In November 2020 we travelled up the Whanganui River with 35 young New Zealanders aged between 18 and 25 as part of the LocalNZ workshop. During this trip the LocalNZ participants had the opportunity to hear
Richard Louv discuss connections between family, nature and the community; this was followed by a Q & A session. We filmed this session and have now published the videos on our YouTube channel. In the six-video playlist, Richard shares his thoughts on the following questions:

  1. What are the benefits of exposure to nature?
  2. Cultural shift or focus on policy?
  3. Is there a relationship between time spent in nature and cognitive ability?
  4. Is it cheaper to bring nature to the city or vice versa?
  5. How do we get the idea of connecting children and nature recognised?
  6. How can we encourage parents to let their children enjoy nature?

The Q & A session with Richard Louv is one of the six outputs from the LocalNZ workshop. For more information about these outputs, see the outputs page on the LocalNZ website.

LocalNZ: Connecting youth committed to local government formed part of the McGuinness Institute’s TalentNZ project – creating an informed, focused and networked group of young New Zealanders able to engage effectively with government and the communities in which they live.

We want to build New Zealand’s talent-based economy. If you want to join us on this journey, please connect with TalentNZ. By connecting you will receive our TalentNZ newsletter, which outlines recent developments, research and resources relating to creating a talent-based economy and keeps you informed about upcoming TalentNZ events. Please also share this link with others who you think may be interested.