Ākina, at Tākina for Festival for the Future

Rebekah Dorman-Sickler, Nick Douglas and Lei Gu at Festival For the Future 2023

Bex, Lei and Nick attended the 2023 Inspiring Stories, Festival for the Future at the new Tākina exibition centre in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington.

Tākina means to invoke, to summon, to connect, to bring forth, in te reo Māori, which the team certainly felt after hearing about all the inspiring kaupapa and thought provoking whakaaro from the community.

Highlights of the Festival included the panels for: mātauranga Māori, Climate Leadership in Action, and digital equity, Business for Impact, the Mindfulness & Wellbeing workshop, hearing from Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau, as well as the political debate! Bex and Lei both struggled to choose which panels and workshops they wanted fit into the day.

Another exciting part of the festival, was the launch of ‘The Impact Challenge’ by Inspiring Stories designed to back young people aged between 16–30 in Aotearoa, with the skills, confidence, connections and support to help build more resilient communities and bring climate justice to life.

Ka nui te mihi to the Festival organisers, Inspiring Stories and the amazing speakers for putting on such an inspiring event!