He waka eke noa – We are in this waka together

Bold and ambitious ideas sought for the Te Tauihu intergenerational strategy

A series of community conversations called Te Tauihu Talks will be held across Marlborough, Nelson and Tasman throughout July and August to feed into the development of the Te Tauihu Intergenerational Strategy.

“We want to bring the community together in an informal way to help us shape the strategy,” says Miriana Stephens, Te Tauihu Intergenerational Strategy Programme Director.

“We’re running Te Tauihu Talks from Mohua (Golden Bay) to Waikawa (Picton) with interesting local and national speakers to stimulate conversation, encourage questions so that the community can bring their ideas for the future of Te Tauihu.”

“The Te Tauihu Intergenerational Strategy is putting a new lens on decision making across Te Tauihu and challenging us all to be better ancestors. It’s a new way of thinking about regional development that unlocks the opportunities and potential that we know exists here. We can achieve more when we work together, so we’ve worked hard to bring everyone to the table to have this important conversation about our future,’ Ms Stephens says.

The initiative is led by Wakatū Incorporation in partnership with Nelson City Council, Tasman District Council and Marlborough District Council, the business community, NMIT and whānau, hapū, and Iwi across Te Tauihu. It is supported by a $435,000 investment from the government’s Provincial Growth Fund.

‘Te Tauihu is a special place to live, work and belong to. We want to foster a positive and uplifting community conversation that allows us to celebrate the things that connect us, while also tackling the big issues head-on in a collaborative and ambitious way,’ Ms Stephens says.

‘We are facing unprecedented challenges - climate change, water quality, low productivity and a high dependence on low-value jobs and industries. These issues require bold solutions, not a business as usual approach.’

Nelson Tasman Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Ali Boswijk, who is involved with the project, fully supports the programme of community engagement. “We have a unique opportunity to get the business and wider community engaged in a conversation about planning for the future, on a much longer term horizon than we typically see. The Chamber fully supports this intergenerational approach and believes this project can be a gamechanger for the communities of Te Tauihu.”

The first event will be held at the Suter Gallery in Nelson on Monday 1 July and focuses on the theme ‘resilience’ across our economy, environment and people. Panellists include Aneika Young, Richard Brudvik-Linder and Andy Elliot, who will speak to big ideas such as Te Tauihu becoming a predator-free region, developing the region as the intellectual capital of Aotearoa, and the future of high-value food production.

The Blenheim event is next Wednesday evening from 6-8pm at the Marlborough Convention Centre. Everyone is welcome.

Te Tauihu talks and community conversations are a part of a series of events and tools to seek input and ideas from the community to help shape the Te Tauihu Intergenerational Strategy. The strategy will be launched at the end of September.

For more information head to tetauihu.nz or facebook.com/tetauihu to register for a Te Tauihu Talk and keep up to date.

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