Bianca Elkington

Ngāti Toa
Education Project Coordinator

Jasmine Arthur

Ngāti Toa
Educator

Jennie Smeaton

Ngāti Toa
Pouwakatui(Senior Advisor, Māori), Environmental Protection Agency

Becky Kiddle

Ngāti Porou, Ngāpuhi
Lecturer, School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences

Morten Gjerde

Senior Lecturer, Urban Design School of Architecture

Ocean Mercier

Ngāti Porou
Senior Lecturer, Te Kawa a Māui

Amanda Thomas

Pākehā
Lecturer, School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences

Mike Ross

Ngāti Haua
Lecturer, Te Kawa a Māui

Derek Kawiti

Ngāti Porou, Tuhoe, Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi
Senior Lecturer, School of Architecture and Design

Tui Arona

Ngāpuhi
Project Coordinator and Research Support

Finishing her Masters in Environmental Studies in 2015, Tui has since been working as a contract research assistant and project coordinator. Over the last two years Tui has contributed to projects with both Victoria University and the Department of Conservation. Her research interests include environmental governance, Māori resource management, and community resilience.

Chantal Mawer

Research Assistant

She is currently studying towards her Masters of Environmental Studies. Along with other researchers, she helped construct the profile of Porirua in order to inform competition entrants of the city's social, cultural, environmental and historical attributes. She also interviewed and developed profiles for members of Porirua's community in order to hear their aspirations for Porirua City.

UNESCO is responsible for coordinating international cooperation in education, science, culture and communication. It strengthens the ties between nations and societies, and mobilises the wider public so that each child and citizen:

• has access to quality education; a basic human right and an indispensable prerequisite for sustainable development;

• may grow and live in a cultural environment rich in diversity and dialogue, where heritage serves as a bridge between generations and peoples;

• can fully benefit from scientific advances;

• and can enjoy full freedom of expression; the basis of democracy, development and human dignity.

The New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO’s role is to represent New Zealand to UNESCO, and take the best of the UNESCO collective resources, networks, programmes and connections for application in a way that is relevant to New Zealand.

The National Commission creates opportunities for the right people to gather together – individuals, organisations, programmes and initiatives, locally, nationally and internationally – as part of its work, providing space and time to ‘build peace through dialogue’.

From time to time the National Commission is invited by UNESCO to host UNESCO international activities in New Zealand.

The National Commission promotes opportunities for New Zealanders to participate in and benefit from UNESCO international and regional programmes and activities, such as nominating New Zealanders for UNESCO prizes, enabling New Zealanders to apply for UNESCO fellowships and participation by New Zealand experts in UNESCO meetings.

The National Commission partners and supports programmes, initiatives, events and promotional activities that are relevant to UNESCO’s mandate and help build peace in New Zealand. It also plays an active role within UNESCO’s work in the Pacific.

Housing New Zealand is the largest residential landlord in New Zealand. We own or manage more than 64,000 properties across New Zealand. Our role is to provide good quality homes that are warm, dry and safe to New Zealanders who are most in need, and more than 182,000 people live in our homes. Housing New Zealand also has a major focus on ensuring we have enough of the right type and size of homes, in the right places, to meet demand. Over the next three years, we intend to deliver around 4,900 new homes in areas of high demand, and we’re set to invest around $500m this year alone in maintaining and upgrading our existing homes.

New Zealand Māori Tourism is committed to working with the Māori tourism sector to contribute to our economy, to provide compelling visitor experiences, and to build a strong commercial and cultural leadership. We support leaders and partnerships that generate value in the Māori and wider tourism sector. This creates opportunity and ensures the growth and quality of Māori tourism experiences. Positioning Māori tourism in this way allows Māori to take a leadership role in how visitors experience our country.

Peter and Sue Dow Sue was a Councillor with Porirua City Council for 18 years and Peter is involved in housing development projects across Wellington alongside being a current Board member of Housing New Zealand.

Porirua City is an area of rich history, cultural diversity and outstanding natural beauty. Ngati Toa Rangatira, the tangata whenua,  help make up our population of 55,000 residents. We’re a city of distinctive villages and vibrant communities connected by our  beautiful Te Awarua o Porirua Harbour. Our hills, parks and beaches are some of the best in the region. We’ve got an abundance of natural assets that we love and want to share. As a council we are here to serve the people of Porirua and provide the services and infrastructure that makes our city run well.