Tātaiao Conference Programme
We're crafting a programme that makes the most of our time together in Tāmaki Makaurau, with a focus on interactive, practical and engaging sessions. Join us to hear from inspiring keynotes, empowered rangatahi, and more than 20 concurrent workshop presenters.
Celebrate and share the mahi happening in our sector, with a focus on practice and research that supports learners and educators with positive action, collaboration, interconnection, wellbeing, agency, creativity and joy.
This page will be updated regularly as our programme timing and sessions are confirmed. The section below includes an overview of the focus for each day and the range of activities we have planned so far. Please note that timing and details may change, but we will publish the final version by early August.
Monday 5th October 1 - 5pm
Focus: Connecting and grounding ourselves with te taiao and each other, centred around the conference theme and mana whenua pūrākau.
12 -12:45pm Delegates arrive and register, including those staying onsite. The afternoon will then include:
Mihi Whakatau and opening keynote, followed by shared kai.
Whakawhanaungatanga and nature connection activities.
Lightning talks: highlighting a range of Aotearoa research and practice from across the motu.
Setting the scene for the conference, including an overview of the programme, theme and goals.
Tuesday 6th October 8:45am - 5pm
Focus: Inspiration, learning and connection through a range of interactive and engaging sessions. We will publish the timing for this day soon, but for now you can view the key activities below.
Welcome and Keynote speaker: Dan Hikuroa
Concurrent workshops: choose from a mixture of short and long sessions, across a range of topics and education levels, from early childhood and primary through to secondary and tertiary. We will have three rounds of concurrent sessions, including some field trips in the local area. See the section below for workshop presenters and descriptions.
Curriculum and sector change: focused sessions for discussion, analysis and action planning, based on the interests and expertise of delegates.
Rangatahi panel discussion: highlighting the hopes, actions and expertise of youth.
All meals included during the day: morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea.
Tuesday evening: optional conference dinner at Motu Moana camp.
Wednesday 7th October 8:45am - 12pm
Focus: Connecting and applying our learning. The morning will include time to process, reflect, collaborate and plan for the future.
Keynote panel: Education leaders and future thinkers.
Structured networking and discussion time.
Poroporoaki and reflection time.
Concurrent Workshops
We have a wide range of options across 20+ concurrent sessions, with interactive presentations, practical workshops and short field trips. Learn more about the diverse range of speakers and groups who are contributing to our conference this year by reading the section below.
We will keep adding to this page as sessions are confirmed.
Ripples of Kaitiakitanga: An Enviroschools Approach
Tara Solomon, Kaitiaki Kindergartens, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
Ripples of Kaitiakitanga explores how an Enviroschools approach can transform early childhood education by empowering tamariki, strengthening community connections, and creating lasting change through localised, action-based learning. Grounded in Enviroschools kaupapa and woven through the principles of Te Whāriki and Te Tiriti o Waitangi, this approach positions children as capable contributors, active citizens, and guardians of their environments.
Rather than sustainability being taught as a separate subject, kaitiakitanga becomes a lived experience embedded in everyday practice. Tamariki develop agency through hands-on learning, growing gardens, restoring natural spaces, reducing waste, caring for living things, and making decisions that shape their kindergarten and wider community. These authentic opportunities foster curiosity, responsibility, leadership, and a strong sense of belonging.
This session will highlight how meaningful partnerships with whānau, mana whenua, and local communities can deepen learning and create shared ownership of place and purpose.
Practical examples from Kaitiaki Kindergartens will demonstrate how frameworks provide the strength for scalability, while allowing rich localisation and cultural responsiveness. Participants will gain insight into how weaving together bicultural practice, sustainability, and community engagement creates learning environments where tamariki, kaiako, and whānau thrive together, proving that real transformation begins with small, intentional acts of care.
Watch Ripples of Kaitiakitanga - An Enviroschools Approach Read more in this article, selected as part of the HundrED Global Collection 2026.
Embodied Kaitiakitanga - Early learning as a catalyst for ecological futures
Lisa Winiata, Kaitiaki Kindergartens, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
This session is grounded in the Voices of Children pedagogy and reframes young children as active contributors to sustainability thinking and practice. Rather than positioning children as emerging participants in adult-defined agendas, it explores how their thinking, questions, and relationships with place generate meaningful insight into ecological, social, and ethical dimensions of sustainability—enacting a “think globally, act locally” approach from the earliest years.
Drawing on practice within Kaitiaki Kindergartens, the session illustrates how sustained pedagogical listening to children’s voices informs curriculum in real and consequential ways. Children’s ideas shape inquiry, guide decision-making, and influence collective action within early learning communities, particularly in relation to te taiao, wellbeing, intergenerational responsibility, and futures-oriented thinking.
The session is supported by practice-based examples and visual documentation, and offers provocations relevant to tamariki voice, te taiao, hauora, sustainability, and mātauranga Māori in early childhood education. At a broader level, the presentation contributes to policy and research conversations by examining how centring children’s perspectives can shift dominant assumptions about knowledge, agency, and participation in sustainability education.
Te ao Hurihuri | Climate Learning for the Early Years
Judy Crooks, Enviroschools ECE Facilitator, Taitokerau Northland
How can we support tamariki to understand and respond to a changing climate in hopeful, meaningful, age‑appropriate ways? This practical, hands-on workshop is designed for early childhood educators and Year 0–2 teachers wanting to integrate climate learning into everyday teaching. It connects climate science with Te Whāriki through engaging, inquiry-based approaches.
In this workshop, we will explore how to navigate Te Whāriki to access resources to support climate change learning, and try out some hands-on activities, including “If the World Were an Apple", acid rain experiments, and simple global warming demonstrations. Participants will build confidence to talk about climate change in ways that are empowering and hopeful for tamariki. You will leave with practical ideas, ready-to-use activities, and inspiration to grow climate-conscious learning in your setting.
Pūtātara: A Call to Action
Kimberley Sullings, Holy Cross Catholic School, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
This session shares how environmental learning can move beyond “topics” and become real, student-led action through an inquiry approach called Pūtātara – a call to action. Participants will leave with practical ideas for building student agency, connecting learning to real-world environmental issues, and integrating environmental education across the curriculum.
Drawing on classroom practice, I will share how my Year 5–6 students have investigated real environmental issues, including stormwater and climate resilience following the 2023 Auckland floods, and biodiversity through rewilding projects within our school. Students have worked alongside community partners such as Auckland Council, Watercare, and Sustainable Schools, and have taken their learning beyond the classroom through presentations and action within their local environment.
Read more here: Empowered students share stormwater designs
Exploring Marine Education in Secondary Science
Toni Shaw, Albany Senior High School, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
The new curriculum potentially provides challenges in ensuring that secondary students have the opportunity to experience rich, authentic learning outside the classroom. This workshop will focus on the experiences the facilitator has had in working in partnership with two marine education providers: Blue Nature Aotearoa and Seakeepers International. It will be a narrative of the development of student action projects and insights into what students have gained. The session will also include a future focus, using an ‘answers in the room’ format, exploring how this important mahi could continue to work into the future.
Kura Waitii ki Kura Waitaa - River Schools to Moana Schools
Arna Rose Solomon-Banks and Hinemanu Barclay-Kerr, Waikato Regional Council
Wai means water and according to te ao Māori (Māori worldview), Waitī is a star within the Matariki star cluster that is connected to fresh water and all the creatures that live in rivers, streams, lakes and wetlands, while Waitā is the star within the cluster that is associated with the sea and marine life. This worldview is at the heart of our Kura Waitī ki Kura Waitā programme.
Kura Waitī ki Kura Waitā is designed for rangatahi to advance their knowledge and understanding of mātauranga Māori by utilising both traditional and contemporary approaches to environmental education and learning. Launched in 2022, Kura Waitī ki Kura Waitā helps build the confidence of rangatahi and their sense of connection to te taiao (environment) while fostering te reo, tikanga and mātauranga Māori. Kura Waitī ki Kura Waitā encourages future kaitiaki through an intergenerational approach in which whakapapa, pūrākau (storytelling), whānau and iwi all play critical roles.
This approach, which utilises waka tētē (canoe), waka hourua (double-hulled seafaring canoe) and waka ama (outrigger canoe), helps rangatahi to understand their place in te taiao and how they can make a difference in protecting, restoring and revitalising our environment and addressing the impacts of climate change.
From Connection to Climate Action
Maree Stewart and Zeralda Pirini, Enviroschools, Te Tai Tokerau Northland
Join us for an engaging, hands-on session that brings climate learning to life through connection to place, whakapapa, and te taiao. Designed for educators working with learners in primary and secondary schools, this session invites you into a shared journey of discovery, reflection, and action.
Experience an interactive, multimodal workshop featuring photos, video, whakawhanaungatanga activities and taonga tākaro that you can take straight back to your own context. Student voice is at the heart of this session, with authentic examples from place-based and climate-focused learning that will inspire and challenge your thinking.
You won’t just listen - you’ll take part. Through kōrero, collaboration, and reflection, you’ll connect with others, share ideas and build new understandings together.
Walk away with:
- Practical, ready-to-use strategies for climate and place-based learning
- Confidence to centre student voice in meaningful ways
- Deeper understanding of whakapapa and local context
- Fresh inspiration to support learners to move from understanding to climate action
Edible Villages – Strengthening Community Through Growing Kai
Josie Gritten, Maungaturoto Edible Village Project, Te Tai Tokerau Northland
The Maungaturoto Edible Village Project (MEVP) is a kai resilience and catalyst project aimed at turning underutilised land into edible spaces so that, collectively, we are contributing to an abundant future. We have been creating pockets of orchard, food forest & veggie beds around our village, running workshops and events and upskilling our community towards creating a thriving food resilience network. We also weave links with other environmental, kai & education-based organisations, such as Girls Who Grow and the Graeme Dingle Foundation.
In this short workshop we will share our story – how we began, what we’ve been doing, where we’re at and where we are aiming to go! It will look at how we weave tangata with the whenua and create a strong, robust food network within our community. We are documenting the process through a tuakana-teina relationship with local videographers/photographers and are building a website so that the message and inspiration of the MEVP will serve as inspiration for the Kaipara and beyond.
WAHA: Harnessing the transformative power of education and youth voice
Darryn Aitchison, YouthLaw, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
Civics education explores how people work together to address issues of social significance. WAHA is an innovative approach to the topic. Using games, videos, and beautiful design, WAHA teaches civics in a positive, motivating and uplifting way. Making WAHA was a journey of imagination, discovery, and creativity – framed by the following question:
What would civics education look like if we helped young people see they have the power to make the world better for themselves…and we got them doing it? The result is not just a civics education programme – but a systems change kaupapa – inviting young people to see themselves as effective change-makers in their communities.
In this session we will explore some of the content and learning outcomes of WAHA. Participants will gain new insights into how the legal and political system works, how public policy change happens and the tools and tactics all communities can use to shape the future they want. Secondly, we will explore how WAHA was made. Co-designed by rangatahi, educators, and legal experts, making WAHA meant trying to bridge the gap between knowledge holders (educators and justice professionals) and those seeking a more just and equitable future (young people from marginalised communities).
Note: After Darryn’s presentation, rangatahi delegates at the conference will be able to participate in an interactive session with some of the WAHA team (including rangatahi) to try out the resources and games.
Decolonising Pest Control Education in Aotearoa
Sally Birdsall, University of Auckland
Supporting the nationwide goal of Predator Free 2050 requires active societal support over an extended period of time. Educating children about the necessity of controlling invasive predators is critical, however, implementing such learning is complex. One issue is that mammalian predators were introduced into Aotearoa by European settlers for food, fur and to re-create a ‘little Britain’ in the Southern Hemisphere. Hence, their introduction is an act of colonialism. Additionally, environmental education is dominated by Western knowledge and pedagogies. This dominance often leads to Indigenous knowledge being absent from environmental education programmes at a time when more than Western knowledge is needed to address multi-dimensional environmental degradation.
This presentation will show how a learning programme focused on the environmental issue of pest control developed 28 rangatahi ideas about caring for their local ngahere. Sally will discuss how the elements of the programme resulted in rangatahi developing understandings about ngahere that wove together mātauranga Māori, te ao Māori and Western knowledge. Artefacts rangatahi designed during the programme will be presented to illustrate the depth of their understanding about this complex issue.
This session is based on research co-authored by Sally Birdsall and Professor Georgina Tuari Stewart (Ngāpuhi-nui-tonu and Pare Hauraki), Auckland University of Technology.
Climate Action Campus – Ranga Taiao: Stories of Learning in Action
Rachel Cummins and Sian Crowley, Climate Action Campus Ōtautahi
Climate Action Campus Ōtautahi will share stories of authentic, place-based learning that empower young people to move from climate anxiety to climate action. Our purpose is to demonstrate how immersive, hands-on environmental education can build capability, connection, and hope in ākonga while contributing to real-world outcomes for their communities.
This session will highlight learning success stories from our campus, located alongside the Ōtākaro Avon River. We will share examples of ākonga engaging in environmental stewardship, sustainable practices and meaningful climate action. Stories will include student voice, showcasing how curiosity evolves into inquiry, collaboration, and community impact.
Join us for a session that will be narrative-driven, combining short storytelling, visuals, and opportunities for participant reflection. We aim to share kōrero that invites educators to connect these stories to their own contexts and explore how similar place-based approaches could be adapted in their settings.
Wild Weeds Walk & Talk
Josie Gritten, Nurture Aotearoa, Te Tai Tokerau Northland
The Wild Weeds Walk & Talk is a short taster workshop looking at common edible & medicinal plants, both native and introduced. As part of this session, I will share my whakapapa and connection with the plants. This practical workshop will include a short hikoi looking at available weeds and what they can be used for. We will also spend time tasting some different herb teas, including some pre-made rongoā. Woven throughout the session, we will discuss how to learn more about the plants, so that participants leave feeling a greater sense of autonomy and know-how, and are inspired to continue developing their journey with this abundant resource!
Weaving Storytelling and Science Communication to Build Nature Connection
Sian Crowley, The Seed Pod, Ōtautahi
In this collaborative, interactive workshop participants will engage with selected activities, explore how science communication can be applied in their own contexts, and exchange ideas with others in the room. The emphasis is on practical application, shared learning, and reflective practice. Participants will leave with adaptable strategies and resources that support inquiry learning, alongside approaches for using storytelling and science communication to deepen connection with the natural world.
The Seed Pod develops open-access, story-led resources designed to make science more relational, creative, and adaptable to different learning contexts. What started as a passion project of sharing nature connection stories, naturally evolved into a hub of activity weaving together science communication, storytelling, art, design, and photography to support accessible, place-based environmental education.
This workshop will include examples of practice, with a focus on the Awa Engagement Project at the Climate Action Campus. Examples will highlight how learners have engaged with activities to ask their own questions, explore local ecosystems, and develop inquiry pathways grounded in curiosity and place.
Joining Schools and Communities Through Trapping
Zoe Jefferies, Enviroschools Te Tai Tokerau - Northland
Join Zoe for a practical session sharing a school-based rat trapping competition involving over 200 students across four schools. We will explore how the project was run, ways to build ongoing engagement with ākonga and their communities, and key considerations around trapping, including safety and ethics. This is also a hands-on opportunity to explore the tools used and polish your trapping skills.
Good Practice Safety Management: Partnerships with Schools
Fiona McDonald, Education Outdoors New Zealand
What does good practice safety management for education outside the classroom look like in partnership with schools? Join experienced outdoor educator and facilitator Fiona McDonald for this session which will cover what's new, what shared responsibility looks like and which outdated practices need to go! This session will be a mix of information, discussion and activity and is aimed at environmental education providers and other organisations who work in partnership with schools to deliver education outside the classroom experiences.
Nature Connection in the Ngahere
Rachel Thompson, Education Coordinator, Kids Greening Taupō
Join Rachel for a practical workshop focused on connecting tamariki with nature as a way to create kaitiaki of the future. Kids Greening Taupō enables young people to participate in real life projects with opportunities to connect in a culturally responsive way to their local environment and community, increasing biodiversity, student leadership and educational outcomes. Their website has a huge range of free and printable resources for educators, including bilingual and te reo Māori resources related to plants, birds, insects, fungi and ecosystems.
This workshop will be an opportunity to try out some of their favourite activities, supporting participants to experience the joy of noticing, discovering and wondering about the flora and fauna around us. Through storytelling, Rachel will show participants how unique and special our native species are. There will be a focus on understanding the connections in our ecosystems, and the need to protect our native biodiversity. Rachel will also talk about how to use the resources with different age groups, from early childhood through to intermediate.
Growing Future Pathways Through Science, Culture, and Connection
Meikura Arahanga, Bioprotection Aotearoa
Bioprotection Aotearoa has developed an evolving outreach programme focused on inspiring rangatahi engagement with science, environmental research, and future pathways across Aotearoa New Zealand. Grounded in relationship building, hands-on learning, and the weaving together of mātauranga Māori and science, this work aims to make science feel visible, relevant, achievable, and connected to the lives of young people and their communities.
This session will include a range of examples from Bioprotection Aotearoa’s recent work, including outreach programmes in the wetlands and forests of Wairarapa, and a learning journey to Aotea Great Barrier Island, where students explored the impacts of kauri dieback. Meikura and rangatahi co-presenters will share their experiences as part of Te Māhuri, a two week summer scholarship programme for Canterbury secondary school students. Te Māhuri has a commitment to showing how mātauranga Māori and Western science can work together. Students work alongside scientists, researchers, and mentors from research institutes through field trips, laboratory work, and real research projects exploring plants, insects, climate change, ecosystems, and biosecurity. Rather than learning science only through books or classrooms, students are immersed in real scientific environments, entering laboratories, undertaking fieldwork, and contributing to meaningful projects. This helps science feel real, achievable, and connected to future pathways and role models.
Sustainability Stickability
Caleb Fraser, Untouched World Foundation
Caleb currently works for the Untouched World Foundation as the “Cora Wilding Resident” - a 12-month full time role and professional development opportunity catered for an individual who is early in their education-for-sustainability career. In this role he has helped to develop, strengthen and co-deliver the foundation's leadership for sustainability residential programme offerings for 16-25 year olds.
In this session, Caleb and other rangatahi will present some whakaaro and invite kōrero around what makes sustainability stick amongst our rangatahi. Caleb will incorporate ideas from his recent work experience, with a focus on what we can do to ensure sustainability goals become lifetime achievements and an active practice amongst our rangatahi. They will also present what youth participants have shown or said works for them, and what they want or need to continue as active change-makers, championing sustainability.
The session will touch on the hands, head, heart model and iwi partnerships for place-based learning. As future thinkers, the presenters will share ideas and practices being implemented to increase networks amongst youth and their wider hapori, and to deepen connection to te taiao.
Short Field Trips
Ākonga Butterfly Conservation (ABC)
Jacqui Knight, Moths and Butterflies of New Zealand Trust, and Bianca Woyak, Tuia Burnside Primary School
Join Jacqui Knight and teacher Bianca Woyak for a visit to the butterfly habitat at the Blockhouse Bay Recreational Reserve. This practical session is relevant for educators working with early childhood, primary and intermediate schools, with links to citizen science, nature connection and environmental action.
Butterflies are surprisingly powerful tools in environmental education because they’re visible, relatable, and tightly connected to ecosystems. Their beauty and familiarity create an immediate emotional and cultural connection, drawing people in and sparking curiosity. Butterflies help introduce ecosystems and food webs, showing how plants, insects, and other animals depend on one another. Because they are highly sensitive to pollution, climate change, and habitat degradation, changes in butterfly or moth populations can signal wider environmental shifts.
In NZ, there is a history of schools planting “butterfly gardens” for monarchs as a hands-on way to teach conservation. However, expanding this focus to include native butterfly and moth species adds a richer, more locally relevant dimension. The Moths and Butterflies of NZ Trust has developed targeted resources to support this, helping schools explore endemic species and participate in citizen science projects. These initiatives deepen students’ understanding of biodiversity and highlight how climate change is affecting our unique Lepidoptera.
Read more here: Moths and Butterflies of NZ website
Education Gazette article about Bianca and the Burnside butterfly project
Bird Surveys with The Biodiversity Guy
Frazer Dale, Sustainable Schools Auckland
Join Frazer Dale, The Biodiversity Guy, for a short walk down to Green Bay Beach at low tide to look at the birds. This is a bird Hotspot on the international citizen science app eBird. The Manukau Harbour gets its name from the abundant manu (birds) that feed on the shell banks and mudflats when the tide goes out.
Frazer will have sets of binoculars, bird scopes and bird ID charts for an engaging, hands-on, place-based education session. The skills learnt can be applied to any habitat with birds, so participants can do this back home in their local area.
Garden to Table visit to a local school
More details coming soon!
