Blog

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 the LongTermNZ workshop have now been uploaded to the McGuinness Institute Facebook page. Check them out here.

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

'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,...

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....

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

                      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...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

We will be uploading photos to our Facebook page throughout the workshop. Below are a few great photos from day one, but there are many more fantastic images on Facebook.

Today we are starting with a blank canvas. New Zealand is one of the few countries this century to invite citizens to review their nation’s constitution. And to make the most of this rare opportunity, 50 talented young people selected from throughout New Zealand, and...

In the time honoured fashion of distributing bouquets and brickbats to worthy recipients, the Institute would like to turn its eye to our neighbours across the Tasman. We would first like to offer a bouquet following the unveiling in June 2012 by Australian...

Peter Ho is the Senior Advisor to Singapore's Centre for Strategic Futures and the Chairman of the Urban Redevelopment Authority in Singapore. He is one of the world's leading experts in embedding foresight into government. Recently he was in New Zealand to speak at...

Evan Davis, in his excellent book Made in Britain, makes the case that there are three basic rules or principles that all economies tend to follow: ‘first, a country will build its economy around the resources it has available. Second, a nation will deploy these...

Following on from the 1st of June post that looked big ideas in marketing, we thought you might like to look at big ideas in the creative arts, in particular how photography, music, and technology are being integrated to develop new forms of entertainment. This is a...

This week our Chief Executive Wendy is attending the Australia New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG) Future Proofing the State Conference at Te Papa. The conference was opened last night with a keynote speech from the Rt. Hon John Key. He discussed how the...

There is no other word to describe this event. I went along last night to hear The Valkyrie in Wellington, and it was simply ‘epic’ – it is unbelievable that one person could dream up this drama and set it to music. On Wednesday 25 July the show reaches Christchurch...