Red Shed in Waitomo with artist, carver and passionate community man, Daniel Ormsby. As dusk fell gently into night, Daniel generously and openly shared his wisdoms and kōrero over a glowing fire. Beautifully captured on film by Murdoch Daly (One Man Crew), we look forward to soon releasing our first ‘little fire’ story with WWP collective and far beyond. Big mihi to Daniel for hosting ...

NZ Productivity Commission: A Fair Chance for All

The New Zealand Productivity Commission was asked by the government to investigate the dynamics and drivers of persistent disadvantage and to make recommendations to help break or mitigate the cycle of disadvantage within people’s lifetimes and across generations. A draft Terms of Reference were released in August 2021.  Along with many others, the WWP provided feedback and has met several times with the Commission to explore links between this work and the WWP. The fi...

Our Strategic Goals | Whāinga rautaki

With the guidance of our Kaitiaki Advisory Board, the WWP has updated and refreshed our strategic framework.  As the WWP has moved from concept to reality, we have reflected on the WWP’s current vision of “achieving a more environmentally sustainable, prosperous and inclusive Waikato region by 2030”. While still valid in a literal sense- as a vision statement this is a technical phrase which doesn’t full grasp what we feel is the real meaning of wellbeing in the Waikato.  ...

Poutoko: Impact Project Update: Rangatahi Opportunity Project

Since our July update, the Rangatahi Opportunity team have continued to reach out to rangatahi and youth organisations in Kirikiriroa Hamilton, understanding more deeply the lived experience of rangatahi, their strengths and the challenges they face.  Along with the research we have previously undertaken in partnership with Te Ngira at the University of Waikato (Insights | Waikato Wellbeing Project), we are now finalising our case for change which summarises our insights and prese...