The Latest
A Citizen in Christchurch — some thoughts for the Tuesday Club
Christchurch, 1st November 2022
"Public intelligence is the intelligence that needs a conversation for its thoughts to ripen and mature. That’s what’s afoot here."
How Communities Awaken @ Inspiring Communities
April-June 2022
Over the Autumn weeks of 2022, the Inspiring Communities network featured the How Communities Awaken series of essays on their website and social media pages. Each essay is introduced with comments and reflections by some of the Inspiring Community Team members.
“This collection of thoughtful essays is an absolute must read for all working and living in community.” — Inspiring Communities
A Letter to You in 2050 — an open letter about the climate emergency web / PDF version
Of course I already knew the basics of what we more commonly then called “global warming”. But what I hadn’t really taken on board was that this environmental issue was soon going to become a crisis that would change everything. I hadn’t thought through the implications that this anticipated calamity in the future meant that it was a definite emergency right now. And this was going to bring with it huge demands on our capacities as citizens to step up and meet this moment ...
Protest and Social Cohesion
27 February 2022, written for the Tuesday Club at Smash Palace, Christchurch
The “team of five million” has not been true for too many people for too long. This is what makes this protest our own Trump and Brexit moment.
Fostering Active Citizenship — Learning from Taranaki
by Inspiring Communities, February 2022
Active Citizenship is a key foundation of effective community-led development. But what does it really mean and how do you grow it? Inspiring Communities talks with community innovators in Taranaki to hear about their journey.
2021
2021 A Sound Track from vivian Hutchinson
Facebook post (sound track)
This Christmas I will be where I have always belonged. In this place under a mountain with family and friends. In so many ways I have had the best year. You’ll find me wading in the water, or walking under the trees. I am still writing and reading, and listening here. I am still stumbling over my own curiosity and surprise. I looked up and saw you dancing, and you were in Avalon. Bless you.
playlist available on YouTube (video)
or YouTube (audio)
or available at Spotify
How Communities Heal - Te Kai a Te Rangatira Book and Video launch event - planned for 9th September 2021
(postponed due to Covid-19 Pandemic)
event invitation / poster
Postponement Facebook post
Whatever the Covid Level, we are surrounded by insurmountable opportunities to have better conversations with one another.
A printed Gift Edition of the How Communities Awaken collection of essays (2021)
also now available on Kindle
How Communities Awaken — Some Conversations for Active Citizens
online edition published by Community Taranaki - June 2021
A Guide to the Masterclass for Active Citizenship (2020)
online edition published by Tū Tama Wahine o Taranaki and Community Taranaki - August 2020
Community Circles — some thoughts for organisers and networkers
notes written for a special meeting of Community Circle organisers held at the New Plymouth District Council Chambers on 26th March 2021
Facebook post
These circles have been one of the strategies for the practical regeneration of what we mean by community and how we strengthen the connections between us, and step up to the work that communities need to do.
2020
2020 Pages from a Year Book
Facebook post (photo album)
2020 A Sound Track from vivian Hutchinson
Facebook post (sound track)
This year, as we stayed close to home in our Bubbles, I had fears that all those Zoom meetings meant that something very important was leaving the room. Does our basic human need to be together and look each other in the eye really need to be colonised by this technology? But then the real artists showed us how to colonise it right back. The evidence is right here. These people can sing of the global grief and heartache of this moment, and not just about the Coronavirus. They know how to deliver their words and tunes with a relief and joy and encouragement that continues to matter. They can also be silly and have fun. And in 2020, I'm grateful.
playlist available on YouTube (audio) at http://bit.ly/audiosoundtrack2020
or YouTube (video) at http://bit.ly/videosoundtrack2020
or available at Spotify at http://bit.ly/vsoundtrack2020
Deep Trouble by Stuff Interactive
24 June 2020 Facebook
This Stuff Interactive series clearly shows us just who have been carrying the burden of more precarious and vulnerable lives in our communities. It is disproportionately young, and it is disproportionately Maori.
Wynton Marsalis - A Jazz Commentary
8-9 June, 30 August 2020 Facebook post one post two post three
Mr Game is the first to tell you exactly what he is doing. It's all there in plain sight. He pulls apart the Game Board to reveal the hidden strings and levers. And then he names all the prizes that come with this whole enterprise.
Humanity: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman
29-31 May 2020 Facebook post one post two post three
Review: Here is a book that patiently argues that the roots of our community motivations are much deeper than most of us have known. And it demolishes many of the myths that have been successfully trying to convince us otherwise.
Florence Nightingale at 200
13-15 May 2020 Facebook post one post two post three
A commemoration of Florence Nightingale on her 200th birthday.
Planet of the Humans documentary
29 April 2020 Facebook post one post two post three
Review and conversations ... on the Michael Moore-backed film on climate change and green energy technologies.
manu korero ... questions on the well-being of our political imagination during a pandemic
20th October 2020 Facebook post
I have been asking my friends and family a few questions as we have been spending time apart during this level-four emergency lock-down. I am trying to get a feeling for the well-being of our political imagination of the "next normal" that we intend to create together post-Covid-19.
A Time to Show Compassion
interview in The Taranaki Daily News, 25th March 2020 paper-clipping Stuff website
If you are not anxious about this pandemic, then you are not paying attention. The important thing is what you are doing with your anxiety. This is a time to get organised, and to get connected.
Five Things To Do For Personal and Community Resilience During a Time of Pandemic (2020)
Our job now is to get organised so that ourselves, our family members and our friendship networks are better prepared, better informed and better connected.
Coronavirus: Don't panic but do get organised to help yourself and your community
Opinion 21st March 2020, Taranaki Daily News paper-clipping Stuff website
We haven't seen anything like this in several generations. Let's make sure it brings out the best in us.
The Anniversaries of our Amnesia (2020)
— some thoughts on Taranaki Anniversary Day PDF version with full notes and links
I was the great grand-child of a forgetting. And I was at a loss as to how this had been achieved.
The Shape of Our Masterclass (2020)
— some elements of design
The ability to speak with one another about what really matters is the primary asset in how communities heal and regenerate.
The Creative Community (2020)
— some thoughts for the Possibility Conversation
Citizenship is an act of creativity.
Taranaki 2050
The Taranaki Daily News, 9th January 2020 full page comment
The work of an ongoing regeneration of our communities will demand the skills and talents and hearts of all of us.
