Special events help to shine a light on Cultural Landscapes

Neatly coinciding with April’s ASLA-driven World Landscape Architecture Month - which has the theme of ‘Pushing Boundaries’ for 2025 - there are two events taking place this month that connect to the cultural significance of landscapes and raise the profile of landscape architecture.

The first of these events - organised by the New Zealand Parks Leaders Forum (NZPLF) - is the Wānanga Waitangi Summit: Managing Parks of Cultural Significance. This special event commences on the Waitangi Treaty Grounds tomorrow, Wednesday 2 April and runs through to Friday 4 April. See below.

The second event is an international webinar titled Resilience through Naturecultures - supporting communities in times of crisis. It will feature two speakers from New Zealand - Diane Menzies and William Hatton; one from Lebanon - Jala Makhzoumi; and one from Spain - Mónica Luengo.

It will take place on 16 April via Google Meetings at approximately UTC10am / NZ10pm (be sure to check the time conversion and details on the NZILA website). The timing occurs two days before UNESCO’s International Day for Monuments and Sites - a day proposed by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ACOMOS) in 1983. The webinar will address three themes:

the Wānanga Waitangi Summit: Managing Parks of Cultural SignificancE

Geoff Canham recalls a similar summit was held at Te Papa around 2014 and muses that co-management and co-governance are continuing to exhibit a meaningful momentum across funding, regulation and democracy.

“Everywhere you look this is a fascinating and busy space to be involved in, and it’s not one that you can easily find a manual for. One common approach is to centre learning around field trips but this event, for which we’re expecting about 75 people to attend, offers a real wānanga setting - an opportunity to be face-to-face and to speak freely and frankly”.

Participants who will be speaking at the Summit include Debbie Tikao, President of Tuia Pito Ora New Zealand Institute of Landscape Architects, along with other manuhiri from around the motu and from Australia.

This list of speakers includes small ‘abstracts’ copied from the advance programme:

Ngāti Kawa Taituha | Waitangi, Marae Chariman, Te Tii Marae Waitangi

Placing Māori culture at the centre of Aotearoa NZ’s story. Canvassing our rich heritage, elevating the mana of whakapapa and grasping the traditional values that exist as geopolitical overlays to our modern concept of “Parks”.

Ralph Johnson | Chief Transformation Officer, Waitangi Treaty Grounds

An introduction to the nationally and internationally significant Waitangi Treaty Grounds followed by an interactive session, drawing on the collective wisdom of the audience, exploring planning models and approaches for balancing short term sustainability priorities and longer-term planning for the bicentenaries in 2035 and 2040.

Debbie Tikao | NZILA Registered Landscape Architect - Tipu Design and Paul Devlin | Head Ranger - Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū and Port Hills Regional Parks, Christchurch City Council

Takapūneke has a rich history and is of immense cultural importance to Ngāi Tārewa and Ngāti Irakehu. The story of this whenua is both shocking and complex, yet according to historians, this piece of Akaroa coastline “provide(s) an even richer set of narratives around the Nations identity than Waitangi.” The story commences in 1820 with the establishment of a thriving trading centre at Takapūneke, followed by a massacre that sent shock waves back to London, decades of battle with local bodies over the desecration of this sacred land through to the healing work we're doing today and the blessing of stage one landscape works on Matariki 2022.

Tane Houston | Pou Atawhai, Taranaki Mounga Project- Lead Ranger

Taranaki Mounga Project is an ambitious landscape scale restoration and reconnection programme of Te Papa-Kura-o-Taranaki. Initiated in 2015, the project has sought to work across a partnership of iwi, agencies and community to deliver transformational changes for our tūpuna maunga. This presentation will share insights from the last decade of operations, and aspirations for the future as Te Ture Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua 2025 comes into force.

Matthew Paterson | Regional Program Coordinator (Gunaikurnai)| Regional Operations | Eastern with: Annalise Varker | Djaara Ranger, Parks Victoria; Daikota Nelson | Dja Dja Wurrung Ranger & Indigenous Artist; Kevin Hood | Djaara Ranger, Parks Victoria; and Zelma Carter | Djaara Ranger, Parks Victoria

The presentation will outline how joint management of National Parks and Reserves is established between Traditional Owner Group entities and the State of Victoria (Australia). Moving from a more formal review of legislation, agreements and other matters the presentation will include time for Gunaikurnai and Dja Dja Wurrung Rangers to share their stories of what joint management means for them, also allowing time to invite open discussion.

Liz Parkin | Kaitohutohu Matua - Tūpuna Maunga, Auckland Council and Joe Hammon | Ngāti Whātua, Te Rarawa me Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa. Kaiwhakahaere – Te Waka Tai-ranga-whenua, Auckland Council

The co-governance and co-management arrangements supported by Te Waka Tairanga Whenua bring an approach to management that rests upon varying Te Tiriti o Waitangi settlements and local government management structures. From legislated arrangements to local board management sub-committees, these structures provide valuable connectivity between Mana Whenua, local government, and the community. Some of the sites concern single iwi while others work with multiple iwi across multiple sites. Each entity manages sites of high cultural significance to Mana Whenua; all with public access. All sites deliver mutually beneficial social, environmental, cultural, and resource management outcomes.

Kylie Willison | General Manager-Te Mahi ā-Nuku and Geoff Canham | Director and Principal Parks Specialist, Thrive Spaces and Places

The hapū of Ngai Tamarawaho was a driving force behind a 2001 vision to reestablish their relationship with Tauranga’s Kopurererua Valley. The hapū vision for what became the ‘Kopurererua Valley Project’ including the overdue revival of Ngai Tamarawaho’s cultural presence and co-decision-making connection with the Valley, changing it from failed attempts at European farming and drainage subsidies, to a thriving 364 ha waterway park, honouring Ngai Tamarawaho’s ancestors and providing contemporary spaces for people to reconnect. Since then, the better management and protection of Puketoromiro Pa, the creation of Te Mahi a-Nuku (the hapu’s training, native plant nursery and contracting company) and the recognition of future work for the hapu to undertake and decide on instead of general contractors has changed and increased. In essence, the 24-year project culminated in the reintegration of hapū vision into the Kopurererua Valley, offering a model for other regions, city councils, and hapū. Significant achievements range from physical changes to the Valley to relationship strengthening. These include community relationship building and strengthening of the hapū’s relationship with their whenua, their local authority Tauranga City Council, infrastructural agencies, utility companies, and the community.

Lance Vervoort | CEO, Hamilton City Council

This presentation traverses Hamilton City Council’s journey to ensure the organisation genuinely works in collaboration with Tiriti partners, Waikato-Tainui, mana whenua and maataawaka to achieve collective outcomes in the management of parks, community facilities and water bodies for the locals through the application of Maatauranga Maaori principles and Council’s multi-faceted strategy He Pou Manawa Ora – Pillars of Strength. It provides an outline of the prioritised, sequential initiatives that have been implemented to make a change in the way staff think and operate, with the exploration of some practical examples of what has been achieved so far.

Cultural Landscapes, LandscapeStephen Olsen