The team have been back at work for the last two weeks, and we have been working hard on our plans for this year. The image below sets out briefly what 2015 looks like for the Institute. You will notice there are a few upcoming events – one later this month (the StrategyNZ project) and one at the end of March (the OneOceanNZ project). Learn more about our upcoming events here.
Our work programme is based on our observations from 2014 (below) and our reading to date.
- New Zealand is at risk of developing into two countries – the regions and the cities.
- As the population gravitates to the cities, the poor are at risk of being pushed to the outskirts.
- The idea that ‘character’ should be taught in schools.
- Civics education must be addressed.
- Ocean policy, by necessity, must be revisited and integrated.
- Ebola was the wild card for 2014.
- The hack attack on Sony was the weak signal for 2014.
- The world is more integrated and connected than ever before.
To learn more about our 2015 work programme, please see the ‘Prime Minister’s 2015 Summer Reading List‘ blog or our January 2015 newsletter.
I am also writing to let you know about three books that have been instrumental to our planning this year. So if you are like me and need some inspiration, these three books come highly recommended.
The Change Book: Fifty models to explain how things happen – Mikael Krogerus and Roman Tschappeler
18 Minutes: Find your focus, master distraction and get the right things done – Peter Bregman
The Organised Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload – Daniel J Levitin
Together, they helped us to fine-tune our work programme for 2015.
