Kia whāngaia te rito, ka puāwaitia te harakeke.

When we nourish and foster the rito (our young people), the harakeke (the whānau and community) will flourish. We have known for some time the health of our people, our communities and whenua are interlinked. There is still much to learn about how we restore and support mauri ora in our young people so they can feel connected to themselves, their whānau and their communities.

When we focus community-led principles on the wellbeing of our rangatahi, everyone benefits.

Join us for a deeper dive into these aspects as we hear from our speakers Emma Morris, The Learning Environment, Pīwaiwaka Farm and Kahurangi Simon Jr, Healthy Families, Whanganui, Rangitieki, Ruapehu about their kaupapa and collaboration efforts to support the empowerment of rangatahi and the health of the community.

Emma is the Education Coordinator at the Learning Environment- an education charity set on 72ha of regenerative forest-farm on the banks of the Whanganui river. Emma undertook a Masters in Education through Otago Polytech, designing a transformative learning model that focuses on learner vitality by integrating preventative wellbeing while being immersed in te taiao and community contexts. She grew up in Tāmaki Makaurau, with ancestry from the UK, and moved to Whanganui in 2020 to establish the Learning Environment. Since then she has facilitated a suite of transformative education programs on the farm for rangatahi, international students and community education. She co-designed and co-ordinated the first version of Te Hoeroa ki Tū Manawa Ora - a 7 month rangatahi-led program that ran last summer, involving camping, forests, kai growing, building, wellbeing practices and adventure.

Kahurangi Simon Jr (Ngā Paerangi, Te Atihaunui-a-Pāpārangi, Ngāti Tūwharetoa) is a facilitator in the rangatahi innovation team at Healthy Families Whanganui Rangitikei Ruapehu. He kicked off his career working with youth at summer camps in Canada before returning home in 2021 to focus on supporting local youth in Whanganui. He began working for Healthy Families on the rangatahi program Te Kakano, helping empower young men to develop their skills and workforce experience. He took these learnings into his next venture, Te Hoeroa ki Tū Manawa Ora which ran for 7 months last Summer, inspiring local rangatahi through adventure, mātauranga māori and positive mentorship. As a dedicated pāpā, Kahu's passion for supporting local youth is driven by his desire to create a better future for his son and local community. Currently, Kahu is leading out the evaluation phase of the Te Hoeroa program, gathering insights to enhance the second iteration set to launch this summer.