Wao Aotearoa has announced an action-packed programme for its 2023 summit, featuring everything from workshops on building better, inspirational film viewings, talks by local scientists, and much more.

The annual Wao Summit is a six-day festival of kōrero (discussion), workshops, films and tours, dedicated to helping the community move towards a regenerative future. 

Wao co-founder Monique Kelly said this year’s summit (which will run from October 24-29 in Wānaka, Arrowtown, Glenorchy and Queenstown) will focus on bridging the gap between attitude and action.

“We’ll have a big focus on peer-to-peer learning, growing grassroots activity, and using the ‘what’s being done’ as a seed to inspire more action,” Monique said.

There will be four main themes, the first being collaboration and partnership. 

The summit’s kōrero, workshops, films and tours will take place across Wānaka, Arrowtown, Glenorchy and Queenstown.

“How do we learn from each other? There are a whole bunch of silos going on, but you need a cohesive picture to understand what’s happening in a community,” she said.

Workshops will cover topics like governance for purpose, regenerative tourism, and building better. 

The summit’s second theme is resilience and “we’ll have kōrero led by those affected by our recent national weather events, as well as discussions on how to have a game plan ready for when we need it,” Monique said.

Other resilience-related topics will include food resilience, changing demographics due to climate migration, balancing energy requirements with the urgent need to reduce emissions, and what a wellbeing economy might look like. 

The third theme, climate change and biodiversity, will ask the question: “what did we look like before and what could we look like again?” Monique said.

Among the events will be a close look at the plastics in our waterways with scientist Veronica Rotman and hearing from what’s happening in our communities to reduce emissions. 

The summit’s final theme is the circular economy, with workshops for people in the building industry, tourism and the general public on how to live lightly. 

The week will also feature online a large selection of kōrero, workshops and films available to watch with an online ticket available for those outside the region. 

The Wao Summit is now in its sixth year and Monique said it offered a good chance to check in.

“It’s a look at what’s been done over the year, where we’re at now, and where we’re going,” she said. “It’s key to building and maintaining momentum.” 

Find more information about the 2023 lineup and get your early bird tickets (with a 15 percent discount until September 8) at the Wao website.

PHOTOS: Supplied