Wao blog
Leading the Charge for Systems Change in 2025.
Our mission is to shift systems—not just for today, but for the future we envision for the Southern Lakes region and beyond.
Better Together: Charles Nimmo
A few weeks before summit, we cast our net to find some extra talent willing to help us cover Wao Summit. We found this wonderful human. Check out Charles’s experience of Wao Summit.
Better Together: Kamani Suppiah
A few weeks before summit, we cast our net to find some extra talent willing to help us cover Wao Summit. We found this wonderful human. Check out Kamani’s experience of Wao Summit.
First Timer’s Guide to the Wao Summit 2024
Welcome to your first Wao Summit! Whether you’re here to explore sustainability, learn how to improve your business, or engage with community resilience, this guide will help you navigate key events and make the most of your experience. This blog is a day-by-day, class-by-class breakdown, highlighting must-attend sessions for first-time attendees
Celebrate Nature: A Family Festival of Fun, Music, and Conservation
Picture this: the majestic views of Lake Hāwea, the crisp mountain air, and a vibrant festival atmosphere alive with music, laughter, and the hum of excitement. The Festival of Nature is not just an event, but an experience that brings together the community for a day of learning, creativity, and inspiration.
Level Up Your Business: Embrace Sustainability and Security at the Queenstown Sessions
The upcoming Queenstown sessions at the Wao Summit offer two dynamic opportunities for businesses to enhance their operations and align with purpose-driven and secure practices.
2050: Who Will We Be and How Will We Feed Ourselves?
Conversations around our changing future can be slanted with a negative bent these days, and the complexity of the issues can seem overwhelming. More climate-related disasters along with an increasing population can put stresses on food, energy and infrastructure. But Wao Aotearoa director Monique Kelly likes to bring an imaginative lens when it comes to envisioning what the future might look like.
So much food but nothing on the table?
As New Zealand’s $25 billion grocery sector grows ever more concentrated, the need to develop alternative food systems becomes clear. The Wao Summit’s Food Resilience Day offers the tools, insights, and connections needed to shift the balance of power from corporate giants back to communities.
Better Building in New Zealand: A Matter of Public Health and Sustainability
New Zealand has some of the lowest building standards in the OECD. Our insulation standards are half or even less of the levels required in Australia, Ireland, or the UK. The issue: poorer health outcomes for kiwis, increasing the costs on our health systems, and home energy bills at unacceptably high levels.
Running a Waste-Free Wao Summit: Sustainable Practices in Action
Our waste-free and emissions-conscious approach to running Wao Summit is an example of how small, mindful changes can make a big impact. By thinking sustainably in everything from catering to decor, we hope to inspire others to take these practices into their own lives and businesses. Together, we can make a difference—one waste-free event at a time.
Global Expertise in Our Backyard: Wao Summit’s Climate & Biodiversity Day
Wanaka is set to host some of the most inspiring global and local voices at the Wao Summit’s Climate and Biodiversity Day, bringing international expertise to our doorstep. This year’s event will feature an array of thought-provoking discussions, with experts exploring the challenges and solutions we face in the age of climate crisis.
Our Shifting World; A Focus On Migration
Our global population is on the rise. According to the UN, we could hit nearly 10.4 billion by the mid-2080s. And, as the population rises, so too does the number of people moving from where they were born.
Purpose-driven business, the new normal, get used to it.
Purpose-driven business is not merely about corporate social responsibility or ticking boxes to appease a concerned public. It's about fundamentally rethinking how businesses operate, creating value that extends beyond shareholders to encompass the wider community and environment. This shift isn't optional; it's essential for long-term success.
Addressing emotional impacts of climate uncertainty.
For the first time this year, Wao Summit will be hosting a Climate Cafe specifically tailored to ease climate anxiety and openly discuss the emotional impacts for climate uncertainty.
Pioneering sustainable construction.
Construction & Demolition waste accounts for about 50% of all waste in New Zealand, most homes in our country generate about 5x too much carbon, and we have concerns over heating, cooling and dampness in our builds.
On a mission to build food resilience.
Our region would need one Hercules aircraft to land every 21 minutes full of food to provision those in the district in case of a major event cutting road access. That is a worrying thought.
The undercover incubator for climate change solutions.
Adaptation and Resilience: The undercover incubator for climate change solutions in the Southern Lakes
Monique Kelly on More FM
Monique Kelly, Program Director for the Wao Summit, spoke with Joel on the Breakfast Show for More FM about the upcoming Wao Summit 2022 in October.
Wao Climate Action Initiative x Te Kura O Take Kārara
Daryl Gellatly, Associate Principal for Te Kura O Take Kārara Primary School, featured on Radio Wānaka to discuss the Wao Climate Action Initiative (CAI).
Wao Climate Action Initiative x Dr. Carly Green
Dr. Carly Green, Wao trustee and Programme Director of the Wao Climate Action Initiative, featured on Radio Wānaka to discuss the programme.