A feasting fortnight is coming-up for those of us interested in aid and development – see below for three important events between 4 and 18 September.
A Rare Opportunity
It is not often New Zealanders get the chance to come together to think and talk about our government’s aid policy. Don’t miss your opportunity to do so at the 4 September Forum, ‘Looking Forward: New Zealand Aid Beyond 2015’. ‘Is there a future for aid, and if so, what does it look like?’. Our keynote, Professor Stephen Howes of the Australian National University’s Development Policy Centre will speak to this question. Aid professionals and political party spokespeople will then share their thoughts about the future of NZ aid policy.
The event is being held in Lecture Theatre 2, Government Buildings (between Stout Street and Lambton Quay), Pipitea Campus, Victoria University of Wellington. The second page of this PDF has a good map.
We’ve had a couple of changes to the programme. Barry Coates, Executive Director of Oxfam NZ joins the first panel discussion. In the second political party panel, the Hon. Maryan Street will now speak on behalf of the Labour Party and MP John Hayes will speak on behalf of the National Party. Download the new programme here.
Please RSVP if you’re coming so we can order you tea and cake: admin@nzadds.org.nz
Climate Confusion: A Public Talk, 12:30-1:30pm, Thursday 5 September
‘Climate Confusion: why the international climate change negotiations have unravelled, and what, if anything, can be done about it?’. In 2009 (Copenhagen) and 2010 (Cancun), the world decided to move away from a top-down (Kyoto) approach to a more flexible bottom-up approach to tackling climate change. But in Durban (2011), we decided (apparently) to go back to a top-down approach. Subsequent negotiations, however, have revealed deep splits between powerful countries. How did we get into this mess, and what are the prospects for getting out of it?
Come and hear Professor Stephen Howes of the Australian National University tackle this question: 12:30 – 1:30pm, Thursday 5 September, Railway West Wing, Room 501, Pipitea Campus, Victoria University of Wellington. The Institute for Governance and Policy Studies will host this talk. Event details here.
Hear Duncan Green Talk About Insights of Models of Change
Duncan Green is visiting New Zealand and will speak in both Auckland (18 Sept) and Wellington (16 Sept) (more logistics details here). Duncan will explore the latest research and innovative thinking on change models for prosperity in an unequal, warming world. .
Duncan is the Senior Strategic Advisor for Oxfam Great Britain and Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies in Sussex, UK. He is the co-author of the impressive book ‘From Poverty to Power: How Active Citizens and Effective States Can Change the World‘, which led to the creation of his Poverty to Power blog.
Meanwhile In Australia…
In between elections and PNG ‘Solutions’ it’s been an interesting few weeks for aid-related events here in Australia. You can find a summary of some very good commentary, which helps make sense of it all, here on the Development Policy Centre’s Blog.
All the best,
Jo for NZADDs admin
New Zealand Aid and Development Dialogues 