Book Clubs in Taranaki and online 2021-2027

During the Covid Pandemic of 2021, vivian Hutchinson started his first Book Club based on US author and environmentalist Paul Hawken's book Regeneration: Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation. The aim was to increase the literacy of the Climate issue amongst friends and colleagues and deepen our connections with one another as active citizens who wanted to make a difference. 

Over 2021-2022, three in-person Book Clubs, and one online, were held in Taranaki and throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. The connections in these Book Club groups are still ongoing, and have helped to generate or support dozens of local actions around our climate emergency.

In 2025, a further Book Club was convened based on Paul Hawken's just-published book Carbon: The Book of Life. This turned out to be our largest Book Club yet with small home groups established in Oakura, New Plymouth, Tauranga, Auckland, and online throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. 

This was followed by a much smaller Book Club of old friends who had first started working together on unemployment and co-operative development projects in New Zealand 40 years ago. The book Think Like a Commoner by David Bollier focused on the re-emergence of the Life of the Commons in our social and political thinking.

In 2026-2027 yet more small Book Club groups of friends and colleagues have chosen to join us. We are reading and discussing Jeremy Lent's recently published book Ecocivilization: Making a World That Works for All. 

More details on these books can be found on our Bookshelf page.