Our 50-year vision
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| Beach, Abel Tasman National Park. Photo - Grant Hunter |
Invest in quality of life & environmental care, then wealth will follow.
Last year, the Board completed a 50-year visioning exercise to help them understand future scenarios for New Zealand including possible economic, ecological and social settings, and hence to visualise likely roles for Manaaki Whenua. The exercise was undertaken to help Directors understand the skills needed in a new Chief Executive, but the value of the work has given it much wider application.
New Zealanders’ perceptions of property are not centred solely on economic growth. Manaaki Whenua believes that wealth will come from investing in quality of life and the environment—a reversal of the economic paradigm where these trickle down from economic growth. Our vision is a powerful reframing of sustainable development processes in New Zealand and is supported by achievements in Curitiba (Brazil), Portland (Oregon), and Ireland. Research by the Growth and Innovation Advisory Board (GIAB) shows that New Zealanders have strongly held values that Manaaki Whenua’s vision supports.
Today’s demography strongly shapes tomorrow’s population. By 2050, New Zealand’s population is projected to reach about fi ve million. Much of the growth will be in Auckland. There will be fewer people of working age, and 45% of the 15–35 age group will be Māori and Pacific Islanders. This is why Manaaki Whenua has such a strong commitment to engaging iwi in our research and supporting young Māori into science careers.
Similarly, today’s garden plants shape tomorrow’s weed problems—most of the new weeds in the last decade have been garden escapees. The weeds of the future are already growing in household gardens, most of them in Auckland.
Inevitably the future will turn out to be unexpectedly different. Nevertheless, actively thinking about the future highlights looming threats and valuable opportunities; it challenges complacency. As well as the Board developing its 50-year vision, Manaaki Whenua staff have worked with a range of stakeholders from different sectors to develop four plausible scenarios for future New Zealand1 that are being used with students, community groups and organisations to stimulate creative thinking about the future and pathways that are sustainable.
Our 50-year vision is that quality of life and environmental care are paramount—when we invest in a manner that enhances the quality of life and cares for the environment, we are creating the best prospects for an economically vibrant New Zealand in 2050.
The “weed time-bomb”: Our 50-year thinking identified future weeds as an issue that most New Zealanders currently pay little attention to—but they should.
1 Frame, B.; Molisa, P.; Taylor, R.; Toia, H.; Shueng, W.L. 2005: 100% Pure Conjecture: Accounts of our future state. (see page 42)