Celebrating places and people who make them
The Kūmara Awards began as homegrown event and were initially created to celebrate placemaking across Tāmaki Makaurau. 2020 was the inaugural round!
The initial idea behind the Kūmara Awards was to encourage placemaking that happens throughout the year with a celebration during Placemaking Week. The aim was to keep the awards light and even a bit silly, but still serious, as well as celebratory and fun.
To honour the kūmara vine metaphor, there was no submission form, no voting for your favourites and no celebrity panel to impress.
Five awards were given based on what was being talked about on the placemaking kūmara vine… Our message to placemakers was that, a bit like the kūmara plant, you should nurture your placemaking and get it talked about! Then, you never know, when the time is right, you might just find yourself the happy recipient of a jolly fine (pretty wonderful actually) Kūmara Award!
Winners 2020
Here are the five winners of the inaugural Kūmara Awards for Tāmaki Makaurau:
Received an award in the category of “Saving the World One Place at a Time” for showing people the role of urban farming in achieving sustainable and regenerative food systems and helping people reconnect with the place.
Acknowledged as “Most Gracious Survivor of Red Tape” for believing and persisting in their mission to create “A Place Where Youth Lead”, and generously helping existing systems to evolve at the same time.
Honoured with an award in the category of “Looking Back To Look Forward” for weaving innovations with deep story of place to provide unique connections to the significance of place through tohu (elemental indicators and seasonal time markers ) via “The Journeys of Manu” project.
Received an award in the category “From Little Things Big Things Grow” for supporting local people to come together and act on what matters to them, ultimately creating a safer neighbourhood through the “Bayview Traffic Safety Project”.
Honoured for going “Beyond the Brief” with their revolutionising workspace that embraces technology, flexibility, sustainability and community to deliver a smarter, sustainable and healthier workplace where lifestyle and work can effortlessly blend.
