Share your wai
Share your wai
The Share Your Wai campaign was aimed at confirming what's important to Southlanders about freshwater. We needed to make sure that previously identified values were still relevant today; determine if there were any differing values that should be protected; and understand if the values varied across different parts of the region.
The engagement campaign captured values from people across our region, including tangata whenua. In addition, there was also a separate workstream designed to gather iwi and hapu values specifically. In addition to tangata whenua being part of the wider community the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management also requires that tangata whenua values and interests are identified and reflected in the management of freshwater.
> Head over to the Water Story website and read more about what's important to Southlanders.
> Read the report that outlines the Share Your Wai campaign here.
Survey and photo entries into Share your wai have now closed. You can view all the photos entered in the competition here.
Southland values confirmed through the Share Your Wai
Share Your Wai survey stand at the Invercargill Farmers' Market.
Initial information gathering project – July to September 2018
Before we kicked off the Share Your Wai campaign we undertook some work to understand how best to engage people in the conversation and ensure that the engagement plan is designed to reach not just those who are typically open to engagement but also the large sector of the Southland community that do not typically engage and connect.
A literature review of learnings from other areas highlighted the need for active, informal and integrative engagement.
Subsequent in-depth interviews with key stakeholders and active focus groups with recruited members of the community highlighted the following:
- Younger people are hugely influential in behaviour change among adults. Children push their parents on issues so working with schools will be important
- A face to face approach was welcomed by those that engaged at this stage.
- Smaller groups were preferred.
- Varied communication modes need to be used to identify values: interactive electronic tools, local media, word of mouth, direct engagement. Pockets of communities with high awareness and engagement can be used to start talking, to lead conversations and engage others.
- Engagement with community research may be lower among lower socio-economic groups that need to prioritise ‘getting by’, busy urban and rural residents and youth. Targeted approaches to include these groups should be designed.
Read more about the values and how they were collected here (http://waterstory.es.govt.nz/what-do-we-value-about-water.aspx)
Reports:
July 2018 - WATER: Rapid Literature Review of Perceptions and Learnings from Collaborative Processes in NZ
August 2018 - WATER: Values and Objectives Initial Information Gathering
May 2018 - What's important to you - Southern Field Days engagement report