Blog
EmpowerNZ featured in the NZ Journal of Public and International Law
The latest volume of the New Zealand Journal of Public and International Law (2012 10 NZJPIL) has a distinctly EmpowerNZ theme, with a copy of the workshop’s draft Constitution featured at the end of the journal. Accompanying the draft Constitution is a description by...
The McGuinness Institute Discusses Civics Teaching with the Centre for Citizenship Education
Within the many conversations members of the Institute overhear around political, policy and constitutional issues, one commonly voiced sentiment is the frustration of New Zealanders over the lack of learning that takes place in our curriculum around civics and the...
“Twenty-five percent? That’s a bit mental.”
Thirteen of the LongTermNZ participants reconvened today to make a follow up presentation to the Treasury on the youth perspective of NZ’s long term fiscal policy. Over muesli and coffee, we kicked off by brainstorming key elements that had stuck with us in the months...
Paul Callaghan: Luminous Moments
Today Bridget Williams Books (BWB) launched the new BWB Text series of short digital books bringing together the best of the past, present and future of thought in New Zealand. The first of the series to be released is Paul Callaghan: Luminous Moments: Selected...
Sir Paul Callaghan Science Meets Humanities Scholarship recipients
Sir Paul Callaghan’s vision of New Zealand as ‘a place where talent wants to live’ will be developed by two young scholars. To mark the anniversary of Sir Paul's death on 24 March 2012, the we have announced today that Charlotte Greenfield and Darren Zhang are the...
Forum for the Future: Living in two worlds
Tomorrow night a discussion entitled “Living in Two Worlds: Multiculturalism with bi-cultural foundations (the New Zealand-Canadian dialogue)” will take place at Te Papa. The event has been organised by the Centre for Applied Cross-Cultural Research’s as part of the...
New Zealand King Salmon: Was it a good decision for New Zealand?
On 22 February 2013, the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) published the Board of Inquiry’s final report and decision on New Zealand King Salmon’s (NZKS) application to establish nine new salmon farms in the Marlborough Sounds. The Board approved four of the...
Book Review: Quiet
Closeted introverts rejoice! Susan Cain’s Quiet draws some needed attention to the extroversion ideal we find in today’s society. When over a third of people are introverts, including notables such as Steve Jobs and Rosa Parks, why are we writing off an entire...
Big Data discussion series: Growing up digital
Last night fellow research analyst Ryan Gallagher and I went along to the penultimate session of the Big Data Discussion Series at the Royal Society. The series is being run alongside the National Library’s Big Data exhibition and explores the nature and implications...
Book Review: Antifragile
Have you found the book Antifragile yet? It’s worthwhile tracking one down even if it’s simply to read the prologue. Nassim Nicholas Taleb (the author) previously wrote The Black Swan. He is trying to...
Constitutional Conversation website is launched!
“It might be a warm korero or a prickly korero, but what we’ve got to do is keep the korero going,” was one of TV Personality Pio Terei’s opening statements during the launch of The Constitutional Conversation website, which will form the major platform for the...
Constitutional Advisory Panel at Te Papa
What are your aspirations for Aotearoa New Zealand? How do you want our country to be run in the future? Next week, the Constitutional Advisory Panel will officially launch their engagement website The Constitution Conversation. The public is invited to join the Panel...
Show your support for Team Paul Callaghan
This March friends, family, and colleagues of the late Sir Paul Callaghan will be participating in the Cancer Society’s Relay For Life in Wellington. You can show your support by buying a Team Paul Callaghan t-shirt, or by making a donation. John Trail, Head of Sales...
A Living Wage for New Zealand
You may have heard talk in the media recently about a ‘living wage’. The campaign was launched by Living Wage Aotearoa New Zealand (LWANZ), which unites a wide range of organisations who support the living wage. I spent two days at LWANZ’s Precarious Work and The...
‘She’ll be Right – Yeah Right’ Seminar
Last week I attended the Kensington Swan Business Ethics Seminar ‘She’ll be right – Yeah Right: Managing risk and reputation in today’s market.’ Keynote presenter Philippa Foster Back, OBE, Director of the UK-based Institute of Business Ethics, spoke about the latest...
Science Meets Humanities Scholarship Programme Announced
Since July 2011 the Institute has engaged in discussions with some of New Zealand’s deepest thinkers on how best to propel New Zealand forward. Think Piece 15: The Magical place where Science and Humanities meet reflects these discussions. The Think Piece identifies...
Lessons from the Air New Zealand Social Media Breakfast
‘Don’t be lame.’ One of several key take-home messages from the AirNZ Social Media Breakfast this morning at the Viaduct Events Centre in Auckland. Speakers Ross Dawson, author of the 2002 book Living Network, and Teddy Goff, Digital Director of Barack Obama’s 2012...
Big Data Discussion Series begins tomorrow
The first of five discussions chaired by Kim Hill on big data is being held this Thursday night (Feb 14), timed to coincide with the National Library’s major reopening exhibition entitled "Big Data: Changing Place", which will run until April. Kim will be joined by a...
A Bit of Excitement for Friday night!
Sam Morgan founded Trade Me and is involved in a series of philanthropic projects in Africa. Sam spent two hours with the participants of the LongTermNZ workshop in December 2012. His thoughts and ideas resonated with us all, so much so we thought you might like to...
TONIGHT: Second Te Papa Treaty Debate
Te Papa is hosting the second Treaty Debate tonight, featuring a panel of young people answering the question: What issues in the Constitutional Review do you care about? Chaired by Radio New Zealand presenter Kim Hill, the panel will include EmpowerNZ participants...
Te Papa Treaty Debates Series begins!
Last night’s Te Papa first Treaty debate was a night to remember; special thanks must go to Dame Dr Claudia Orange for making it happen. Most interesting to me was the speakers’ different approaches to constitutional reform. Matthew Palmer discussed reform from a...
TONIGHT: Te Papa’s 2013 Treaty Debates Series begins
Tonight the ‘My Voice Counts’ Treaty Debates Series begins at the Soundings Theatre at Te Papa. The debates run from 6.30 - 8pm, and entry is free. In the first debate, lawyers Matthew Palmer and Moana Jackson will be discussing the place of the Treaty of Waitangi in...
LongTermNZ Workshop
AboutThe LongTermNZ workshop was a five-day event where 27 young people were brought together to attend the Affording Our Future conference (10-11 December), and then spent three days workshopping the key issues raised at the conference. Teamed with three talented...
Prime Minister’s 2013 Summer Reading List
We have really enjoyed the annual Summer Reading List for the Prime Minister released by Australian think tank, the Grattan Institute – so much so that we have decided to emulate their model across the ditch. We have designed this list to capture key issues that we...
Jess Booker – A Generation Y perspective
As part of the LongTermNZ workshop the participants spent a day and a half at the Affording our Future conference, hosted by the Treasury and Victoria University. The conference focused on long-term economic challenges for New Zealand over the next 40 years. It aimed...
Photos from LongTermNZ
Photos from the LongTermNZ workshop have now been uploaded to the McGuinness Institute Facebook page. Check them out here.
LongTermNZ is underway!
Today was the first day of the LongTermNZ workshop. The 22 participants spent the day at Rutherford House at the Affording our Future conference. This evening Dr Patrick Nolan joined us for pizza and cake - many thanks to him for coming along. The participants are...
Christmas drinks with Dr John Volpe
The McGuinness Institute has had a fantastic year and with the festive season upon us it's time to celebrate. Next Thursday, 13 December, the Institute is hosting its end of year Christmas event and we would love to have you join us for a celebratory drink! We are...
Can you afford to miss this free lunch?
Next week at the LongTermNZ workshop, 20 young people will draft a Youth Statement on New Zealand's Long-term Fiscal Position. This statement is written for youth, by youth! No matter what policy issues push your buttons - climate change, social welfare, health,...
Hobbit ushers in new era
Peter Jackson and his team pulled off an extraordinary event last night. Not only have they gained the mana that brought fans and press from throughout the world to New Zealand's doorstep (see the photo above), but they also ushered in a new era of movie making by...
Congrats to Power Shift, 7-9 December
Young people are often accused of being apathetic, but that cannot be said of the 600 young people from around New Zealand and the Pacific that will descend on Auckland on 7-9 December 2012 for the youth climate summit: Power Shift. Organised by the climate change...
Notes from Demos
Following the fantastic Summit in Doha, Qatar, I have made my way to London where I had lunch with David Goodhart, director of Demos, a leading British think tank focused on power and politics. We had a great discussion about the role of think tanks in civil society...
Festival for the Future
This weekend we were fortunate enough to attend the incredible Festival for the Future. Hosted by Guy Ryan and his team at the Inspiring Stories Trust, the event brought together a group of vibrant, innovative people to tell their own ‘inspiring stories’ and...
More Notes from WISE
'Building a Learning World' Session moderated by British broadcaster Jon Snow, with panelists Rakesh Bharti Mittal from the Bharti Foundation in India, Gabriele Zedlmayer from Hewlett-Packard (HP), Prof. Roberto Carneiro from the Study Center on Peoples and Cultures,...
Notes from WISE
I am currently in Doha, Qatar for the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE). So far it has been a fantastic experience. Some of the videos from the day 1 sessions have already been made available on the the WISE website and I encourage you to have a look....
Register now for LongTermNZ
The McGuinness Institute will be running workshop on Wednesday 12 December which will bring together 20 young people to write a ‘Youth Long Term Fiscal Statement for New Zealand’. We are seeking bright and talented young people with an interest in macroeconomics,...
World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE)
I am thrilled to have been invited to this year's World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) Summit in Doha, Qatar, in mid November. The Summit is themed 'Collaboration for Change' and will see over 1000 prominent education, corporate, political and social...
EmpowerNZ Workshop
AboutThe EmpowerNZ workshop brought fifty New Zealanders between the ages of 16 and 28 to Parliament to draft a constitution for the 21st century. New Zealand is one of the few countries this century to invite citizens to review their nation’s constitution. The August...
New Zealand’s Got Talent
In the past few months we have met some incredibly talented young people. For this week’s Friday night blog post we wanted to share some of the exciting things a couple of these people have been up to. Christian Silver was in Year 10 at Kirstin School in Auckland when...
A Bit of Fun for a Friday Night!
The first Information is Beautiful Awards were recently held at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London and we have been checking out the winners. The awards are named after David McCandless’s best-selling book, and are a celebration of ‘excellence and beauty in...
Judge Joe Williams’ Tough Questions at EmpowerNZ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-HhWpBqDCA&feature=BFa&list=PLQZ75wSY3u66NUH8T9FrPmThU6mzLfaN0 The speeches and presentations at the EmpowerNZ workshop 28-29 August are now all on YouTube. There were some fantastic presentations at the workshop - we would love...
How a 17-Year-Old Says ‘No’ to New Salmon Farms
Last Thursday I had the privilege of listening to 17-year-old Leona Plaisier’s presentation before the Board of Inquiry hearing the NZ King Salmon proposal. NZ King Salmon, who sells salmon in New Zealand under the Regal and Southern Ocean brands, aims to establish...
A Bit of Fun for a Friday Night!
Today we met with Kieran Stowers and Chris Nicholls, design students at Massey University, who have developed a website that aims to increase youth engagement with New Zealand elections. Kieran and Chris were among the passionate and talented group of participants at...
Last call for new ‘Nation Dates’
What significant events have shaped the nation of New Zealand? We are currently working on the second edition of our book Nation Dates, and this is the last week we will be accepting suggestions for new dates to include. If you have suggestions or general feedback,...
A Bit of Excitement for a Friday night
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkNX0ZLvMnc We realise this is a few weeks old now (and in the world of social media that makes it archaic), but a couple of our staff members hadn’t seen this until yesterday. Cure Kids is a great cause, so we thought we would share it...
Watch Hon Jim McLay’s keynote address at EmpowerNZ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvxoZ1PbhUo The Honourable Jim McLay’s keynote address at the EmpowerNZ workshop is now available on our YouTube channel. Hon Jim McLay is the New Zealand Permanent Representative to the United Nations, and a former leader of the...
A Bit of Excitement for a Friday Night
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKwu-hNAD1M How about taking five minutes out to listen to the 'Constitutional Rap' this Friday- you will never think of a constitution as boring ever again. Big thanks to participants Ihapera Paniora and Pania Newton; they delighted...
A Draft Constitution for the 21st Century
Today we can announce the publication of a Draft Constitution for New Zealand fit for the 21st Century – produced by 50 talented young people at at Parliament on 28 and 29 August at the EmpowerNZ: Drafting a Constitution for the 21st Century workshop. The document,...
McGuinness Institute hosts Indonesian delegates
The Institute was visited yesterday by the Indonesian Ambassador, His Excellency Mr Antonius Agus Sriyono, along with representatives from the National Resilience Institute of the Republic of Indonesia. It was a pleasure to host our guests who were very interested in...
A big thank you to everyone involved with EmpowerNZ!
I am absolutely blown away by the quality of the participants and their ability to work together to develop such a creative and dynamic product in 48 hours. I am thrilled to know that EmpowerNZ is now in the hands of 50 amazing young people who will take the brand to...