Methodology

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Kāinga Ora: Working with the community to create the future for eastern Porirua

Governance and engagement approach

Project engagement was governed by a working group including representatives from Kāinga Ora, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Porirua City Council and Te Pae Whakahou Hapori.

The project’s engagement promise to the public was that:

We will work directly with you to ensure that your concerns and aspirations are directly reflected in the principles and vision of the Te Rā Nui – Eastern Porirua Development. We will involve you as we work together to ensure community aspirations and concerns are consistently understood and considered.

Inform	Consult	Involve	Collaborate	Empower
We will provide you with balanced and objective information to assist you in understanding the problems, alternatives and/or solutions.	We will obtain your feedback on analysis, alternatives and/or decisisons.	We will work directly with you as community members/groups throughout the process to ensure your concerns and aspirations are consistently understood and considered.	We will facilitate discussions and agreements between you as community members/groups to identify common ground for action and solutions.	We will create a supportive environment where final decision-making power is given to community members/groups.

Timeline of key engagement milestones

Phase 1.12019	Phase 1.22020-2022	Phase 1.32022	Phase 1.42022-2023
Whakawhānau-ngatanga – listen to understand and connect	Investigation – internal partner engagement	Community Temperature Check – Talanoa	Project Update – Talanoa
The purpose of this phase was to listen and understand residents' lived experiences, their values and their aspirations.	The purpose of this phase was leveraging the 2019 engagement report to understand how community aspirations could be unlocked through the project, and budget required.	The purpose of this phase was understanding how the community was feeling, key priorities for the team prior to re-engaging widely, and development of re-engagement approach. Due to project funding delays and COVID-19, there was a gap in community engagement activities.	Following the Government's funding announcement in November 2022, project milestones were confirmed. This enabled the team to re-engage meaningfully about what the project had achieved to date, what the community could expect to see in the next 3-5 years and engagement opportunities for the Spatial and Master plans, and Outcomes Monitoring Framework.
Phase 2 2023		Phase 3 2023-2024
Whakaata – reflect		Māramatanga – enlightenment
Reflect and confirm these concepts with community.		Consolidate and communicate back.

Phase 2: Whakaata – Reflect

Delivered through Hui tahi tātou o Porirua

Engagement method	Delivery	Anticipated participation levels/targets
Public display	Partnered with Storybox to leverage input from partners and community reset talanoa to design a physical exhibition (February – May 2023). Delivered physical exhibition at Te Akapuanga Kuki Airani (May-June 2023). Leveraging a tree in the centre of the exhibition to put leaves with feedback.	Goal: 2,500 visitors (in alignment with the participation from the 2019 engagement) Achieved: 5,427 visitors.
Fairs and festivals	Partnered with Le Fale Jobs and Skills Hub to employ local young people to be event crew. Partnered with Ngā Uri o Whiti Te Rā (NUOWTR) Mai Le Moana Trust – to provide a stage for locals (focused on young people) to share cultural performances and activities; - worked with local community to share their businesses, multicultural food, arts and goods through markets to activate the area.	Goal: 2,500 visitors. Achieved: 5,427 visitors to the physical exhibition, we have estimated that over 8,000 attended the activities outdoors.
Interactive online tools	Social Pinpoint was leveraged to support consultation on the Transport Plan.	Goal: Receive at least 100 comments to support refinement of the Transport Plan. Achieved: Received 104 comments, 1340 visits to the site from 506 unique users.
Social media	Leverage social media to get the word out through partner and community channels.	Goal: Reach over 25,000 residents through partner channel posts. Achieved: Reached over 100,000 through partner channel posts. Over 50 posts shared by community members about the engagement.
Talanoa	Partnered with Le Fale Jobs and Skills Hub to employ community ambassadors to support talanoa sessions as trusted faces.	Goal: Deliver 12 talanoa sessions led by community in at least 9 languages. Achieved: Delivered 42 talanoa in 15 languages.
Picture visioning	Created the opportunity for children to share pictures with the left side showing things they’d like to change and the right what they’d like to see for the future.	This activity was added by our school principals and thus we didn’t have a specific engagement goal. We received over 200 pictures from young people.

Enabling factors and conditions

Strong project partner relationships enabling all parties to co-create together.
Partnership with Cook Islands Association to reopen Te Akapuanga Kuki Airani Cook Island Hall after it had closed in 2019 due to flooding to be used as a trusted place for community to gather for the engagement.
Establishment of Community Ambassadors to ensure trusted faces could mobilise their communities to participate and language barriers could be addressed by multilingual facilitation.
Collaboration with school principal network to enable strong school participation.
Collaboration with key government and social services to identify engagement questions for talanoa sessions which would contribute to key work programme prioritisation for the east.
Collaboration with artists, musicians, business owners, and community organisations to activate around the hall to attract people to participate.

Alignment with IAP2 Core Values for the practice of public participation

IAP2 Core Values	Example of how this was considered in the design of your project methodology
1. Public participation is based on the belief that those who are affected by a decision have a right to be involved in the decision-making process	Our engagement was designed to reach as many parts of the community as possible. By creating external events and community led talanoa we maximised participation through community mobilisation.
2. Public participation includes the promise that the public’s contribution will influence the decision	We used the feedback gained to refine the draft Spatial Plan and input key changes into the final document which we shared with the community when changes were made and once it was approved by our board.
3. Public participation promotes sustainable decisions by recognising and communicating the needs and interests of all participants, including decision makers	We worked with the community to ensure they had ownership of the data provided. This is an ongoing piece of work, where we hope to have a long term solution on the Porirua City Councils website where any data we have every collected can be used by the people of the east to advocate for themselves through grant applications and holding key agencies accountable to the aspirations they’ve shared. The input received was coded and analysed.
4. Public participation seeks out and facilitates the involvement of those potentially affected by or interested in a decision	We worked across our partners and community members to ensure the widest degree of participation could be enabled. Residents received invitations to participate, the engagement was promoted through significant cross partnership promotion and community mobilisation.
5. Public participation seeks input from participants in designing how they participate	We met with 62 key stakeholder community groups, NGOs, government agencies, and community leaders to understand the best engagement approach to reach the most significant number of community members.
6. Public participation provides participants with the information they need to participate in a meaningful way	We heard from the community that they didn’t want engagement to be siloed. They wanted to see all of the plans the project had developed and understand how each contributed to the wider vision. They also asked us to work across government agencies to bring engagement together across the east, as they often feel over consulted and not heard.
7. Public participation communicates to participants how their input affected the decision	One the engagement was completed, we held a celebration with community champions to thank them for their participation and communicate the next steps. The engagement data was analysed and incorporated into a post-engagement report which was shared with community. We then released the final Spatial Plan once it was approved by our board, sharing how the community input had shaped the final version.

Achievements

Highlights

20,000+ community responses
5,427 exhibition visitors
42 talanoa sessions
36 government and social service collaborators
13 local school visits

Image caption: Blessing of the engagement. Pictured: Leaders of Kāinga Ora, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Porirua City Council and Te Pae Whakahou Hapori.

“This collaboration represents the power of unity and shared vision...the partnership is about more than physical infrastructure – it's about fostering a sense of belonging. Our collective determination will help us overcome the challenges and together we have the power to make a lasting impact, leaving a legacy for future generations. Thank you for all your commitment and dedication to this transformative partnership."

Magele Maria Uluilelata, Chair Te Pae Whakahou Hapori

"This engagement was best practice, it’s what we always hoped to see in our community. The insights gained through this process will support interventions across government and social services for years to come. We look forward to working with the project and partners to unlock the wellbeing outcomes envisioned when the business case was approved to progress this project."

Lealamanu’a Aiga Caroline Mareko, Community Leader

Image caption: Pacific Performance at the Night Markets held alongside the engagement. Pictured: NUOWTR – Mai Le Maona Trust Performers.

"Local artists have always searched for opportunities to share their talent locally. Thanks for your partnership to enable our young people to have these pathways while supporting the wider community to have access to the arts alongside your engagement. Look forward to continuing to partner to make eastern Porirua centres vibrant and thriving!"