Dear subscriber,

In this issue we discuss the TacklingPovertyNZ national tour, in particular, the upcoming one-day workshops in the Far North and the next steps for the project. We also share with you the exercises, handouts and resources used by participants at the workshops and share the TacklingPovertyNZ initiative conversation in the press.

Each workshop is at a differernt stage in the process, between the one-day workshop, feedback survey and the discussion paper. Queenstown's final draft Discussion paper 2016/01: A Queenstown perspective on tackling poverty is published, Manawatu's survey is now open, we are in the process of preparing the surveys for Rotorua and Gisborne and we are getting ready for the upcoming Far North workshops. Please keep an eye out on the TacklingPovertyNZ website and our blog for workshop updates.

When the workshop tour process is complete, we will be presenting the series of discussion papers to the Chief Economist at the New Zealand Treasury. In addition, District Council Mayors will have a meeting with Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister, Hon Bill English, to discuss the outputs of the workshops and respond to questions from the Minister. This meeting is tentatively set for early November 2016.

You can actively participate in this conversation by completing the Manwatu survey and using #tacklingpovertynz on Twitter and Facebook. Stay connected by liking the TacklingPovertyNZ Facebook page, sharing this newsletter and encouraging friends and colleagues to join the conversation.

Thank you for your interest.

All the best,

Wendy and the TacklingPovertyNZ participants.

In this newsletter:

1.  TacklingPovertyNZ on tour
2.  Upcoming workshops – Kaitaia and Kaikohe
3.  Next steps and outputs
4.  Exercises, handouts and resources
5.  TacklingPovertyNZ in the press
6.  How you can help

Background
In December 2015, the McGuinness Institute undertook a three-day workshop in collaboration with the
New Zealand Treasury. Its purpose was to explore ways to reduce poverty in New Zealand. This workshop has led to a number of outputs, one of which includes undertaking a tour of one-day workshops around 
New Zealand throughout 2016.

TacklingPovertyNZ started the tour in Queenstown on 29 March 2016, where we tested the one-day workshop process. As a result, TacklingPovertyNZ has been touring the country the last four weeks with a series of one-day workshops.

Purpose
The purpose of the tour is to build and share ideas on how to tackle poverty, come up with local solutions and connect like-minded people within communities.

Process

Stage 1: One-day workshop
Stage 2: Collate hows developed at the workshop
Stage 3: Feedback survey
Stage 4: Discussion paper
Stage 5: Community feedback
Stage 6: Treasury and Government engagement

At each workshop we set the scene in the morning, hear participants from the December 2015 TacklingPovertyNZ workshop present their booklet, listen to national and local speakers, and in the afternoon we workshop the issues, challenges and opportunities facing the region, which are then presented to the wider community.

Queenstown, 29 March 2016

Status: Final draft discussion paper published
Following the feedback from the Queenstown workshop survey, the final draft Discussion Paper 2016/01: A Queenstown Lakes District perspective on tackling poverty is published. We welcome any feedback.

To learn more about the Queenstown workshop, see our blog post. 

Manawatu, 15 August 2016

Status: Survey open
The survey on the 32 hows developed at the workshop is open to the public for feedback until Tuesday, 20 September 2016. You can complete the survey here. In the interests of gaining a broad overview, this survey is designed to seek feedback from attendees and non-attendees alike.

The results of this survey will guide the Manawatu Discussion Paper.

About the workshop
The TacklingPovertyNZ Manawatu workshop was held on Monday, 15 August 2016 at the Manfeild Suite in Feilding. The workshop was opened by Manawatu District Council Mayor Margaret Kouvelis.

Dr Girol Karacaoglu, Chief Economist at the New Zealand Treasury then spoke about the need for integration between social, economic and environmental matters. Dame Diane Robertson (former chief executive of Auckland City Mission) followed, speaking to the group about the factors that prevent families moving out of poverty.

Local speakers, Kathryn Cook, Chief Executive Officer at MidCentral District Health Board; Michelle Cameron, Principal at James Cook School; Amanda Oldfield, Care Link Coordinator at the Feilding Bible Chapel; Natasha Allen, National Coordinator for Child Protection for the New Zealand Police; and Nigel Allan, Chair of the Te Manawa Family Services gave participants an insight into poverty in the Manawatu region. They raised local issues such as poor health, lack of emergency housing, kindness, relationships and child abuse. All seven speakers then joined discussions with the participants and mapped the societal landscape of the Manawatu region.

Over lunch, students from Feilding High School joined a Q & A session with Dr Girol Karacaoglu and Dame Diane Robertson.

The Manawatu speaker's PowerPoint slides can be downloaded on SlideShare, or viewed below.

In the afternoon, participants separated into groups to discuss the challenges and opportunities in the Manawatu region. During this process five key themes emerged: the role of housing, youth/under 5s, health and wellbeing, Māori, and elderly. Each group developed seven solutions and then presented them to the other participants to stress-test their ideas.

At 6.00 pm, members of the wider community gathered at Manfeild Suite to hear the speakers’ observations from the day, followed by the 35 ideas on how to tackle poverty.

View the SlideShare below to see photos of the Manawatu TacklingPovertyNZ workshop.

Rotorua, 19 August 2016

Status: Survey coming soon
The next stage is to prepare the feedback survey to stress-test the hows developed at the workshop. This survey will be released to the public in late-September.

The results of this survey will guide the Rotorua discussion paper.

About the workshop
The third one-day workshop was held in Rotorua on 19 August 2016 at the Sir Howard Morrison Performing Arts Centre. The workshop was opened by Rotorua Lakes District Council Mayor Hon Steve Chadwick JP.

Dr Girol Karacaoglu, Chief Economist at the New Zealand Treasury shared with the group how Treasury uses the Living Standards Framework to frame policy. Dame Diane Robertson (former chief executive of Auckland City Mission) followed, discussing her work with the Families 100 Research Project.

Local speakers Judge Louis Bidois, Potaua Biasiny-Tule (Te Tatau o Te Arawa member) and Laurie Watt (Te Arawa Whanau Ora) shared their insights on poverty in Rotorua. All five speakers then moved between participant groups to discuss their ideas further. Over lunch, students from Rotorua Lakes High School and Western Heights High School joined a Q & A session with either Dr Girol Karacaoglu or Dame Diane Robertson.

The Rotorua speaker's PowerPoint slides can be downloaded on SlideShare, or viewed below.

In the afternoon, participants separated into groups to discuss issues, challenges and opportunities specific to Rotorua. Themes that emerged included the early years of a child’s life, the role of grandparents in raising their grandchildren, the working poor, Māori Reo culture and homelessness. Each group developed seven solutions and then presented them to the other participants to stress-test their ideas.

At 4.30 pm, members of the wider community gathered at the Arts Centre to hear the speakers’ observations from the day, followed by the participants’ presentation of key ideas on how to tackle poverty.

Gisborne/Tairāwhiti, 31 August 2016

Status: Survey coming soon
The next stage is to prepare the feedback survey to stress-test the hows developed at the workshop. This survey will be released to the public in late-September.

The results of this survey will guide the Gisborne discussion paper.

About the workshop
The fourth one-day workshop was held in Gisborne/Tairāwhiti on 31 August 2016 at Waikanae Surf Lifesaving Club. The workshop was opened by Gisborne District Council Mayor Meng Foon.

Participants then heard from the New Zealand Treasury’s Chief Economist Dr Girol Karacaoglu, who was followed by Senior Lecturer at Victoria University’s Faculty of Law Dr Carwyn Jones (Ngāti Kahungunu), who spoke about social and economic revitalisation and the role of Treaty of Waitangi settlements.

Local speakers Virginia Brind, Group Manager Planning, Funding and Population Health at Hauora Tairāwhiti; Leighton Evans, General Manager of the Eastland Community Trust; Linda Coulston, manager at SuperGrans Tairāwhiti Trust; Annette Toupili, resident of a Deprivation 10 neighbourhood in Tairāwhiti; and Jess Jacobs, single mother and volunteer (helping the homeless and hungry in Gisborne), shared their insights on poverty in the Tairāwhiti region. All seven speakers then moved between participant groups to discuss their ideas further.

The Gisborne speakers' PowerPoint slides can be downloaded on SlideShare, or viewed below. 

In the afternoon, participants separated into groups to discuss issues, challenges and opportunities specific to the Gisborne/Tairāwhiti region. Themes that emerged included mental health, children under 12, gangs and drug use, elderly, working families and working poor, and Māori. Each group developed solutions and then presented them to the other participants to stress-test their ideas.

At 6.00 pm, members of the wider community gathered at the surf club to hear the speakers’ observations from the day, followed by the participants’ presentation of key ideas on how to tackle poverty.

View the SlideShare below to see photos of the Gisborne/Tairāwhiti TacklingPovertyNZ workshop .

Photos
We have been publishing photos from each of the one-day workshops. You can view these photos on the TacklingPovertyNZ website, or on the McGuinness Institute blog. 

Videos
We will also be publishing videos of speakers' presentations throughout the tour. Keep an eye out on the Institute's YouTube Channel and blog. SlideShare of speakers' PowerPoints have been made available here. 

Feedback Survey
To assist us in preparing the discussion papers, we will design a survey for each of the one-day workshops. The surveys will be specific to the region, asking people to rate each of the 'hows' developed at the workshop from ‘not a good idea’ to ‘a really interesting idea’. The survey for the Manawatu workshop is available here. The Rotorua and Gisborne workshop surveys will be available from late-September. The Far North workshop surveys will be available from early October. In the interests of gaining a broad overview, this survey is designed to seek feedback from attendees and non-attendees alike.

Discussion Papers
A discussion paper will be produced for each of the one-day workshops. The series of discussions papers will provide an insight into the different regional perspectives on poverty in New Zealand, in order to inform national decision-making and to support local initiatives. For this reason, each workshop discussion paper will be kept as a final draft until the tour comes to a close, when we will align the papers as a series. The final draft of Discussion paper 2016/01 – A Queenstown Lakes District perspective on tackling poverty is now published and can be read here.

Treasury and Government engagement
The series of discussion papers will be given to the Chief Economist at the New Zealand Treasury and made public on the website. In addition, the District Council Mayors will have the opportunity to meet with Minister of Finance, Hon Bill English to discuss the outputs of the workshops and respond to questions from the Minister. This meeting is tentatively set for early November 2016. Later this year we alos hope to meet with other interested members of parliament.

Baby Box initiative
As part of the tour, we have brought a Baby Box to every workshop to showcase an initiative that is already taking off. Special thanks to the Baby Box Co. for donating baby boxes to the TacklingPovertyNZ initiative. Also, thanks to The Wool Company from Utiku, Taihape and Replete from Taupo for providing baby box supplies. Below is a SlideShare of the Baby Box on tour.

Thank you!
We hope this initiative builds and shares ideas on how to tackle poverty both within local regions and in
New Zealand more generally. This event would not have been possible without the ongoing support of the New Zealand Treasury and the local Councils – Manawatu District Council, Rotorua Lakes Council, Gisborne District Council and Far North District Council.

In this section we provide the exercises, handouts and resources that were given to participants at the TacklingPovertyNZ one-day workshops. Please use these resources and share them around – it would be great to see what you come up with! 

1. Exercises

2. Handouts

3. Publications

The TacklingPovertyNZ tour has been in the press over the last few months – read the articles below.

5 September 2016: Community problem, community solutions (via. Gisborne Herald) 

19 July 2016: Rotorua 'committed to solving poverty' (via. Rotorua Daily Post)

19 July 2016: Tackling Poverty with local answers (via. Gisborne Herald)

If you are interested in assisting us with this project, we would be delighted if you would consider the following:

• Complete the workshop feedback surveys – Manawatu's survey is out now!
• Share the upcoming tour details with friends and family in the Far North District.
• Share this newsletter with your networks, and ask them to sign up to receive the newsletter.
• Email us suggestions of research, articles, videos and other resources that might contribute to the conversation.
• Promote the TacklingPovertyNZ booklet, which is free to download from our website.
• Follow and use #tacklingpovertynz on Twitter and Facebook.

If you can help us with any of the above, please email us at tacklingpovertynz@mcguinnessinstitute.org.