AKO AKO: Placemaking in Practice. November 15-19.
This is a past event. You can watch all the recordings.
November 15-19, 2021. Online.
Placemaking Aotearoa is delighted to announce that “Ako Ako 2021: Placemaking in Practice” is back and scheduled for November 15-19.
Ako Ako is a week of online lunchtime kōrero - we’ll meet every day at 12 pm as a placemaking collective to talk about our practice, learnings, struggles and wins. Come to listen, share and meet other placemakers from all across Aotearoa, grow your networks and expand your understanding of how placemaking is being applied in our places.
This year we will concentrate on practice - less “why”, more “how”.
Ako is to learn, and 'Ako Ako' is a continuous learning journey. To know self is to know place through a collaboration of place I-dentity, people We-dentity, in practice together.
Ako Ako 2021: Programme
Monday 15 November
12 - 1 pm
1-1.30 pm - open mic conversation
Looking Back to Move Forward: Placemaking Aotearoa
We open the week with a session focused on the Placemaking Aotearoa Collective: looking around as we move forwards. A year after it was formally launched, we'll explore what Placemaking Aotearoa is, who and why as well as share some of what we have been up to as a collective during 2021. We'll open the floor to kōrero about how and what we all can contribute to uplift placemaking in Aotearoa in 2022, what role the collective can play and what future we all envision, including what role the collective can play.
Your ideas and energy are most welcome! 12-1 pm followed by open mic till 1.30pm.
Hosted by:
Frith Walker, Eke Panuku
Keegan Aplin-Thane, Palmerston North City Council
Kathleen Waldock, Kāinga Ora
Roxanne Haines, Eke Panuku
Ryan Reynolds, Gap Filler
Denise Bijoux, Catalyse
Boopsie Maran, Places for Good
Tuesday 16 November
12 - 1 pm
Placekeeping Aotearoa
Speaking with two Indigenous built environment specialists/designers, this session will problematise the notion of placemaking contrasting it with the idea of placekeeping, that is, places make us, not the other way round.
The session will be hosted by Dr. Rebecca Kiddle, Head of Urban Development at Hutt City Council:
"Aotearoa New Zealand cities are Indigenous places, despite the fact that colonial form has often obscured symbols and artefacts of indigeneity. This erasure of identity and values, along with the wicked problems of environmental, climate and social injustice that pervade our urban-scapes require a rethinking of the way we approach the design and activation of the urban spaces we live, play and work in".
This session is a kōrero between Māori environment specialists focused on placekeeping strategies that acknowledge the mana of the places we seek to inhabit.
Hosted by:
Dr. Rebecca Kiddle, Head of Urban Development at Hutt City Council
Kara Puketapu Dentice, Director of Economy and Development, Hutt City Council
Jade Wikaira, Director of Wikaira Consulting
Wednesday 17 November
12 - 1 pm
Think Like a Gardener. Design Beginnings, not Endings.
When we think about our built environment, places which accommodate the very young and the very old are loved by everybody else too. We know what makes places great for humans, so why do we find it so difficult to change? We’ve got a lot of change to make, and we’re going to have to 'collaborate like mad' (a Neil McInroy nugget!). How might we apply the evolutionary superpower of storytelling to help us makes the changes we need to make? For over 4000 generations, humans have passed down knowledge through storytelling. Our brains are wired for telling stories…
Join Cam, Anna and Peter to hear about how Waka Kotahi is using Communities of Practice to enable rapid urban transformation in Aotearoa, followed by a Q&A and discussion around how we might empower and enable Placemaking Aotearoa through Innovating Streets.
Hosted by: Cam Perkins, Anna Nord and Peter McGlashan from Waka Kotahi.
Thursday 18 November
12 - 1 pm
1-1.30 pm - open mic conversation
Embedding Placemaking Practice in Local Government
Hear from some of the leading practitioners from Australia and NZ as they share their experiences on embedding placemaking practice within local government. The ups and downs, ins and out will be explored during the session to help support the development of placemaking within Aotearoa and particularly in local government.
This is a 1 hour session followed by a 30 minute open mic.
Hosted by:
Mike Fisher, Activation Manager at ChristchurchNZ and Consultant at UrbanTacticians
Jo-Ann Baynham, Team Leader, Brisbane City Council Placemaking Team (Design Brisbane), Australia
Geoff Wilkinson, Team Leader of the Strategic Design & Innovation team, Brisbane City Council Placemaking Team (Design Brisbane), Australia
Sarah Maddock, Place Leader, City of Charles Sturt, Adelaide, Australia
David Murphy, Chief Planning Officer, Palmerston North City Council
Keegan Aplin-Thane, Planner, Palmerston North City Council
Friday 19 November
12 - 1 pm
Placemaking at Kāinga Ora
This session will provide an overview of what/who Kāinga Ora is, what placemaking means at Kāinga Ora by working through some examples of placemaking and providing an overview of the work programme and future direction. If you’re interested in knowing what New Zealand’s largest urban development agency is doing in the placemaking realm, this is for you!
Hosted by: Christine Olsen, Chief Advisor Placemaking, and Kathleen Waldock, Placemaking Manager, at Kāinga Ora
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