Tuesday 26 June 2018

Report from 2018 MATARIKI FORUM on 18 June

This year the topic was:
Big    New    Ideas
for ourselves and our children after us
mō tātou ā mō kā uri ā muri ake nei
After the mihi whakatau from Kaharoa Manihera representing mana whenua, the Forum began with an address from our Third Sector Minister Hon. Peeni Henare. The Minster emphasised his openness to Big New Ideas for the Third Sector and shared some of his thinking. This was followed by a welcome opportunity for feedback by participants.
Bridget Frame then gave an overview of The Grant Making Ecosystem. This summarised her 4 year review of where grant funding to Canterbury region Third Sector Organisations (TSOs) comes from, where it goes and how it gets there. It demystified the challenges we face. If you can't open that PowerPoint presentation then here is a PDF of the slides, unfortunately without the speaking notes.
Dr Suzanne Vallance then spoke from the December 2017 Progress report which she co-authored Together: Building Better Homes, Towns and Cities which is available on the Valuing TSOs tab on the OVTRK website.
She focussed on Big New Ideas about wider resourcing approaches on how to value TSOs. These can help measure what we treasure, not only treasure what we measure.
After a short break for light refreshments participants gathered in four groups to discuss their Big New Ideas and provide Third Sector voices, on each of Environmental, Economic, Cultural and Social Wellbeing. Here are the notes from those discussions.
The statutory partners representatives from Environment Canterbury, the Christchurch City Council and Waimakariri District Council reflected on what they saw as next steps. Apologies and a request for a report from the evening were received from Selwyn District Council and the Canterbury District Health Board.
Brief feedback from each of the groups confirmed connections between the four wellbeings. A synthesis of the feedback was generously provided by one participant which we share for your interest:
  • Decisions, ethics, and actions of practitioners working from the ground up should determine the governance and funding processes which empower our Third Sector to meet its full potential. An example to consider might be that much as Canterbury's Water Management Strategy enabled place-based decision making, catchment by catchment, the responsibility to allocate funding for the Sector should lie within the places it affects, in order to meet the needs there.
  • Catalysed by the imperative for a healthy environment, it's the trust built from these social actions that create an accessible culture of efficacy and collaboration which informs the economic processes that support the Sector.
The evening was closed by mana whenua.
We welcome feedback from participants in the evening discussions - and any others interested.
Noho ora mai ra
The OVTRK Team
Email tsovoices@gmail.com