Free sustainability resources available now from these public forums

Our thanks to all who participated, in particular to Hunter, panel members and organisations / individuals who contributed to this event. The feedback from all who attended was great.

HUNTER'S POWERPOINT SLIDES and VIDEO. (FREE)

SLIDES: from Hunter's final Smart Business Forum in Wellington can be downloaded here (13Mb pdf) or off the Natural Capitalism site Many other free resources are there. Listen to her podcast by Stranova

VIDEOCLIPS On line in Windows Media Format - (Mins/Mbytes)

(a) Rural focus Forums and dialogue: (click on title to view)
Smart Like Nature (27m/44) A rural rainforest community, Te Whaiti
Smart Communities (48m/78) Maori in a proactive community, Raglan
Smart Environment (50m/96) Active young people, Auckland & North
Smart Agriculture (50m/82) Innovative farmers and others, Hamilton

(b) Urban focus forums and dialogue: (click on title to view)
Smart Cities (50m/80) Young people and a mayor from Auckland cities
Smart Business (39m/63) With young people and businesses, Auckland
Smart Economy (40m/65) Students with Local Government, Wellington
A Smart Learning Country (52m/82) A diverse dialogue in Wellington

These are also available on DVD - see below

See also on line video on "Re-designing or Future" - youth forums with Michael Braungart (Cradle to Cradle Design) and Alex Steffen in Auckland, Aug 08

Content and Forum Overview

In July 2006, Hunter visited Aotearoa to be a catalyst for a pioneering series of National forums held in Christchurch, Auckland, Hamilton, Te Whaiti, Hastings, and Wellington. This was not just a standard whistle stop tour presentation by Hunter in a number of locations, but rather a series of free public discussion forums each with a theme appropriate to the region, each including a panel of young people and others focused on generating dialogue about sustainability and the future.

For many young people on the panels and in the audience this was their first opportunity to have a say in their own future. Viewers cannot fail to be impressed by their wisdom, talent and commitment. Many went on to become The Youth Voice (www.thelongsong.com); a contingent of 90+ who enriched the Digital Earth Summit on Sustainability (www.digitalearth.org.nz) in Auckland 6 Aug 2006. Some members will be networking with US youth to make their voice heard even more loudly at the next Digital Earth in San Francisco in June 2007. Nexus will be running a free youth workshop "Joining the dots" on Tues 20th Feb 2006 prior to the NZSSES Sustainability Science and Engineering Conference at Auckland University. They continue to find other innovative ways to participate in and influence the national and international decision making process. I n doing so they offer a healthy challenge to the perspectives, values and assumed power of the baby boom generation who they must succeed.

Many forums were enriched by a number of Maori participants who shared the concepts of kaitiakitanga (guardianship and much more) and other indigenous world view values that add a new dimension to the international sustainability movement. Hunter spent a relaxing weekend on the Murumurunga Marae in Te Whaiti visiting the world renowned Whirinaki Rainforest (featured in the SMART LIKE NATURE clip).

The SMART COMMUNITY and SMART ENVIRONMENT clips include some appended video to celebrate grass root environmental restoration and community development pro-active role models (Hokianga Harbourcare, Raglan and others) aimed at growing and preserving our natural capital. These to often go unrecognized and unsupported, well below the official radar.

The SMART BUSINESS, SMART CITIES, SMART ECONOMY and SMART AGRICULTURE forums involved people representing organisations that are doing pro-active things for our future, particularly around the design of products, processes, cities and policy.

The final forum A SMART LEARNING COUNTRY held in Wellington (the seat of government), brought together a talented and diverse panel representing all the previous forums who voiced a positive direction and actions for the future.

Acknowledgements:

Our thanks go to the network of enthusiastic volunteers around NZ who used "Living Systems Thinking" to organise the trip, using some very organic leadership processes. Also to the the many committed NZ cities and other organisations that contributed funding to help.

Finally we all express our personal appreciation to Hunter for her selfless passion, commitment, knowledge, dialogue and facilitation skills, without which this event could not have happened.

DVDs for purchase. (2 DVD set)

(a) Rural Focus - Nature, Communities, Environment, Agriculture
(b) Urban Focus - Cities, Business, Economy, Learning
To obtain a copy please send a Cheque for $50 made out to Te Kura Toitu o Te Whaiti Nui-a-Toi. Address: The Secretary (Tere), PO Box 3013, Via Rotorua. ph 07 366 3221. (Over the holidays email here) This will help support the Kaitiakitanga Program at Whirinaki Rainforest.

(Copies of these have been gifted as a koha to the libraries of political parties, key government agencies and other organisations associated with sustainability and environmental education.)

Full FORUM DVDs in Libraries

A set of eight DVDs covering the full sessions (1. Smart Business (Ak) , 2. Smart Cities, 3.Smart Environment, 4. Smart Agriculture, 5. Smart Communities, 6. Smart like Nature (Kaitiakitanga), 7. Smart Economy, 8. A Smart Learning Country have been sent to the following Libraries: Auckland City, Auckland University, AUT, Hamilton City, Waikato University, Raglan, Hastings City, Wellington City, Victoria University, Christchurch City, Canterbury University, Lincoln University, CPIT, Dunedin City and University of Otago. (These can be borrowed and copied for educational purposes providing discs are labeled as per the master copy)

REFLECTION AND LEARNINGS:

It was inspiring to have so many enthusiastic and talented young people contributing on panels. We look forward to them networking together and using their co-creative power to ask hard questions of our national systems and behaviours to spearhead more change and action.

We were disappointing that a number of national organisations who vocally commit themselves publicly to sustainability, the environment, education, networking and community development were not readily able to recognise a win-win opportunity to participate and contribute positively as part of a collaborative national volunteer network. We trust that this event will have been a "disturbance" that will encourage more "living system thinking" outside the confines of our own narrow boxes. There we see these opportunities not as extra work or competition, but rather as a way to make our own actions more effective in the longer term by exploiting and levering on connections.

In October we were encouraged by those who arranged a visit by Al Gore to grow a heightened national awareness about climate change and sustainability. This has coincided with a renewed commitment to some positive action by the New Zealand Government and many others.

This site will be left up to share the resources and to be used as a model for future cross agency / cross organisational collaborative initiatives. See How we work. For any questions or feed back email us

Q. WHAT IS KAITIAKITANGA?? A. Click here

THE WEBSITE INFORMATION USED TO PROMOTE THE VISIT.

World-renowned sustainability expert, Hunter Lovins, reminds us that a world facing climate change, deteriorating eco-systems and peak oil is a challenging place to do business or to make a life in. She insists that solutions to these problems do exist and can be implemented in ways that create greater prosperity, improve local and national security and present opportunities for each of us to find greater meaning in our lives. More on Hunter:

All are welcome to come to these free public forums where Hunter and a panel of New Zealanders (young and old) will help us reflect on what we would seek to pass on to future generations. See her open letter to Kiwi youth

Thanks to our Christchurch region youth for responding with a bold challenge at their forum - "Sustainability, your future or ours"

Each two hour seminar/forum will have a specific theme appropriate to the region starting with a challenging presentation by Hunter and followed by an interactive panel discussion and question / reflection time. On stage to support her will be some local experts in the subject area, together with young people and others from organisations committed to sustainable development and enterprise whose actions we will celebrate.

These sessions will suit a wide range of people from business, government and community organisations. Our objective has been to make them free and open to all those who do not normally not get the opportunity participate in such events or to have a say. They are in the school holiday break, so we expect many young people, students and their teachers will want to attend.

Can you help us please?

A network of volunteers around the country are connecting together as a living system to help organise Hunter's visit.. This includes many young people committed to the future from the Sir Peter Blake Youth Environment Forum, Enviro-schools projects, our universities, schools and elsewhere who will do much of the promotion work. Our aim is to ensure that New Zealand makes the most of having Hunter here; using her as a catalyst to inspire some fresh thinking about the world we will pass on to all our grandchildrens. We have a focused group in each location to handle all local arrangements.

We are required to find considerable funding to bring Hunter Lovins and her administrator here, so seek donor organisations who understand the concepts of triple / quadruple bottom line to support us please. We are not looking for corporate sponsorship in the conventional sense; the brand for this programme is “New Zealand”. You contibution helps makes it possible for our youth to be heard and celebrated. To find out how you can help, see How we work and Contributors

More Youth Stepping Stones:

We hope that many youth attending and having their say will step on to attend the Digital Earth Conference www.digitalearth.org.nz in Auckland on 26th - 30th August. This has a special pre-conference youth forum workshop and a highly subsidised conference fee.

( Many did this and went on to Digital Earth in San franciso in 2007. (see report on Youth Voice US Trip April 2006

PUSH START NOW - Be positive, think zero waste and be kind to our planet - some ideas here