Blog
Prime Minister’s summer reading list 2023/24
Since 2011, the Institute has sent the Prime Minister a package of books we believe they would benefit from reading over the summer break. As we take a non-partisan approach to our work, we also send copies of the books to the leaders of the other major political...
How to communicate in a complex world, with Janine Gould
Strong communication is the foundation of genuine relationships and conflict resolution. As we close out 2023, political division has divided society both in New Zealand and, to an even greater extent, internationally. Covid lockdowns and increasing reliance on...
Learning from the UK Defence Force think tank
The UK Ministry of Defence's think tank is called the Development, Concepts and Doctrine Centre (DCDC). I met with the team at DCDC twice this year, once in Wellington (New Zealand) and once in Oxfordshire (UK). For anyone who has studied the history of foresight, new...
How to create, shape and design the future, with Rik Athorne
Since March this year, the Institute has been running Bursting Bubbles events on the last Thursday of each month. These ‘how to’ sessions each have a different speaker and topic, which have been curated to expand our thinking and ideas post-COVID lockdowns. See more...
2022 Educational Grant feedback – Jess Jenkins
Jess Jenkins was awarded an educational grant from McGuinness Institute in 2022. We followed up with Jess after her year studying a Master of Public Policy at the University of Oxford.Cobblestone lanes, ivy-covered courtyards, and lecture theatres buzzing with voices...
Educational Grants 2023
The McGuinness Institute is pleased to award Wallis Greenslade an educational grant for 2023. Wallis GreensladeWallis has just begun a Masters in Public Administration at the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP), University College London. The programme...
How to sharpen your political nous in government, with Sally Washington
The Institute was pleased to host Sally Washington on Thursday 31 August for the fourth session of our Bursting Bubbles series. Throughout the year this series has welcomed a range of speakers and topics as we aim to expand our thinking and ideas after COVID...
How to be non-partisan in a partisan world: James Picker and the Office of the Clerk
Since March this year, the Institute has been running a Bursting Bubble event series on the last Thursday of each month. These ‘how to’ sessions each have a different speaker and topic, which have been curated to expand our thinking and ideas post-COVID lockdowns. On...
Top Ten Public Policy Lessons from Bhutan
In April 2023, two of us from the Institute were fortunate enough to travel to Bhutan, a small kingdom gently tucked far away in the Eastern Himalayas. Bhutan, called Drukyul by the Bhutanese, is known as the mystical land of the druk yul (thunder dragon), which can...
How to create effective infographics, with Tom McGuinness
On Thursday 29 June, Tom McGuinness held a session in collaboration with the Institute, on how to create effective infographics. Tom is a freelance Art Director/Designer based in New York, who works predominantly in News Media – with clients such as The Telegraph,...
How to run foresight events, with Roger Dennis
On the last Thursday of May through to November 2023, the Institute hosted a series of Bursting Bubbles events. The concept of these ‘how-to’ sessions was to expand our thinking and ideas post-COVID lockdowns. Roger Dennis was the first speaker and began the series on...
Revisiting Tomorrow
‘Black swans are large-scale, unpredictable and irregular events of massive consequence ...’ – Nassim Nicholas Taleb (Antifragile, 2012, p. 6) The Institute always endeavours to be in spaces where others are not. We aim to explore, and ideally contribute, in areas...
Prime Minister’s Summer Reading List 2022/2023
The theme for the Prime Minister's Summer Reading List 2022/2023 is the things we cannot see (or the things we decide not to see). We cannot easily see carbon in the air, dolphins in the ocean, seabirds flying above, or more specifically, the mental health of someone...
A step closer to New Zealander’s voting at 16
Make It 16 Inc v Attorney-General [2022] NZSC 134 The November 21st decision of the Supreme Court in Make It 16 Inc v Attorney-General presents a significant moment in which to consider and observe Parliament’s response to declarations of rights inconsistency...
Educational Grants 2022
The McGuinness Institute is pleased to award Jess Jenkins and Michelle Pawson educational grants for 2022. Jess JenkinsJess completed her undergraduate studies in law, policy and development at Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington in 2018. Since 2019...
Prime Minister’s Summer Reading List 2021/2022
Below is our letter to the Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand. All leaders and deputy leaders of political parties in Aotearoa New Zealand were sent the same letter and the same selection of books. As a non-partisan think tank, we always endeavour to...
Looking back nine months to look forward
1.0 Our 2021 work programme The image below is not an exact representation of all the work completed in 2021. However, it provides an overview of the research and policy projects we have focused on. It also illustrates the way our three policy projects, ReportingNZ,...
Long-term Insights Briefings: A novel policy instrument to deal with foresight
TUESDAY, 1 SEPTEMBER 2021Thank you for joining the Long-term Insights Briefings webinar on 1 September. We have collected a diverse range of responses from the post-webinar survey, and collated them into 'Survey Insights: An analysis of the 2021 Long-term Insights...
Establishing Aotearoa New Zealand’s reference climate scenarios
This discussion, held on 18 August 2021, was part of the first stage of ‘Establishing Aotearoa New Zealand's reference climate scenarios’, a discussion that brought attendees online for two hours during day one of Alert Level 4 lockdown. The Institute's initial...
Futures Thinking Presentation
21 JULY 2021 Review into the Future for Local GovernmentTe Arotake i te Anamata mō Ngā Kaunihera The purpose of the presentation was to contribute to a review of the future of local government. As background please find links to the following information: An overview...
Emissions Reduction Plan Strategy Mapping Workshop
21 MAY 2021 PurposeThe aim of the workshop was to connect a group of highly motivated and informed parties to: Learn more about the strategy mapping tool. Prepare and design an emissions reduction plan strategy map (with two designers available to capture the...
Mission Aotearoa
Mission Aotearoa: Mapping our FutureTo view other past events visit our Archived Events page. To learn about previous workshops see here.Watch the Mission Aotearoa webinar below:Read the Mission Aotearoa discussion paper below:View the Mission Aotearoa: Mapping our...
Prime Minister’s Summer Reading List 2020/2021
Every year we select books that we believe the Prime Minister (and others interested in public policy) would benefit from reading over the summer break. As we apply a non-partisan approach to our work, we also provide copies of the selected books to each of the...
18 Months in Review – What we’ve been up to
1. Our 2020 work programme Our 2020 work programme, like many, was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The image at right illustrates an outline of the 2020 work programme. It is not an exact representation of all the work completed this year; however, it does provide...
4th Edition of Nation Dates now launched
‘Interconnected impacts from these chains of events, people, communities and dates – in this summation – ripple outwardly, appearing unrelated and yet related once revealed, once collated: a recorded intergenerational summation.’ – Trevor Moeke, Horouta, Mātaatua,...
Insights from ‘Leadership and Character in Uncertain Times’ (Harvard Kennedy School course)
Over five weeks I took part in ‘Leadership and Character in Uncertain Times’, a Harvard Kennedy School executive course. The course was all online and took place in the middle of the night (on Eastern Standard Time) with live seminars twice a week, group work once a...
Obtaining a comprehensive list of coalition agreements and support agreements since 1996
The Institute has been conducting research into political party agreements since MMP. Our interest is in those agreements mentioned in the 'Speech from the Throne', being the speech the Governor-General makes at the start of the parliamentary term. Political parties...
Report 17 Launched: Building a Reporting Framework Fit for Purpose
Report 17 – ReportingNZ: Building a Reporting Framework Fit for Purpose is a major publication from policy Project ReportingNZ, which aims to contribute to a discussion on how to build an informed Aotearoa New Zealand. The report reviews New Zealand’s external...
A Near Horizon – Seizing the opportunities and managing the risks in the transition to net zero
To manage Aotearoa New Zealand’s transition to a low-carbon future, every professional financial decision must take climate change into account. How do we manage this transition? How essential is disclosure in achieving this? On 28 May 2020, Simpson Grierson, Climate...
Prime Minister’s Summer Reading List 2019/2020
Choosing books for a friend or an acquaintance is a real treat; it gives you an opportunity to think about that person's character, what they mean to you and what they might enjoy learning about. The Prime Minister's Summer Reading List is personal, but it is also...
The Family So’otaga – Prime Minister’s Education Excellence Award winner
Holy Family School, located in Porirua, Wellington won the ‘Excellence in Engaging’ category of this year’s Prime Minister’s Education Excellence Awards for the The Family So’otaga programme. The McGuinness Institute congratulates them on this win – we are very proud...
Revisiting Tomorrow: Navigating with Foresight
Revisiting Tomorrow: Navigating with Foresight was a public event hosted by the McGuinness Institute at the National Library of New Zealand on 30 October 2019. The former prime minister Rt Hon Jim Bolger was joined by former members of the Commission for the Future...
TCFD Workshops: Practical steps for implementation
On Wednesday 16 October and Thursday 17 October, the Institute partnered with Simpson Grierson to host two workshops exploring the Recommendations of the TCFD in Auckland and Wellington. The Institute was grateful for the expertise of Michael Zimonyi from the Climate...
Asia Pacific Foresight Group and Data61+ LIVE conference – Sydney, Australia
I was invited to be part of the Asia Pacific Foresight Group (APFG), a small group of strategic foresight practitioners working in NGOs, governments, and different industries across 32 countries in the Asia Pacific region. The inaugural meeting was held in Sydney from...
Climate reporting insights from the UK
As part of the Institute’s ongoing work on how to build an informed New Zealand through Project ReportingNZ, I sat down with a number of organisations from the financial reporting sphere during my recent trip to London. The purpose of the meetings was for me to gather...
Select Committee: Climate change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill
On 30 August 2019, the Institute had the opportunity to present our submission on the Climate change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill in front of the Select Committee at Parliament. The Select Committee consisted of MPs Angie Warren-Clark (Labour Party), Jenny...
KiMuaNZ Workshop
AboutThe KiMuaNZ workshop brought together 40 young New Zealanders between the ages of 18 and 25 who have a connection with the Pacific. They shared experiences and understandings of climate change issues in order to develop different scenarios for New Zealand and our...
KiMuaNZ: Exploring climate futures workshop – day 3 and finale presentation at Government House
Day three of the workshop started back at the McGuinness Institute. The participants got into their groups and reflected on what they learnt over the past two days. Each participant thought about the key insights that resonated with them, and envisioned how they...
KiMuaNZ: Exploring climate futures workshop – day 2
Day two of the KiMuaNZ: Exploring climate futures was held at the New Zealand Treasury. The day started at Treasury's wharenui, and included a welcome from Tu Sciascia – Māori Capability Advisor at Treasury, Bryan Chapple – Director Secretary at Treasury, and Hon...
KiMuaNZ: Exploring climate futures workshop now underway
The KiMuaNZ: Exploring climate futures workshop began with participants being welcomed by Wendy McGuinness and Dr Richard Lum; author of 4 Steps to the Future and facilitator of the first day of the workshop. The 40 participants gathered at the Institute before...
A Point of Vanishing Stability discussion event
On 30 May 2019 the Institute held a public event titled ‘A Point of Vanishing Stability’ at the National Library of New Zealand. Our intention was to explore how New Zealand can respond to the complex challenges posed by climate change. We brought together a variety...
Speaking with two Pacific Island leaders about climate change action – Hon. Henry Puna and Hon. Fiame Mata’afa
At the Just Transition Summit on 9 and 10 May, the McGuinness Institute team were fortunate enough to be able to speak with Hon. Henry Puna – Prime Minister of the Cook Islands, and Hon. Fiame Mata’afa – Deputy Prime Minister of Samoa. Henry and Fiame shared with us...
Just Transition Summit 2019
On 9 and 10 May 2019 the Institute attended the Just Transition National Summit held in Taranaki. The Summit facilitated an economy-wide opportunity to share perspectives and discuss what defining a just transition to a low emissions future looks like in New Zealand....
2018 GDS Index – Now launched!
The McGuinness Institute launched the 2018 GDS Index on Thursday 2 May 2019 at a lunchtime presentation attended by around 40 MPs, government department officials, and other interested parties. Wendy McGuinness discussed why government department strategies (GDSs) are...
A 40 year journal now published – ‘Āpōpō Journal’
To welcome in the New Year, the McGuinness Institute is pleased to announce the publication of Āpōpō Journal: Navigating the future with foresight (Mā te matapae te wāheke e whakatere). Completed at the end of 2018, we combined forces with the creative talent of...
Prime Minister’s Summer Reading List 2018/2019
As 2018 comes to a close, it is time to reflect on the last 12 months and consider what the next 12 months might bring. Selecting the Prime Minister’s summer reading list is a chance to think about what skills and capabilities might be required to make the most of the...
10 things I wish my friends knew about going to the UN
The McGuinness Institute was pleased to be able to sponsor 2017 WakaNZ workshop participant Trinity Thompson-Browne for her trip to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII). Trinity attended the seventeenth session of the forum in...
Mātauranga continues to resonate throughout Aotearoa
We are pleased to note that Mātauranga, produced as a koha for participants, speakers and special guests of the 2017 WakaNZ: Navigating with foresight workshop, has become a very successful output of the workshop. It has been picked up by a range of communities across...
Integrated Reporting panel discussion at CPA Congress 2018
On 17 October 2018 a panel session on Integrated reporting: Understanding the different methodologies was held in Auckland as part of the CPA Congress 2018. The session was chaired by Mark Hucklesby (National Technical Director, Audit at Grant Thornton) and the other...
Report 17 – ReportingNZ: Building a Reporting Framework Fit for Purpose is now available for public feedback
The Institute has completed a major piece of work on New Zealand’s reporting framework – the country’s information infrastructure. The report is now in draft and out for public consultation; it is available to read here and we would appreciate all feedback by 5 pm on...