The third and final workshop for The Civics and Media Project was held on Thursday, 19 November 2020, at the Royal Society of New Zealand.

This full-day workshop proved insightful and dynamic, contributing potential responses to the focus question ‘How do we ensure a well-informed, civically engaged New Zealand in 2030?’ The programme is available on the Workshop 3 page.

We would like to acknowledge all the speakers and participants; their input was critical. The speakers were Dame Dr Claudia Orange, Dr Carwyn Jones, Jane Wrightson, Dr Helen Sissons, Dr Siouxsie Wiles, Louise Green, Terry Burrell, Tara Ross, Sylvia Nissen and James Dunne.

Below is a brief summary of the day’s events. Over the next few weeks we will add all the key outputs to the website. We hope to publish a full summary in early December.

The Process: Exploring how to make progress

In the first session Dr Gavin Ellis shared the conclusions from Workshop 2, held in Auckland late last month.
He outlined the nine visions for 2030 (the ends): three each for media, civics and education.
This was followed by ten speakers. Each speaker shared three ideas in five minutes on the means to the ends.
  1. Dame Dr Claudia Orange, Head of Research, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
  2. Dr Carwyn Jones, Senior Lecturer, School of Law, Victoria University
  3. Jane Wrightson, Chief Executive, NZ On Air
  4. Dr Helen Sissons, Senior Lecturer, Journalism, Auckland University of Technology
  5. Dr Siouxsie Wiles, Senior Lecturer, Medical Sciences, University of Auckland
  6. Louise Green, President, New Zealand Educational Institute
  7. Terry Burrell, Teacher, Onslow College
  8. Tara Ross, Senior Lecturer, Journalism, University of Canterbury; Research Associate, Pacific Media Centre
  9. Sylvia Nissen, PhD student (researching how young people express political agency), University of Canterbury
  10. James Dunne, Chief Executive, Superdiversity Centre for Law, Politics and Business
In the afternoon participants built on these ideas and developed others in order to complete a draft booklet.

The Output: A booklet
The primary output of all three workshops will take the form of a booklet. This aims to be an influential think piece, building knowledge on how we might work, together or separately, to ensure that a well-informed, civically engaged society exists in 2030. The finished booklet will be distributed widely in 2020. A working draft of the booklet can be read below.

About The Civics and Media Project
The purpose of The Civics and Media Project is to inform and encourage public discourse and engagement regarding civics and media, with the ultimate aim of informing decisions by individuals, industry and institutions across society. The project is an initiative the Institute is working on with Victoria University of Wellington, the University of Auckland, New Zealand On Air, the Royal Society of New Zealand, and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage. To learn more see the website. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected].