Expert briefings on the realities shaping our future.
The Reality of Everything Symposium brought together leading experts to examine the polycrisis and its implications for Aotearoa New Zealand. Watch the expert briefings and stay connected as new events and initiatives are announced.
Day
Speakers
Expert talks
Participatory sessions
Reality
An Interruption to Normal Programming
We face multiple, interconnected crises: climate change, energy descent, economic instability, food and water insecurity, public health pressures, and democratic strain. Without a shared understanding of this reality, meaningful action is impossible.
The Reality of Everything Symposium was a one-day, in-person event bringing together leading experts to lay out what is actually happening and to help build the foundations for informed, collective action.
Watch the expert briefing videos and share widely to support an informed national conversation about our future.
Expert talks
Access all expert briefings from the symposium here:
Programme
9:00 – 9:30 am
Arrival/registration
9:30 – 9:45 am
Welcome – why we are here
Kaitoro/MC Professor Huhana Smith
(Massey University)
9:45 – 10:00 am
Deliberative democracy 101
Dr Cathrine Dyer (Victoria University of Wellington)
and Dr Anne Bardsley (Auckland University)
01
10:00 – 10:45 am
Expert Talks Session 01
Series of lightning talks from our experts
10:00 – 10:15 am
Confronting the polycrisis
Dr Mike Joy
(Victoria University of Wellington)
10:15 – 10:30 am
How climate change will shape our future
Professor James Renwick
(Victoria University of Wellington)
10:30 – 10:45 am
White supremacy and the polycrisis
Dr Mahina-a-rangi Baker
(Te Wānanga o Raukawa)
10:45 – 11:15 am
Morning tea break
02
11:15 – 12:45 am
Expert Talks Session 02
Series of lightning talks from our experts
11:15 – 11:30 am
Energy realities
Distinguished Professor Robert McLachan
(Massey University)
11:30 – 11:45 am
Unleashing public finance
Dr Ganesh Ahirao and Morgan Edwards (University of Otago)
11:45 – 12:00 pm
Trade in an unstable future
Hillmare Schulze
(BERL)
12:00 – 12:15 pm
An uninsurable future?
Emeritus Professor Jonathan Boston
(Victoria University of Wellington)
12:15 – 12:30 pm
National food security
Dr Catherine Knight
(Massey University)
12:30 – 12:45 pm
Public health in a degrading biosphere
Professor Alistair Woodward
(Auckland University)
12:45 – 1:00 pm
Reflections on the morning
Dr Huhana Smith
1:00 – 2:00 pm
Lunch and networking
2:00 – 3:40 pm
Deliberative democracy in practice
A participatory session applying deliberative democracy tools and processes, led by Dr Anne Bardsley and Dr Cathrine Dyer
3:40 – 4:55 pm
Translating reality into action
A participatory session to discuss how to translate these realities into collective action, facilitated by Gareth Hughes and Sally Hett
(Wellbeing Economy Alliance Aotearoa)
4:55 – 5:00 pm
Closing
Dr Huhana Smith
5:30 – 8:30 pm
Drinks, dinner and conviviality at a local eatery (self-funded)
Our partners & sponsors
