Kia ora koutou. In this month’s pānui | eNews:
- WRLC Annual Partners Forum 2023
- WRLC June Meeting Papers
- Regional Economic Development Plan Update
Pan-Regional Forum celebrates Year Two of the Wellington Regional Leadership Committee’s Work Programme
What can happen in two years?
In multi-year or even multi-decadal work programmes, the sense of a tangible impact can sometimes feel perpetually on the horizon.
However, taking the time to step back and take stock can highlight how far we have come. This was certainly the case at the WRLC Annual Partners Forum on Monday 26 June. It was also rewarding to see the number and diversity of organisations and stakeholders who are on this collective journey with us.
To mark the end of Year Two, Iwi members, Councilors, Central Government representatives and committee members from across the Wellington-Wairarapa-Horowhenua region, spent the afternoon with WRLC Secretariat staff and Project Leads at the Lower Hutt Events Centre. The day was designed to share updates on our work, connect kanohi-ki-te-kanohi, and to discuss our aspirations, challenges and opportunities going forward.
This was the WRLC’s second Annual Partners Forum, and the chance to bring everyone together in one place and connect on our shared vision for the region, has left us energised and inspired for year three.
Pictured: Project Lead Megan Williams shares an update on the Iwi Capacity and Capability Project
Enjoy a video of the WRLC work story!
A highlight of the forum was a collaborative video designed to tell the story of our work through the voices of communities across the region. The video beautifully captures the diversity and connectedness of our people and our whenua, and will make you proud – you can view it here.
Project expo speed-dating!
The time spent choreographing our afternoon ‘expo’ session paid off, with delegates circulated around the room every 15 minutes to hear from a different cluster of projects.
Delegate’s positive feedback highlighted for us what can be achieved when we prioritise relationship-building and story-telling; building deeper understanding of our shared challenges and opportunities to support better solutions.
A huge thank you to the Project Leads who invested much time and energy preparing the expo and engaging with delegates on the day. Our region is in good hands!
Pictured: Project Lead Jamuna Rotstein shares an update on the Regional Climate Impacts Assessment and Adaptation Plan
You can now read the papers for the WRLC June meeting, here.
The June meeting papers included:
- Programme Directors Report
- Regional Economic Development Plan Update
- Future Development Strategy Update
- Future Development Strategy Signoff
- Project Visions for the Regional Emissions Reduction Strategy and the Regional Food System Strategy
- Programme Reporting
WellingtonNZ are driving implementation of our Regional Economic Development Plan. The plan is enabling a coordinated approach towards accelerating our region’s key sectors to build on competitive advantage and future opportunities including attracting screen productions to our region, supporting technology businesses to grow, preparing our future STEM workforce, developing new visitor experiences, and implementing opportunities for food and beverage businesses to showcase their offerings.
This month the WRLC approved the addition of four new initiatives into the REDP to address gaps. The new initiatives are:
- Screen Accelerator Project – to support the screen sector’s ability to grow and scale through coaching our screen sector practitioners to develop and commercialise their unscripted content ideas.
- STEM Maker Story – to recognise and promote our advanced manufacturing and innovation capabilities to the rest of Aotearoa and the world, enhancing our reputation as a source of world-class engineering and scientific solutions.
- Capital Capital – to attract venture capital by running a Capital Summit in Wellington in approximately June 2024, bringing our tech business leaders and start-up founders together with investors and fund managers from Asia Pacific.
- Civics Experience – to increase visitor spend and demand by enabling civic education to be more engaging and accessible for residents and visitors.
The latest version of the plan is available here.
Upcoming Thought Leader Webinars
Keep an eye on your inbox for more information and dates on upcoming webinars, including:
Dr James Renwick – July 26th
Andrew Eagle – NZGBC
Alec Tang – KPMG and Ben Van Bruggen – THE URBAN ROOM
Carwyn Jones, Ellie Tapsell & Dr Maria Bargh – Me Tū ā-Uru
About the Wellington Regional Leadership Committee
WRLC is a joint regional partnership which brings together Iwi leaders, Mayors, Ministers of Government, and an independent chair, to work collaboratively on cross-boundary, growth-related challenges in the Wellington-Wairarapa-Horowhenua region.
WRLC exists to find better ways of working together to ensure that our region continues to be a place where people want to live, work and thrive.
Our projects cover five broad key areas that are integral to our shared growth-related cross-boundary challenges. These five areas are iwi capacity, housing, climate, transport and economic development and recovery. Read more about our work on our project page, and if you’re interested in collaborating, sharing information and finding alignment – get in touch at hello@wrlc.org.nz.