Networking for the environment

The networking for the environment project is a series of networking events for people working for environmentally focused organisations in Greater Christchurch. The objective of these events is to create a space for sharing experiences, resources and tips for running a community-based organisation.

Networking events

Networking hui - 2021~~
Networking hui 13 - Stories to Celebrate ~~

The objective of the day was to showcase two projects about gathering oral histories and stories. We encouraged people to think about their own stories and how to capture them. We reported back about our Long-Term Plan outcomes and decisions and highlighted opportunities for community groups.

Speaker topics

Recorded podcasts

PlainsFM recorded the hui and created 2 half hour programmes that aired in the first week of July and are now available as podcasts entitled:

 Listen to Environmental Leadership and Heritage of Christchurch project by Diane Shand.

 Listen to collecting oral histories by Victoria Bliss.

 

Over 50 people attended. Speakers and titles of talks are on the agenda.

Over 50 people attended.

Environmental Leadership and Heritage of Canterbury- Diana Shand

Environmental Leadership and Heritage of Canterbury- Diana Shand.

Hui documents

Networking hui 12 - Engaging with local government on their Long-Term Plans - 12 March 2021~

The objective of the day was to provide a basic understanding of the Long-Term Plan (LTP) and encourage participants to engage with their local government through the submission process.

The LTP sets out the activities, priorities, and work programmes that Councils propose to deliver over the coming 10 years. It also outlines the costs and how they could be funded. A new Long-Term Plan is produced every three years, as required by the Local Government Act 2002.

Speaker topics

The event had approximately 35 people. The event was recorded due to the risk of Covid level increase, but unfortunately, the sound quality is too poor to publish.

 

Networking for the environment hui 12

Katy McRae of CCC talking to the network about what happens to your submission once you hit the send button.

Hui documents

Networking hui - 2020
Networking hui 11 - Funding and Future Thinking - 21 October 2020

The objective of the day was to learn about the funding opportunities that are currently available, what’s on the horizon and explore the idea of collaborative projects to strengthen prospect of success.

The event was well attended, with 50+ participants from a diversity of community organisations across greater Christchurch.

Notes from some of the Panel Participants

Websites from Community Organisations of Panel Participants

 Photos from the event

Andy (SDC) speaking at hui
Clayton (MPI) speaking at hui
Panel at hui
Crowd view at hui
Kelly (MFE) speaking at hui
Lan Pham (Ecan) speaking at hui
Leeann (DOC) speaking at hui
Maryann (CB) speaking at hui
Networking hui 10 - Intergenerational Partnerships - 3 September 2020

Topic: Communicate, Collaborate, and co-create?

This hui provided a chance for people from diverse groups and ages to talk together, find common ground and explore possible opportunities for collaborative actions, coalescing around such issues as climate change, biodiversity restoration, or influencing change via social media.

Notes from some of the Panel Participants

Websites from Community Organisations of Panel Participants

Photos from the event

Speaker at hui
Speakers at hui
Speakers at hui
Speaker at hui
Speaker at hui
Speaker at hui
Speaker at hui
Speaker at hui
Collaborating at hui
Collaborating at hui
Collaborating at hui
Collaborating at hui
Collaborating at hui
Collaborating at hui
Collaborating at hui
Networking hui – 2019
Networking hui 9 – Te Kāhui Tūao (Constellation of Volunteers) - Telling our Story – 25 November 2019

This hui was held on 25th November 2019 at the Christchurch Botanic Garden.

Approximately 30 people attended.

The purpose of the hui was to start to capture the stories of the individuals and community organisations in the environmental sector. Participants worked in small groups and talked about key insights from their work, and explored the question “Why is this work important to you?” Their answers were then the nuggets of wisdom that are represented on the canvas as the Matariki Stars in both words and images.

We will keep building our story with the goal of having a multi-media presentation that shows the collective impact of the environmental movement (past, present and future). This presentation will be shared with our communities, local and regional councils and visitors to this beautiful place we call home in 2020.

 Constellation of Volunteers
Networking hui 8 – Information and Technology – 21 June 2019

We had a great session with approx. 16 representatives from community organisations. These notes summarize the feedback and discussion that took place and not the information presented.

We will take the information provided and develop a series of workshops/trainings to be offered throughout the coming year.

Networking hui – 2018
Networking hui 7 - Celebrating Volunteers – sharing our stories, challenges and gratitude – 5 December 2018
Networking hui 6 - Future of Funding II – 28 June 2018

Outcomes

The kaupapa of all Networking for the environment hui is to share knowledge and ideas.  This Future of Funding II event was the second in a series about funding from non-traditional sources Crowdfunding (a project or venture) works by raising money from many people who each contribute a relatively small amount, typically via the Internet. 

A challenge put to the 50+ participants was to think about their organisation and how they are currently funded and if this might be an option to incorporate into their funding strategy.

The objective of this session was to learn about crowdfunding from the experts at Givealittle and Million Metres Streams Project.

Related documents

Networking - Hui 6 crowdfunding 28 June 2018

Networking hui – 2017
Networking hui 4 - Sharing knowledge and lessons learned – 26 October 2017

Invite and agenda

The programme of the day will include talks about working smarter, goal settings and optional walking tours.

View the Networking for the Environment invite Event - 26 October 2017 (PDF File, 216.38KB)

Outcomes

The fourth and final networking event for 2017 was held on 26th of October at the Mt. Pleasant Community Centre. The event was generously hosted by Avon Heathcote Estuary Ihutai Trust (AHEIT) and attended by 35 people representing community based/Third Sector Organisations (TSO), government agencies and philanthropic organisations.

The topic for the day was “Sharing knowledge and lessons learned” with the objective of sharing tips for working smarter to reduce administrative burden. Big Thanks to Bill Simpson and Tanya Jenkins of AHEIT, Harald Breiding-Buss of Christchurch Community Accounting (CCA), Olivia Smith, Chrissie Williams and Shelley Washington of Environment Canterbury for their contributions.

Presentations:

Related documents:

Networking event 4

Networking event 4

Networking hui 3 - What next ? The future of funding – 3 August 2017

Invite and agenda

The day will focus on two topics:

  • Waterways Partnership - A proposed programme of behaviour change, education and awareness to improve water quality, waterway health and water use in Christchurch and Banks Peninsula.
  • Social enterprise - Exploring models and approaches

View the Networking for the environment invite Event - 3 August 2017 (PDF File, 203.67KB).

Networking for the Environment event Group discussion

Outcomes

The third networking event was held on 3 August 2017 at Te Hāpua, the Halswell Service Centre in Christchurch. The event was well attended with 52 people representing community based/Third Sector Organisations (TSO), government agencies and philanthropic organisations.

The topic for the day was “The future of funding” with the objective of providing participants the opportunity to learn, discuss and explore different funding models from government grants to social enterprise. Big Thanks to Olivia Smith (ECan) for facilitating the day, Clive Appleton (CCC) and Alex Hannant (Ākina) for presenting, Brenda Greene (CCC), Shelley Washington (ECan) and Adrienne Lomax (ECan –former WET) for their ongoing support.

Here are the links to related documents:

Networking hui 2 - Let's explore creating an Environment Hub/Centre in greater Christchurch – 4 April 2017
Networking hui – 2016
Networking hui 1 - Linking with government and liaising with Iwi – 29 November 2016

Our inaugural event was attended by over 60 people representing community based organisations, government agencies and philanthropic organisations.

Invite and agenda

View the Networking for the Environment Invite (PDF File, 1.05MB) and Networking for the Environment Agenda (PDF File, 180.55KB).

The day focussed on sharing resources and information for linking with government, liaising with Iwi and capturing the collective knowledge of the group in an open and friendly environment. Participation by government agencies, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu and Rata Foundation enabled one-on-one conversations with funders, as well as group discussions on how to improve communication between the various sectors. Here are the handouts provided:

Outcomes

One of the biggest benefits of the day was the opportunity to connect with colleagues and peers, according to feedback from participants.

The group identified access to technical information, people and resources including funding as common issues. They agreed that continued conversation is welcomed and future events are needed.

Here are the links to our summary notes document and post it session comments.

The idea of creating an ECO-hub or “bumping space” for people to interact on an informal, ongoing basis was the most cited suggestion from the day. This is a great concept and needs to be developed further. Please email Alison.bower@ecan.govt.nz if you have ideas on how to progress it and would like to be involved.

Workshops 

Workshop 4 - COVID-19 Community Conversation
Covid-19 Community Conversation was held on 13 July 2020 at the Christchurch Enviro Hub. 
More than 35 people came together to talk about imperative social and environmental issues that were brought to the forefront by lockdown. What did we learn? What are we going to do about it?
Workshop 3 - Information & Technology (IT) Plan development Workshop
Henrietta Hall of Infoxchange & 'Stay '

Henrietta Hall of Infoxchange & 'Stay '

This workshop picked up where the IT Hui 8 in June left off. Henrietta Hall of Infoxchange worked with 6 organisations to develop an IT plan. Organisations with a communications plan found this very helpful input into their IT plan.

Activities in the workshop included:

  • Each organisation assessing their capability with technology
  • Identifying common issues and opportunities
  • Starting to populate the IT plan
  • Tailoring common recommendations such as safeguarding the organisation, and consolidating email and file sharing

Continued own work on the plan with additional content provided including:

  • Technology training
  • Online presence
  • Identifying admin and comms roles
  • Collecting the right stories and information for stakeholders

1:1 follow-up session with each organisation:

  • Working through the draft IT plan discussing priorities, offering advice and answering questions
  • Helping with custom recommendations
  • Supplying further resources to support the plan

If you would like more information about the workshop, please contact Henrietta Hall at hhall@infoxchange.org.

Feedback from a participant:

“For small NFPs these sorts of collegial training days are just invaluable, for not only do we receive really expert training in areas we are lacking in, but we also get to network and learn from each other. When your office team is all or mostly volunteers, and small, these opportunities are gold.” Linda, Keep Christchurch Beautiful

Workshop 2 - Communication Planning Workshop

Communications Planning workshops were held 12 August and 5 September 2019 at Environment Canterbury.

The trainers Erin, Sophie and Rob are part of the team at Narrative Campaign and they did a great job of helping 18 groups find their voice and build a communications plan/strategy for their organisations.

View the planning workshop presentation (PDF File, 3.66MB).

Topics covered:

  • Overarching calendar planning
  • Tailoring target audiences
  • Choosing and evaluating platforms
  • Development of an editorial calendar
  • Reporting templates

1:1 Follow-up session with interested participants:

  1. Working through any and all arising questions
  2. Diving into more detail relevant to each organisation for their respective Comms plans
  3. Examples relevant to their work
  4. Discussion around particular opportunities
  5. List of recommendations and examples as required

If you would like more information about the workshop and/or materials provided, please contact Erin Jackson at erin@narrativecampaigns.com

Feedback from a participant:

“The workshop was useful, practical and an opportunity to tap into the different skills of the Narrative Campaign people. It was a fast pace; however, the content was spot on and what we needed. The one-on-one session was even better with Erin. This was a chance to ‘to-and-fro’ and build on ideas with her. I’d rate this session very highly.” Rachel, OHRN

Communication networking event

Workshop 1 – Fundraising 101

Workshop summary - 25 March 2019

The Fundraising 101 workshop held on 25 March 2019 at the beautiful Tūranga- Central Library was a big success.

Over thirty people heard first-hand from presenters, Kate Russell, ONZM, FFINZ, Programmes, and Partnerships Manager Parks CCC and Sue Marshall- Specialist Grant Writer, SPCA, on what makes a compelling grant application.

Participants examined their current fundraising practices and learned practical tips to help increase their fundraising success.

Topics included:

  • special events
  • sponsorship and donor care
Representatives from several funding organisations (Rātā, DIA, CCC, SDC, WDC, and ECan) were on-hand to answer questions about available funding and what makes a successful application.

Feedback from a participant:

“…that was a very useful workshop and I picked up plenty of useful gems, I certainly gave my arm a good workout as I was frantically writing everything down. I also thought Kate and Sue were skilful speakers who managed to keep everyone captivated…”  — Hamish - Conservation Volunteers.

Related documents

Networking for the environment workshop panel discussion

Networking for the environment