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A farm girl from the Wairarapa, distinguished alumna Lisa McLaren remembers conversations around the dinner table with family friends where climate change was dismissed as a “greenie conspiracy”. The climate change activist, who completed a Master in Environmental Studies with a climate change education focus at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, says attitudes have changed. Most people now acknowledge climate change is an issue and she is “quietly hopeful” for the future. Lisa talks with Professor James Renwick from Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington's School of Geography, Geology, and Earth Sciences about the value of university study to help critical thinking skills, how to take care of oneself while worrying about your future, and more, in this fascinating podcast.

Aged sixteen, Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington distinguished alumnus, now Chief Judge of the District Court, Heemi Taumaunu (Ngāti Porou—Ngāti Konohi, Ngāi Tahu) joined the Army. When he was 21, his father came to see him at the army camp, and told him he should think about going to law school. Professor Rawinia Higgins (Ngāi Tūhoe), Tumu Ahurei—Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Māori) and Toihau—Chair of Te Taura whiri i te reo Māori—Māori Language Commission, speaks to Judge Taumaunu about his experiences studying at Te Herenga Waka, and how he has sought to make the courts fairer for all through implementation of Ngā Kōti Rangatahi o Aotearoa, the Rangatahi courts.

Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington distinguished alumna Rachel Taulelei (Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga, Ngāti Rārua, Ngāti Koata) explains how her law degree gave her the resilience to become one of Aotearoa’s top business leaders. The Māori business leader and former New Zealand Trade Commissioner is founder of sustainable food company Yellow Brick Road Ltd, and until last year was CEO of award-winning Māori food and beverage company Kono. She speaks to Management lecturer Ben Walker (Ngāri Ruakawa) about Māori business, sustainability, her love of food and family, and her goals for her new start-up, brand and business strategy firm Oho. This is one of six podcasts recorded with Te Herenga Waka’s 2021 Distinguished Alumni recipients. Find out more about Rachel: https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/engage/alumni/our-alumni/distinguished-alumni-awards/rachel-taulelei

An interest in science and a taste of business during a year in Sydney saw Te Herenga Waka―Victoria University of Wellington distinguished alumnus Chris Parkin CNZM become one of the first students at the University to complete degrees in both Science and Commerce. The former hotelier and well-known art collector and philanthropist speaks to Kaiwhakakapi Tumu Whakarae—Acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Jennifer Windsor about science, property development, art, and politics as part of the University's distinguished alumni podcast series. (NB: when this recording was made Professor Windsor was in her permanent role as Pro-Vice-Chancellor for the faculties of Humanities and Social Sciences and Education). This is one in a series of six podcasts recorded with Te Herenga Waka's 2021 Distinguished Alumni Awards recipients. Find out more about Chris: https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/engage/alumni/our-alumni/distinguished-alumni-awards/chris-parkin

Mental health demands in Aotearoa New Zealand are rapidly increasing. These demands are exacerbated by a shortage of health professionals, causing dangerous delays around the country. While there are some excellent and innovative initiatives to address these demands, unless these are implemented fully, they will fail to respond to the urgency and scale of need. Join experts as they discuss the cohesive approaches needed to improve mental wellbeing, including digital tools and other scalable approaches, while also examining the heart of the problem: if the current investments in strategies continue to remain patchy, we will see terrible harm in communities and the policies will fail the mental health needs of young people. Speakers: Dr Terry Fleming (Te Herenga Waka–Victoria University of Wellington) Tania Wilson (Clinical Psychologist and General Manager of Fresh Minds)

In Budget 2021, the New Zealand government announced a commitment to the development of a Social Unemployment Insurance scheme. Developed by a tripartite working group with Business New Zealand and the CTU, public consultation on this new scheme is now open. Our experts share their insights and perspectives on the proposed new scheme, the public policy making and processes, the economic and social impacts, and what it all means for New Zealand workers. Speakers: Max Rashbrooke (Senior Associate, Institute for Governance and Policy Studies) Simon Chapple (Director, Institute for Governance and Policy Studies).

This episode’s guest is Professor John Randal, Associate Dean (Students) in in Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington’s Ōrauariki—Wellington School of Business and Government. John was diagnosed with major depression around 15 years ago, and talks to Annemarie about the relief of getting a diagnosis and getting treatment. He Pai Tatou, We’re Good is a podcast about emotions and mental health and is hosted by Professor of Health Annemarie Jutel from the Wellington Faculty of Health—Te Wāhanga Tātai Hauora.

This episode’s guest is Jonathan Boston, Professor of Policy Studies in Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington’s Te Kura Kāwanatanga—School of Government. He has served as Co-Chair of the Expert Advisory Group on Solutions to Child Poverty, and has written extensively on climate change policy. Jonathan suffers from an anxiety disorder, and talks to Annemarie about living with this. He Pai Tatou, We’re Good is a podcast about emotions and mental health and is hosted by Professor of Health Annemarie Jutel from the Wellington Faculty of Health—Te Wāhanga Tātai Hauora.

He Pai Tatou, We’re Good is a podcast about emotions and mental health and is hosted by Professor of Health Annemarie Jutel from the Wellington Faculty of Health—Te Wāhanga Tātai Hauora. This episode’s guest is playwright and actor Rob Mokoraka (Ngāpuhi, Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Ruapani, Ngāti Kahungunu), who suffers from depression. Rob once attempted to end his life by putting himself in harm’s way, and while recovering used the experience as the basis for a play, ‘Shot Bro: Confessions of A Depressed Bullet’. He talks to Annemarie about using acting and playwrighting to deal with his depression, and how tikanga and aroha are powerful healing tools.

COVID impacted many organisations including Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington where in-person classes had to be replaced with online. Wanaka-born professional skier Finn Bilous was one of these students, trapped overseas competing he was able to continue his graphic design courses online. His professor, Zach Dodson, had worked to film his hilarious lectures against a green screen full of laser beams and memes. The campus is now back to face-to-face study, but over 650 students from 30 countries still log-in to learn thanks to faculty dedication to delivering compelling education regardless of format. Associate Professor Leon Gurevitch from Te Kura Hoahoa—School of Design Innovation at Te Herenga Waka chats to Finn and Zach about their experience of online teaching and learning over the last two years.

Sustainable tourism, which takes full account of its current and future economic, social, and environmental impacts, is an increasingly important focus for the tourism industry, particularly in New Zealand where tourism is one of our major exports. So, as we move to a more sustainable future—what will tourism look like and what will the impact on New Zealand be? Dr Ina Reichenberger speaks with Associate Professor Christian Schott and Associate Professor Ian Yeoman about sustainable tourism in New Zealand. Dr Christian Schott is an Associate Professor in Tourism Management at the Wellington School of Business and Government and is an expert in sustainable tourism development, tourism’s interrelationship with climate change, and sustainable tourism education. Christian is currently leading a research-driven VR-for-sustainability project which was recently awarded the Gold Award in the highly competitive Sustainability Category at the QS-Wharton Reimagine Education Awards 2020. The same project was also awarded AACSB’s prestigious ‘Innovations that Inspire’ honour in 2018. Associate Professor Ian Yeoman, who describes himself as a professional crystal ball gazer, is a futurologist specialising in travel and tourism. Ian learned his trade as the scenario planner for VisitScotland where he established the process of futures thinking within the organisation using a variety of techniques including economic modelling, trends analysis and scenario construction. Ian was a Senior Lecturer in Tourism and Hospitality Management at Edinburgh Napier University and University College, Birmingham. He has extensive experience within the hospitality industry, for which he was a hotel manager with Trusthouse Forte. Dr Ina Reichenberger is a Senior Lecturer in Tourism Management at the Wellington School of Business and Government. She previously taught at MCI Management Center Innsbruck in Austria after completing her PhD at VUW in 2014. Her industry experience includes tourism market research, destination development and consultancy roles in Germany. Ina's research interests centre around tourist experiences and the social aspect of tourism, with a particular focus on popular culture, value co-creation, tourism lifestyles, backpacker travel and consumer behaviour. Recent projects focus on sense of community through popular culture in a tourism context and charitable behaviour in natural conservation tourist attractions

On the 17th of March we held a webinar discussing climate change for University alumni with a focus on the US and New Zealand. This was hosted by Dr Fraka Harmsen who is the University’s Director of Engagement in the US. Panelists Professor Tim Naish, Associate Professor Rebecca Priestley and Professor James Renwick discuss melting ice, rising seas and local and global options to halt global warming.

On Thursday 25 of February an online alumni panel discussion took place focusing on London-based entrepreneurs and the impact of the pandemic on entrepreneurship. The University’s Alumni Regional Ambassador for London, James Clark, (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jrjclark/) hosted the discussion with a panel of four University alumni. Panel: • Todd Nicolson, Founder and Director of Beer at the New Zealand Beer Collective http://www.newzealandbeer.co.uk/ • Stu McKinlay, Founder and Creative Director at Yeastie Boys https://yeastieboysuk.myshopify.com/ • Jessie Healy, Digital Marketing Consultant and Founder of Webtopia https://webtopia.co/ • Tubbs Wanigasekera, Founder of SACRED https://sacredcafe.co.uk/

On 21 October Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of Wellington School of Business and Government, Professor Ian O. Williamson, hosted a panel event on the The pandemic trade challenge: NZ/US trade relations and COVID-19 . He was joined by New Zealand’s Ambassador to the United States, Her Excellency Rosemary Banks, NZ Trade Commissioner and Consul-General, New York-based Hannah Lee-Darboe, and from Wellington, Chair for Pacific Region Business and former Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat, Professor Alan Bollard. They discussed how the pandemic, politics, social upheaval and uncertainty are changing our interconnected economies. As well the experiences of Kiwi exporters on the ground in the U.S.? This was recorded on 21 October 2020 via Zoom webinar for Alumni.

In advance of being awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Literature by the University at the December 2020 graduation - Professor Jennifer Windsor, sat down with Elizabeth Knox. They discussed Elizabeth's life and work including her latest novel, The Absolute Book. This was recorded on 3 November at an alumni event in Wellington. The Absolute Book and all of Elizabeth's other novels can be purchased at Victoria University Press -- vup.victoria.ac.nz

Content Warning: This podcast includes strong language This was recorded at a live alumni event at The Court Theatre in Christchurch on Wednesday the 21st of October. Professor of Theatre David O'Donnell spoke with three of the University’s theatre alumni about their roles, the impact of Covid-19 and their career highlights. Hosted by: Professor David O'Donnell Panel: - Dan Pengelly, Artistic Director, The Court Theatre - Melanie Luckman, Co-founder and Artistic Director, Cubbin Theatre Company - Holly Chappell-Eason, Co-Artistic Director of Two Productions and Artistic Director of Little Andromeda

On Friday 9 October we held a webinar on New Zealand’s Housing crisis. This was part of a series of four online panel discussions delving into some of the big issues facing New Zealanders in the upcoming election. The session was moderated by Simon Chapple. Panelists were Mark Southcombe and Claire Achmad.

Hosted by Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, you'll hear from Dr Bryce Edwards of The Democracy Project; Professor Jack Vowles, School of History, Philosophy, Political Science and International Relations; and Dr Maria Bargh from Te Kawa a Māui/School of Māori Studies. They discuss their predictions for the 2020 NZ general election. This was held as a webinar on Friday 2 October.

On Tuesday 29 September we held a webinar on the Cannabis Legislation and Control Referendum. This was the second in a series of four online panel discussions delving into some of the big issues facing New Zealanders in the upcoming election. The session was moderated by Professor Jonathan Boston. Panelists were Dr Carol Shand, Emeritus Professor Peter Thirkell and Dr Jessica Young

As New Zealand’s general election heats up, Dr Mona Krewel and Professor Jack Vowles from the University’s globally ranked Political Science and International Relations programme are analysing and comparing data from hundreds of social media posts by political parties and top election candidates. The New Zealand Social Media Study is the local arm of an international research project that looks at how political actors use social media to target, inform, interact with, mobilise and pursue voters in elections. Dr Krewel and Professor Vowles talk with Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor Jennifer Windsor about the impact of social media in campaigning and politics and the processes and expectations of the study. From Friday 2 October, you can visit www.wgtn.ac.nz/election for weekly updates from the study.