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Tūpuna Pono: Te Tauihu Intergenerational Strategy
being good ancestors Tūpuna Pono
Tūpuna pono, being good ancestors, is the vision at the heart of the Te Tauihu Intergenerational Strategy, convened by Wakatū Incorporation alongside iwi, local government, central government, businesses and communities of Te Tauihu. Miriana Stephens, Wakatū Director and Programme Director for the strategy, reflects on the journey so far and shares her thoughts on the future of this exciting kaupapa.
He waka eke noa – we are in this waka together. It is this fundamental belief that led our whānau to take on the challenge of bringing together stakeholders across our rohe to develop the Te Tauihu Intergenerational Strategy. The development of the strategy has been underway since early 2018. At our annual Wakatū board planning meeting in Mōhua in 2018, we decided it was time to have a conversation with iwi, hapū, councils and the business community across Te Tauihu to look at a new approach to regional development, and to seek out innovative ways to engage with communities, while aligning with Te Pae Tawhiti, the 500-year intergenerational vision of Wakatū.
We saw the strategy as being about leadership, purpose, and ensuring we lay a better foundation through facilitating longer-term planning, connecting decision-making across the region and unlocking the potential in the communities for the benefit of our people, our land and our future, from Waikawa to Mōhua.
Participants at the Te Tauihu Youth Summit.
The formal process began in 2019 when the government announced its support for the kaupapa through the Provincial Growth Fund. A leadership group was formed, a programme of work for stage one was agreed and community engagement began. We ran over 25 community events across the region, including our Te Tauihu Talks series. Held in different locations across the region, this series facilitated important discussions on topics such as sustainability, resilience, healthy communities, ambition and courageous leadership. While these events were well attended, we were also able to offer a live-stream option through social media for others to participate in the conversation. It was encouraging to see many of our community who are not currently living in Te Tauihu being still able to participate. These talks are available on our website at https://tetauihu.nz/talks as ongoing useful, informative resources.
Te Tauihu is a special region in which to live and work, while the region attracts many visitors from around Aotearoa and the world. There are three national parks, we have the scenic Marlborough Sounds, and over one-fifth of New Zealand’s coastline, and we are New Zealand’s leading
We are the people of Te Tauihu. Together, we care for the health and wellbeing of our people and our places. We will leave our taonga in a better state than when it was placed in our care, for our children and the generations to come.
VISION STATEMENT FROM DRAFT STRATEGY
wine region. We also lead the way in the ocean economy. We have high-value engineering and design in areas such as horticulture and viticulture, aviation, marine, forestry and wood processing. We undertake a range of research, development and innovation, including hosting New Zealand’s largest independent science and research centre, the Cawthron Institute. We also have the highest per capita employment in these fields. We have much to celebrate, and we have a range of organisations already working hard to both grow and protect our collective assets. Our environmental management is, broadly speaking, very good.
However, we are facing some strong challenges. While our natural resources have helped fuel our high-quality primary industries, this has placed stress on our environment, including water quality and biodiversity. We also recognise the importance of moving to a low-emissions society and economy. We have reduced productivity and a high dependence on low-value jobs and industries, compared to the New Zealand average. This has contributed to an underlying inequality of outcomes across health, education and incomes across our region. As in other regions, housing affordability is a key challenge, as is tired infrastructure in some parts of our region that is not keeping up with changing demands.
These are challenging issues. Early on in the process, we brought in nationally and internationally recognised experts as a technical advisory group to focus and help us make sense of the information being gathered, and to help form the overall strategy for the region. We recognise that we don’t have all the answers and we are willing to seek advice and use best practice, locally and globally, to solve the issues we are facing. The feedback from communities across Te Tauihu, along with input from our technical advisors formed the draft strategy, released at the end of 2019.
One of the highlights of the journey so far has been hearing from our young people who have shared with us their vision for Te Tauihu. While our young people are concerned about many of the same issues as those in our wider community, it was particularly encouraging to hear such honest and compassionate dialogue, and their passion for the importance of identity. Identity that must reflect culture, te reo Māori, history, kindness to humanity and the natural world.
In addition to the strategy itself, another positive result has been the seeds planted across Te Tauihu through connection, conversation and the sharing of data and knowledge among communities. While it’s impossible to track or measure the impact of these new relationships, it’s been hugely affirming to hear so many positive stories of connection and collaboration emerging through our engagement process.
Kiwa Kahukura-Denton opens the Te Tauihu Youth Summit.
Florence van Dyke, Te Puoho Kātene & Julie Fry discuss ambition at the Te Tauihu Talks held at Te Āwhina Marae.
Our people and our children cannot be what they cannot see. We need to tell stories to connect with them and enable their dreams to come through. If we achieve our ambitions and succeed for our people to see, they can aspire to the same lofty goals and in doing so we can all rise together.
TE PUOHO KĀTENE
The Intergenerational Strategy is providing a blueprint for communities and agencies across Te Tauihu to work together to develop a healthy, prosperous and safe future for all whānau of Te Tauihu.
Another outcome of the strategy has been the development of our wellbeing framework, Oranga Te Tauihu. Wellbeing of both people and place is at the heart of the overall strategy, and the framework, thought to be the first of its kind in the country, establishes intergenerational wellbeing outcomes, goals and indicators. To help us understand how we’re currently tracking across the region and to measure future improvements, the framework outlines what wellbeing indicators and measures we have already, and helps identify areas where we have gaps that need to be filled.
The next stage of work will continue our community engagement and collaboration while working together to deliver on these identified priorities:
• Improved climate change and regenerative agriculture outcomes • Strengthening our regional economy • Regional identity (our stories, te reo Māori and culture) • Working together to improve social equity • Smart housing solutions • Leadership forum for ongoing collaboration
MIRIANA STEPHENS
Rangatahi discuss the big issues of the day at the Youth Summit.
It is exciting to see that the draft strategy is beginning to be recognised nationally. This is an innovative model and a first for the country: a strategy being led by a Māori organisation, with a long-term vision, supported by local businesses, connecting strongly with community, and putting wellbeing at its centre. Wakatū is leading the way for the benefit of the whole region. The journey to develop the draft strategy has been difficult at times. It is a new way of working together. We have all learnt along the way, and we acknowledge that we can always do better, but we are proud of our achievement in bringing together a diverse range of stakeholders to have a conversation about the future of Te Tauihu and work to solve some of our most pressing challenges. This mahi requires us to live by ‘tūpuna pono’, and our commitment to be good ancestors will be ongoing. It’s been incredibly rewarding and inspiring to meet with people across Te Tauihu and celebrate what we do well, recognise what we could be doing better and address the ongoing challenges that exist within our communities such as inequality, housing and climate change.
I have been in awe of the level of passion, talent and willingness to engage that has been shared across the region. From Wairau to Mōhua, people have come on board, and the intergenerational perspective that we live and breathe at Wakatū has resonated.
While the strategy will be a valuable asset for our communities and local agencies, and it has the potential to guide us in the work we do, it also has a role in advocating and strengthening our position with central government. It’s important that our local people have a say in how government pūtea is spent in our communities. We are encouraged by the Provincial Growth Fund’s willingness to invest in this process.
Engaging in this level of colloboration is never easy. I am proud of our whānau, of the team for their tireless work on this mahi, and of our regional leaders for investing their resources and energy into this kaupapa. The progress has affirmed our collective passion for Te Tauihu and our desire to do better by doing better things.
The Te Tauihu Intergenerational Strategy is strengthening the connections between our decision makers and communities. It has incubated a new wave of leadership to tackle the big issues we face and sparked new conversations about what is possible. We have heard from people who are not often heard, through these processes. And we have demonstrated that our region can lead the way, illustrating what can be done through collective action.
Above: Audience at the Nelson community hui.
Right: Bill Gilbertson and Nelson City Councillor Rachel Sanson at the Nelson community hui.
As a community-led process, it is the intention that the strategy will be owned by the communities of Te Tauihu rather than any one stakeholder. It’s up to all of us to deliver on these priorities and enhance this beautiful place we call home.
The next phase of work is for the leadership group to work through the feedback from the communities on the draft strategy. Then the final version of the strategy will be delivered and we will embark on stage two of our mahi. We look forward to taking action and to the challenges ahead.
The natural world has a voice, we just need to listen. When we see that, we will start to do things differently and that is the change that is required.
ANEIKA YOUNG
