March 2016

Newsletter

Trades offer bright

future for workers
The future looks bright for South Aucklanders
interested in taking up a trade with employers
struggling to find skilled workers.
That was message from Tertiary Education, Skills and
Employment Minister Steven Joyce gave attendees at
a breakfast hosted by The Southern Initiative (TSI)
Mori and Pasifika Trades Training Infrastructure
Consortium last month.
More than 100 business and community leaders turned
out for the breakfast, which showcased the MPTT
programme.
Auckland International Airport Ltd chief executive,
Andrew Littlewood spoke about the employment
opportunities development at the airport is generating.
Auckland Council chief engineer Sarah Sinclair also
spoke.
Mayor Len Brown announced KS Holdings and UGL as
the latest companies to sign up to the Auckland
Council Youth Pledge.
The pledge is a key initiative of Aucklands Youth
Employment Plan and involves leading Auckland
businesses making a pledge to show their commitment
to employing young talent.
The mayor praised efforts to boost employment
opportunities for young people across Auckland.
Improving opportunities for young people to get a job
is something I have been talking about for 25 years,
and what is great to see is that at last, we are all
working together.
For more about MPTT go to our website mptt.co.nz or
likes us on Facebook (MPTT:Mori and Pasifika
Trades Training).

Pictured from top: Adrian Littlewood (Auckland Airport), Mayor

Len Brown, Hon Steven Joyce Minister Tertiary Education, Skills
and Employment; Guest speakers with MPTT trainees and MPTT
team, pledge partners and Cr Alf Filipaina; Len Brown with UGL
chief executive Nick Thomas and Erin Murdie of KS Holdings.

Building greater relationships with mana whenua

As part of our commitment to
better understand the
aspirations and priorities of
mana whenua, the TSI team
were recently hosted by the
Ngti Paoa Iwi Trust at
Wharekawa Marae in Kaiaua.

Meeting Ngti Paoa in their own

patch gives the team a deeper

Raise youth employment

rates

Facilitate home ownership

Enhance marae
development.

Gael was also invited to sign a

kawenata (covenant)
symbolising a commitment to
working together and to uphold
the principles of:

Trust chairman Gary Thompson

and secretariat Haydn Solomon
outlined the trusts strategy to
improve the wellbeing and
prosperity of its people.
Building relationships and making
connections is at the heart of the
TSIs way of working, says Gael
Surgenor, Director Community and
Social Innovation (pictured).

Tika being correct and

right, maintaining high
standards

understanding and empathy of

what matters to them.

Pono being honest and

acting with integrity

Ngti Paoa has identified three

strategic priorities to be achieved
by 2020:

Aroha being empathetic

and respectful.

Trainees turn over a new leaf

Cramming to finish bookwork needed to pass their
latest module is just one example of how trainees
with Te Whngai Trust are making big changes in
their lives.
For many of these trainees, the path to education has
been a bumpy one with histories of illness, violence,
crime, substance abuse and family issues.
So the fact they are committed to finishing the
assignment so they dont let themselves or their trainers
down is a huge step forward.
Established by the Gary and Adrienne Dalton in 2007,
the trust assists at-risk people through ongoing mentoring
in a structured and safe workplace and providing them
with life and work skills, as well as educational
opportunities.
Many of the people involved in their programmes come
from Papakura and Manurewa.
TSI recently visited its site in Miranda, including the tour
of the extensive nursery.
The trust also has nurseries at Glenbrook and Pukekohe.

Trust takes Smiths Ave

community to heart
TSI continues to work with Te Whanau Hapori
Charitable Trust to realise its aspirations for the
community of Smiths Ave, Papakura.
The trust sees the reserve as the heart of the
community a place to inspire the communitys
transformation.
The Papakura Local Board has already planned an
upgrade of the community house. TSI has been
supporting the trust through local initiatives and
building capacity of the neighbourhood.
We have linked it with other community groups such
as Urban Neighbours of Hope in Randwick Park and
The Roots Collective.
In the summer holidays the trust encouraged local
children to create works of art from things found at
home. Their efforts were recognised with a certificate
and a special afternoon tea at the community centre.

South Auckland pure

joy for Pacific scholar
Lessons learnt in the communities of South
Auckland proved the perfect classroom for
Pacific scholar Joy Sevese.
The Papua New Guinean spent 10 weeks with the
councils Southern Initiative as part of the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) Pacific
Scholars summer programme.
This has been such a great experience, both
professionally and personally, says Joy (pictured)
of her time at Auckland Council.
Being involved in projects on the ground has put all
my studies in to perspective and confirmed that a
career in planning is for me.
During her time with TSI Joy worked across the
team, shadowing and assisting staff on a wide
range of projects including:

With the Cook Island Development Agency of

NZ in Mngere

Auckland Teaching Gardens

Mori and Pasifika Trades Training

She also met with community leaders, town

planners, social entrepreneurs and attended
various workshops.

The co-design approach the TSI uses also struck a

chord.
That approach of designing where the community
owns the solution is something I would want to take
back and use in Papua New Guinea a lot more.
But it is the people she met along the way that have
left a lasting impression.
I couldnt have asked to work with a better group than
TSI who made me feel like part of the team from day
one.
I asked lots of questions and picked everyones
brains.
She says talking to fellow scholars; she got to do a lot
more in her 10 weeks than the others.
Joy has now returned to Massey University for her
third and final year before returning to PNG.

these enterprises, says it was surprising how many of

the groups had no idea of the others existence.
A big part of our role is connecting people so we
floated the idea of the network and it has just grown
from there.
The social entrepreneurs themselves have now
taken the lead on how they want it to work.

Network bringing social

entrepreneurs together
A new network of social entrepreneurs in South
Auckland aims to boost capability through shared
ideas and peer support.
While there are many social entrepreneurs across the
TSI area, they are not always connected to each
other.
TSI advisor Joel Umali, who does a lot of work with

There are around 15 groups or individuals involved in

the network with those with more experience acting
as mentors.
Network members are already benefitting from the
collaborative approach with one member
commenting on the feeling of aroha amongst the
group.
The group meets every few months, rotating the
venue and a roadshow is also being planned to
showcase their work.
Among the groups involved include Roots Collective,
CIDANZ, Affirming Works, Friendship House and
Manukau Beautification Trust.

Kohanga reo buddy up

for a brighter future
A buddy system is just one of the projects kohanga
reo in tara are implementing to provide support
and advice to whnau new to the movement.
The idea was one of several to come out of an ideas
and prototyping session of the project Mauri Tuu Mauri
Ora.
During the session, participants examined how to:

make the value of kohanga reo more obvious to

whnau

make themselves more visible to whnau

make it easier for whnau to engage with kohanga

reo systems

be clearer about expectations for whnau

support each other to ensure all kohanga reo can

flourish.

The Mauri Tuu Mauri Ora project examined why rolls at

kohanga reo in the area were falling.
It involved TSI and the Auckland Co-Design Lab
engaged by Te Puni Korkiri to work with nga purapura Nga Kohanga Reo o Otara a collection of kohanga
reo in Otara.
Some of the other ideas being looked at are:

Developing a shared resource hub where kohanga

could share necessary, but costly resources

Pop up kohanga at community and council events

Develop social media channel groups to share

information, and showcase videos and stories with
whnau

Developing stories of well-known kohanga reo

alumni

a handbook of unique information about kohanga

reo in the purapura.

Workshop digs into gardening for

food and profit
Several South Auckland community gardening
groups were among those to attend a workshop
by the urban gardener Curtis Stone in Mngere
last month.
Hosted by the Cook Island Development Association
of New Zealand (CIDANZ) at it is OneSHED, the
workshop looked at growing food for profit on urban
borrowed or leased land.
More than 50 attended the event, including a network
of 11 South Auckland community gardening groups
invited by the TSI to participate.
Topics included gardening in the burbs, crop
planning, the business of urban farming and how to
identify the right site.
Curtis Stone is the author of The Urban Farmer.
Growing Food for Profit on Leased and Borrowed
Land.

ItsNOON gains momentum

Close to 80 posts were received for TSIs What
do you love about South Auckland? call on
ItsNoon.
Everything from the local dairy, favourite landmarks,
the local neighbourhood and swimming pools were
showcased in the posts all expressing the pride and
love for South Auckland.
A report is being compiled on the themes and insights
from the first call and should be finished by the end of
the month.
Across the whole platform, there are now 350 people
involved.

A prototype of a pop-up kohanga reo that could be used at events.

The call is now closed, but several more have been

launched. Go to itsnoon.nz to find out more.

Makers creating spaces in South Auckland hoods

A makerspace workshop hosted by TSI earlier this
year is already generating plenty of inspiring
ideas for South Auckland communities.
Around 12 makers attended the five day workshop,
which challenged participants to create a platform to
connect and strengthen the maker movement and
culture in South Auckland.
The result is #makerhood a platform for young
South Aucklanders to develop the skills they need to
leapfrog unemployment and underpaid work.

#makerhood has two components:

a base where people can learn design concepts

and critical thinking, build entrepreneurial mind
sets and provides a space for experimentation
using both analogue and digital tools

pop-up pods at street level to bring communities

in to foster creativity and imagination.

Fix-it pods coming to a street near you

One of the first projects in development is Fix-it pods,
portable sites that will be set up on selected streets in
the tara-Papatoetoe area.
The idea is that residents bring something to the pod
that is broken to get it fixed but at the same time learn
how they could fix it themselves.
That way people learn a skill that could spark future
training, a career or a community enterprise.
taras Roots Collective is teaming up with the
Oceania Career Academy on the project, with support
from the tara-Papatoetoe Local Board and councils
solid waste team, TSI and the maker community.
Find out more about #makerhood on the website
makerhood.nz

Trust examine ways to influence

social and economic outcomes
What do Lego, elephants and sticky notes have to
do with influencing social and economic outcomes
for whnau in Papakura?
They were all part of an innovative co-design session

with Ktuitui Trust known as LEGO SERIOUS PLAY ,

Its a method involving participants building a three
dimensional models as a basis for discussion. In this
case it was used to create shared understanding of the
current state and will be used in future to derive a
shared vision and outcomes.
The trust invited TSI to support the development of a
framework and strategy to improve outcomes for
Papakura whnau.
We are looking at how might we impact a social and
economic impact for whanau in Papakura, TSI social
intreprenuer Angie Tangaere says of the process.
She adds that it still way too early to say what the
outcome of the process may be, but that the trust was
open to the co-design process to delve deeper.

The Ktuitui Trust a collaborative initiative focused

on improving education, health and social outcomes
for whnau in Papakura. It is funded by the
Middlemore Foundation.
Other streams of work include:

Manaiakalani Outreach programme a cluster

of schools based in Papakura with the purpose
of using digital affordances to enable learners
to learn create and share to an authentic
audience

Mana Kidz also delivered through local

schools to improve health outcomes in the
area.

SouthSci seeking
curious minds
Could the next Ernest Rutherford or Sir Peter
Gluckman be from South Auckland?
The team from SouthSci certainly hope so.
The Participatory Science Platform: South Auckland (aka
SouthSci) is a programme offered by COMET Auckland
and The Auckland STEM Alliance to increase the
number of local youngsters participating in sciences.
Schools or community groups team up with scientist to
carry out research.
This is our second year and last year we had some
fantastic projects carried out, says SouthSci project
manager Dr Sarah Morgan.
One of these was a team from Rongomai Primary in
Otara, Manurewa High School and Landcare Research
to investigate mould and took samples from 22 homes.
Through projects like this, SouthSci hopes to show youth
the value of science and science skills, highlight local
career pathways within the sector and build relationships
between local science businesses, researchers and
young people.

Rongomai Primary and Manurewa High schools joined forces with

Landcare Research to investigate mould in residential homes as
part of last years SouthSci programme.

The Southern Initiative represents Auckland Council on

the 2016 Steering Group for this project.
South Auckland is one of three Participatory Science
Platform pilots across the country. The others are in
Taranaki and Otago.
It is an initiative under A Nation of Curious Minds, a
Government programme to encourage all New
Zealanders to get involved with science and technology.

Projects can apply for up to $20,000.

For more information got to

cometauckland.org.nz/SouthSci
Applications close 3 June 2016.

PROJECT UPDATES

Attitude Gap Challenge

The challenge is now in the imagine and test phase and
the team has been sharpening its insights,
developing personas and designing five ideation
workshops scheduled for this month.
The workshops will look at the invisible purpose of the
recruitment process, integrating home culture and work
culture, cycle of motivation, risk and reward.

says she has enjoyed getting out and gaining a better

understanding of the challenge through conversations
with young people, employers, teachers, private
training providers, whnau and the wider stakeholder
groups.
Its been extremely insightful and enlightening and the
empathy skills learned along the way within the codesign process can be utilised throughout a range of
social entrepreneurial projects that our communities
can benefit from.

More than 75 people attended the February workshops.

The challenge is led by the Auckland Co-Design Lab.

The team visited Aorere College to hear from Year 13

students about the world of work. The students also
role played a job interview.

Spatial project areas

A workshop was also held in Wellington with

representatives from a range of government
departments.
Project work is expected to be completed at the end of
the month and the writing up completed through April.
Team member and TSI project manager Michelle Wilson

TSI team members are keeping across the various

projects in the south including the Middlemorethuhu, Manurewa-Papakura-Takanini and Manukau.
Their focus is to influencer economic and social
transformation opportunities for South Auckland in
these projects.
TSI is one of two geographical-based priorities in the Auckland
Plan. To find out more about the project go to
aucklandcouncil.govt.nz