The Wao Summit’s opening kōrero for 2024 will bring an ‘imaginative lens’ to the future, Wao Aotearoa says.

The summit will begin next Tuesday (October 29) with a full day of talks on food resilience, ending with a kōrero on the topic: ‘2050: Who Will We Be and How Will We Feed Ourselves?’

Wao Aotearoa director Monique Kelly will facilitate the conversation, which will feature Emeritus Professor Dr. Paul Spoonley, climate scientist Greg Bodeker, KPMG’s Alec Tang, and Emma Horgan-Heke - one of the key leaders of the response to Cyclone Gabriel. 

“While it’s really important to front up to the challenges we’re going to be facing, it’s equally important to start painting the picture of the future we want to see, to feel into what it could be like, and discuss what is possible,” Monique said.

Tuesday’s food resilience-focused day will explore everything kai-related, from soil to distribution to what a future food system focused on feeding the community would look like, Monique said.

There will be seven events at the Glendhu Station Woolshed, including a worm farm tour, an in-depth update on the Southern Lakes Food Resilience project and a session hearing from local food ‘heroes’.

The final two sessions of the day - which include the kōrero and a session on shifting demographics - will take place at Rippon Hall.

The following four days will include more workshops, masterclasses and conversations, wrapping-up with a community festival in Hāwea.

All 44 sessions will centre around the theme of ‘Better Together’, Monique said.

“Better Together means we’re stepping up as a collective and putting resilience front and centre of the action, whether it be for climate, biodiversity, community, food or waste reduction.”

The 2024 Wao Summit runs from Tuesday (October 29) to Saturday (November 2).

Find more information and buy tickets here.

PHOTO: Molly Hope