NZAEE Conference
Our national conference is an opportunity to connect with passionate people from around the motu and hear a range of perspectives and stories.
This page has all the key information you need, including registration details, online programme and speaker profiles. For those who attend live online, there will be opportunities to share ideas, network and ask questions during our concurrent sessions in breakout rooms. There will also be breaks to encourage you to get offline and reset, before the next round of inspiration and discussion!
Our online conference will be recorded and available to everyone who registers, so if you can't make it live or can't decide which concurrent sessions to choose, you can watch the presentations at a time that works for you.
Our conference name reflects the need for hope and action for te taiao. We know how important it is to feel part of a community that is actively working towards a thriving future for people and nature, particularly for young people and educators.
Our programme includes a diverse range of speakers, including rangatahi, school leaders, tangata whenua, kaiako, environmental educators and researchers. They will all share their stories of hope and action and encourage you to think about your role and potential for activating positive change.
We encourage local groups to organise a 'watching party' or plan a networking or nature connection activity for the afternoon in your area, to help put ideas into action and apply them to your local place. This could also be organised for another time during the October school holidays or during Term Four, to work with current plans or teacher professional learning. Please get in touch if you would like help with ideas or support for any networking events.
This year we are pleased to offer NZAEE members, teachers and students free registration for our online conference, but it is still essential that you complete the registration form linked below, to receive the Zoom link and key information.
RATES
You can find out more about membership options on our website here, and if you're not sure if your membership is still current, we will be checking this as part of the registration process and will be in touch if needed.
Please get in touch if you have any questions about the registration process and you will find more information about the Terms and Conditions within the registration form.
Erana (Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Paoa, Ngāti Raukawa) is Senior Co-Chair for the NZ Association for Environmental Education. She is a Senior Māori Advisor within Auckland Council’s Education and Community Climate Action Team, delivering Māori-led projects in Te Tāruke ā Tāwhiri, Auckland’s Climate Plan. Erana brings experience as an environmental educator, teaching across a diverse range of educational settings. Guided by whakapapa and drawing on traditional Māori knowledge systems, Erana aspires to build collective understanding and action towards restoring our Taiao for future generations.
Ko Steve Katene tōku ingoa. He Tumuaki tuarua o te Kura o Heretaunga Intermediate, Hastings.
I whakapapa to Wairoa and live in Napier, in the suburb of Taradale, two areas of many in Aotearoa that have been and continue to be impacted by our changing climate.
My conversation with you is an indigenous one. Seeded within the complex concepts of mātauranga Māori are lessons learnt and plans forward to living with climate change. Let us walk together, kete in hand, side by side. The future for our children lies in the balance.
Ko Tyra Begbie tōku ingoa, he uri tēnei nō Raukawa.
Growing up as a pā kid, my whānau, whenua and people is what has grounded my kaitiaki obligations and led me down this ara of exploring what it is to be an active rangatahi kaitiaki for Ngā Mana o te Atua, Ngā Mana o te Taiao, and Ngā Mana o te Tangata.
This kōrero is centered on rangatahi, climate change, and mokopuna decisions. Climate change is an intergenerational challenge that requires intergenerational solutions so let us activate the next generation of taiao change-makers in this space.
We have 17 speakers confirmed for the concurrent sessions (5 - 6 in each round) with a diverse range of perspectives and stories to share. You can read more information about the speakers and their presentations in this section, with more summaries and the programme of concurrent session times added soon.
Tiaki Taiao: Empowering rangatahi
Hannah Simmonds
Ko Tainui te waka, ko Wharepuhunga te maunga, ko Mangaōrua te awa. Ko Raukawa te iwi, ko Ngāti Huri te hapū, ko Pikitu te marae.
Hannah Simmonds is an educator with over 20 years of experience teaching, facilitating and working across both the secondary and tertiary sectors. She has a passion for Pūtaiao and supporting equity in education for Māori. She currently works for Ngā Kura ā Iwi o Aotearoa, as Pou Angitu, with a focus on delivering initiatives to tamariki and rangatahi with 48 kura across Aotearoa that support their learning pathways. This includes designing NCEA Tiaki Taiao programmes that are delivered through remote learning and wānanga to rangatahi from across the motu. Hannah will share the learnings her team has had as they innovate in the environmental education space and work towards empowering rangatahi to become the taiao warriors of tomorrow.
Ko Au Te Taiao
Mero Rokx and Sarah Hopkinson
Mero and Sarah will speak about Ko au te taiao, an exciting new online learning resource designed to support deep and authentic engagement with mātauranga Māori in place-based ways. The collections at Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand across taonga Māori, the living world and toi Māori, are drawn on to ask big questions, such as “How do we live in harmony with te taiao?” “What are our connections to te taiao?” and “What does a better world look like?” In this presentation, Mero and Sarah will discuss together the complexities of developing a resource that centres mātauranga Māori as well as how the resource can support meaningful inquiry for a thriving future in Aotearoa.
Mero Rokx (Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Porou) has worked across the education sector, from ECE to tertiary level teaching, for over 15 years and is currently Kaupapa Māori Learning Specialist at Te Papa Tongarewa. She is passionate about te ao Māori and shares authentic mātauranga gained through both lived and learned experiences. Mero recently moved to Wellington from Te Tairāwhiti and works to curate programmes that have a strong focus on kaitiakitanga.
Sarah Hopkinson is a māmā, a strategy creator, a curriculum designer, an urban farmer, a storyteller and earth dreamer. Sarah’s work is informed by her extensive background in teaching, curriculum design, environmental education and Te Tiriti justice as well as her front yard farm, The Green Garden. For more details, you can check out her website, or her instagram.
Climate change literacy: Hope in action
Sian Carvell, Will Stovall, with ākonga TK and Caitlin
Will Stovall is currently working alongside Sian Carvell (Future Curious Limited) to facilitate the climate change learning programme Huringa Āhuarangi: Whakareri Mai Kia Haumaru Āpōpō at intermediate schools in Whakatū (Nelson) and the wider Tasman region, reaching eight schools and over 200 students throughout Te Tau Ihu in just the first two terms. Sian continues to facilitate and support the programme in Ōtautahi and other regions across the motu. Sian and Will’s presentation will focus upon the hopeful experience of conducting this work, as well as the positive impacts of targeted and comprehensive climate education and engagement on the rangatahi of Te Tau Ihu, Ōtautahi and Aotearoa. They will be joined by TK Howells – a Year 8 student at Lower Moutere School and Caitlin Rees a Year 11 student from Avonside Girls College and a member of the Next Generation Conversation team. TK and Caitlin will share their perspective on the climate crisis, the value of environmental education, and the intergenerational approach needed to achieve meaningful societal shifts.
Love Rimurimu: Learning through regenerating kelp
Jorge Jimenez and Joe Warmington
From education programme to restoration project: Love Rimurimu is a kelp forest regeneration project based in Wellington. Join us and see how a group of students from Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngā Mokopuna are planting and monitoring seaweed forests in the moana around Te Motu Kairangi. Jorge has been involved with Mountains to Sea Wellington work for the last 8 years and leads the education and community engagement programmes for MTSW and Love Rimurimu. Joe is a marine educator at Mountains to Sea Wellington. He’s happiest when sharing his passion for the Marine environment, or growing kelp babies.
Competencies for the Anthropocene
Chris Eames
There is little debate that humans are impacting this planet on scales that have never been seen before. These impacts have led some scientists to suggest we are entering a new era – the Anthropocene – a period in Earth’s history within which the consequences of our actions will appear in the geological record. So what competencies might be needed to live in the Anthropocene? This presentation will examine this question in relation to work done for the 2025 PISA. Chris Eames is a teacher educator at the University of Waikato. He worked with a group of international colleagues to develop the framework Agency in the Anthropocene and its associated competencies.
Moutua Island Restoration
Dr Rawiri Tinirau
Of Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi descent, Dr Tinirau has genealogical connections to several hapū and iwi who have connections with and interests in the Whanganui River. He is the Director of Te Atawhai o Te Ao, an independent Māori research institute focused on health and environmental research, and Chair of the Rānana Māori Committee. Rāwiri serves on a number of governance and advisory boards, and has several interests, including Māori health, environment, community, performing arts, education, business and economic development. In his spare time, he likes to spend time in and on the Whanganui River, as well as coordinating Te Morehu Whenua, a tamariki and rangatahi-led environmentalist rōpū, hailing from Rānana on the Whanganui River.
Using Pūrākau for Learning about Climate Change
Ryan Jackson
Ko Ryan tōku ingoa, e noho ana au ke Pāmutana. I’ve been teaching in primary schools for the past nine years across a range of year levels, and over the past two years, I’ve been studying at the University of Waikato to complete my Masters in Education. Outside of mahi, you’ll find me on the trails running or involved in some sort of climate activism. Climate change is a generational issue, the issue of our lifetimes. Research shows our ākonga should be engaging in environmental education from a young age. My research aims to explore the concept of centralising Indigenous knowledge to engage and increase understanding of climate change concepts, especially at the primary school-aged ākonga. During a term-long learning intervention, ākonga explore a local Rangitāne pūrākau, the concepts of kai, nutrition and climate change. If this interests you, come and engage in a discussion about my research’s (very) early findings.
Fostering Hope in the Face of Climate Change and Eco-Anxiety
Gabrielle Feather
Gabrielle is a PhD candidate at the University of Tasmania researching how psychological flexibility can support mental well-being in the face of climate change. This kōrero will explore ways to build resilience and hope, balancing urgent action with psychological self-care. Discover strategies to integrate into teaching and daily life to better support your communities. You can read about Gabrielle's research in this Spinoff article from 2023: Eco-anxiety is a normal response to disaster.
Growing together at Pinehaven Playcentre
Hannah and Michelle
Since 2019, Pinehaven Playcentre has been working with Enviroschools to ensure their environment is a place tamariki can explore and experiment. They observe insects, the seasons and natural systems like the flow of water. They grow and cook food as part of their sessions and have developed systems to return organic waste to the earth. Hannah will share some of the highlights from their journey to reduce green waste at their centre, with benefits for tamariki, the community and the climate. She is supported by Michelle Ducat, Enviroschools facilitator in Te Upoko o te Ika a Māui. Read more in this Enviroschools story.
Towards flourishing climate education in Aotearoa
Rachel Bolstad
Rachel is Kaihautū Rangahau | Chief Researcher at the New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER). She will discuss highlights from the recently published report, Ki te ako āhuarangi tōnui ki Aotearoa |Towards flourishing climate education in Aotearoa New Zealand, which draws on literature from te ao Māori and Western/global perspectives, and from six case studies, to explore the question, “What does it look like when climate education is flourishing?” In the years NZCER has been researching climate-responsive education, we have noted a steady increase in activity, interest, and concern about climate change amongst educational policymakers, school leaders, and educators in Aotearoa New Zealand. We have also noted scattered references to education, schools, and young people in New Zealand climate action policy. However, global and national concerns about the environment and sustainability—and, more recently, climate change— have not necessarily led to a clarity and consistency of purpose, policy direction, and practices to support education’s role and contribution in the context of a climate-changing world.
Te Ara o Raukawa Moana
Ashleigh Sagar and Robert McClean
Robert McClean and Ashleigh Sagar are part of the Te Mana Taiao team of Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira. The objectives of the team are to nurture a resilient environment to sustain future generations through reclaimed connection and mātauranga to natural resources, empowering kaitiaki who are leaders and co-managers of our natural environment, our commitment to environmental sustainability and our ability to adapt to the impacts of climate change. Robert and Ashleigh are co-leaders of Te Ara o Raukawa Moana.
Te Ara o Raukawa Moana is an ongoing research project of Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira, the mandated iwi authority of Ngāti Toa Rangatira (Ngāti Toa). The traditional rohe of Ngāti Toa spans Te Moana o Raukawa (Cook Strait) and the significance of the sea for the iwi is recognised under the Ngāti Toa Rangatira Claims Settlement Act 2014. Te Ara o Raukawa Moana is to enable a proactive response to our changing maritime environment. It aims to inform whānau and the community of the challenges that climate change poses to our coastal landscapes and marine environments through providing opportunities for the transmission of intergenerational knowledge, facilitating (re)connection to ancestral places and practices and holding wānanga that focus on Ngāti Toa-specific knowledge of taiao and customary practices. The presentation will provide a brief insight into the research, including wānanga, oral histories, sea crossings and an exhibition.
Healthy Active Learning: Case studies of nature connection in schools
Dr Tracey-Lee Dalton
Tracey-Lee is a Healthy Active Learning Advisor based in Tāmaki Makaurau. She is passionate about education and empowering life-long learners through nature connection, with Master degrees in both Management and Education and a doctorate regarding Wellbeing at Auckland University. Throughout her educational career she has worked in a range of sectors from early childhood to tertiary. Tracey-Lee will share case studies from primary schools in South Auckland who are strengthening nature connection, kaitiakitanga and hauora by using their outdoor spaces in creative and inspiring ways.
Nadine Hura
Kia ora, ko Nadine Hura ahau, nō Ngāti Hine ōku tūpuna, e noho ana ki raro i te maru o Whitireia. I’m a writer, poet and zine-maker based in Porirua. For the past 4 years I’ve been writing a column about climate change while working closely with Māori researchers taking action to protect and restore their whenua. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over this time, it’s that the climate crisis is as much a challenge about the stories people believe, as it is about carbon emissions or managed retreat. In this collaborative, interaction session, we’ll examine some of the linguistic defaults hidden within the dominant discourse of climate change, on a mission for precision. Bring a notebook, we’ll jam poetry!
Our other confirmed speakers are Pania Newton, Quack Pirihi, and Violet Aydon-Pou - presentation summaries coming soon!
