Climate Action Week Marlborough has been designed to create awareness, develop our Marlborough business community's knowledge by embracing education, and take action towards creating a low carbon emissions, highly productive, and thriving community, no matter what stage of the journey you are at.

We know that it takes a village to create change, so the launch of Climate Action Week in February 2023 brings together

A collective of individuals who are passionate about living in a climate positive world
Businesses who know that it will take a collaborative approach
Farmers, growers and suppliers that are the heartbeat of our community
Educators who are excited to share their knowledge
Community organisations that are passionate leaders
And School students who are our next generation of change makers

This launch week will host a series of action oriented, hands on, creative learning experiences and immersive activities to engage our Marlborough, New Zealand, business community.

Monday 13th February 2023

Immersion Experience - Dog Point Vineyard, 797 New Renwick Road, Fairhall, hosted by Matt Sutherland and Nigel Sowman
Climate Action Workshops

Ekos www.ekos.co.nz, Sean Weaver and Cristina Barraclough
Alistair Schorn, Marlborough Chamber of Commerce. "Economics of Climate Change" - the economic costs of inaction vs the costs of action
Sustainability on a Page Goals and Action planning session hosted by Catherine van der Meulen, THINK Business and Dr. Kate Averill, Inclusive Sustainable Development

Workshops and planning session hosted at Marlborough Research Centre - 85 Budge St, Blenheim
Meaningful meals and connection - Locally sourced lunch and afternoon tea - curated by Karaka
Including EnviroHub Marlborough - Zero Waste Dishwasher Trailer
$125 + GST (optional native tree donations in addition to your ticket)
Full day 10 - 4pm

Day 1 takeaways

- Activating or further enabling your carbon journey to Measure, Manage, Reduce and Offset

- Creating financial sustainability and prosperity through transitions and transformation

- Understanding of the global macro-economic drivers of climate change and environmental degradation and how this will impact the Marlborough community

- 1 page sustainability plan

Tuesday 14th February 2023

Immersion Experience - Sanford Innovation Hub, Riverlands
Climate Action Workshops

Imagination Centred Innovation - Finding value in waste streams through innovative approaches to organisation challenges
Allie Suzuki, EnviroHub Marlborough - "Zero Waste practices and strategies" - Building awareness, education and practical applications of basic practices.
Sustainability on a Page Goals and Action planning session hosted by Catherine van der Meulen, THINK Business and Dr. Kate Averill, Inclusive Sustainable Development

Meaningful meals and connection - Locally sourced lunch and afternoon tea - curated by Karaka
Including EnviroHub Marlborough - Zero Waste Dishwasher Trailer
$125 + GST (optional native tree donations in addition to your ticket)
Full day 10 - 4pm

Wednesday 15th February 2023

Immersion Experience - Yealands Estate Winery, Seddon
Climate Action Workshops

Stephen Leitch & Glen Profit, Southern Water Engineering SWE
Allie Suzuki, EnviroHub Marlborough - "Benefits of collaborations to drive change and have a larger overall impact"
Sustainability on a Page Goals and Action planning session hosted by Catherine van der Meulen, THINK Business and Dr. Kate Averill, Inclusive Sustainable Development

Meaningful meals and connection - Locally sourced lunch and afternoon tea - curated by Karaka
Including EnviroHub Marlborough - Zero Waste Dishwasher Trailer
$125 + GST (optional native tree donations in addition to your ticket)
Full day 10 - 4pm

Day 3 Key Take Aways

Identifying key opportunities for Carbon Reduction, Bio-diversity strategies and leveraging your sustainability impact to connect to customers in a meaningful way.
The impact of individual and group behaviour and how to effectively influence it to reach sustainability goals
1 page sustainability plan

Thursday 16th February 2023

Immersion Experience - One forty one Kaituna SawMill, Renwick
Climate Action Workshops

Catherine van der Meulen, founder THiNK Business, "Beyond Sustainability to Regenerative organisations, economies, culture and planet"
Fireside Chat with Tom Powell, Climate Karanga Marlborough "The changing economics of energy" and Insa Errey, Energy Efficiency and Conservation Association EECA
Sustainability on a Page Goals and Action planning session hosted by Catherine van der Meulen, THINK Business and Dr. Kate Averill, Inclusive Sustainable Development

Meaningful meals and connection - Locally sourced lunch and afternoon tea
$125 + GST (optional native tree donations in addition to your ticket)
Full day 10 - 4pm

Day 4 key takeaways

- How to enable productivity and efficiencies to save time, money and resources

- How to convert waste products into new sources of income and reduce overheads

- Enabling a Regenerative organisation, economy, culture and planet through partnerships

- 1 page sustainability plan

Friday 17th February 2023

Unfortunately we have needed to cancel the Immersion Experience at Elemental and workshop with MyNoke on this day.

Friday 17th February 2023

Green Drinks Gathering - Scotch Wine Bar & Restaurant, 24 Maxwell Rd, Blenheim
Assortment of locally sourced produce for canapés
Choices of Gin and Wine
- Root’s Dry Gin, Yuzu Tonic + Fresh Lemon
- Clos Henri ’Solange’ Blanc de Noirs 2020 (new release)
- Dog Point Sauvignon Blanc 2022
- Dog Point Chardonnay 2020
- Clos Henri ‘Waimaunga’ Pinot Noir 2020 (new release)
5pm - 7pm
$75 + GST per person

Humanitix booking fee will be donated to children's charities such as Manaia Kalani https://www.manaiakalani.org to support closing the education gap in Aotearoa, New Zealand.

You can make an additional donation, to go towards the purchase and community planting of Native Trees in Marlborough. We are working to have this matched by a local organisation, with every tree donated, they will match the commitment.

What to expect at each host location?

Each of our partner organisations will host an immersion experience in Marlborough. Through a tour of their facilities, you will see, feel, taste, smell and hear about the work they are doing and have done on their journey to create an environmentally and financially viable business that reflects the needs of their consumers, while paying close attention to the footprint they leave on this world and in our communities.

Hosted by the founders and leadership teams, you will get the opportunity to learn and be inspired directly by the leaders in Aotearoa activating this meaningful work.

What to expect from the workshops and planning sessions?

Experts from across New Zealand will also join each workshop to share their knowledge and insights, rounding out your educational experience. You will learn more about;

Reducing your impact by measuring, managing and reducing your carbon footprint
Managing your waste in a circular economy
Using better packaging and materials
Maintaining financial sustainability whilst creating a positive environmental impact
Areas including water, soil, energy, waste, carbon, biodiversity, customer needs and brand responsiveness.

At the conclusion of the workshops there will be a practical planning session for you to take what you learned and identify some actions and changes you can commit to making in your own organisation. This will be supported with “Sustainability on a Page” resources.

What to expect from our meaningful meals?

Each lunch and afternoon tea experience will be a celebration, showcasing the amazing produce found right here in Marlborough. Each meal will delight & surprise, using locally sourced and produced ingredients. Think seafood paella, picnic lunches and grazing boards to activate all of your senses.

Each meal will be curated by Sander and the team at Karaka, Blenheim.

Our meals will also include a unique approach to connecting and building relationships with other people in the experiences so we can collectively build more meaningful community relationships for future collaborations and partnerships.

Who’s behind Climate Action Week?

Founded by Catherine van der Meulen from THINK Business & Entrepreneurial Women with Purpose, Catherine connected with the community of Marlborough to support the initiatives and has quickly developed a tribe of locals who are keen to support and drive the activities, initiatives and awareness in our community.

As we know, it takes a village! And this is no different. As individuals it can often feel overwhelming on where to start, but as a community we can approach it differently to have a greater impact.

Founding Sponsor

Yealands Estate Winery.

“We are not going to make the collective changes required to address climate change by making people feel guilty. The way to success is to positively engage people, share and promote positive examples and to work together to tackle key issues. I am looking forward to working with Catherine and the team to deliver a focussed event to highlight our environmental champions, educate and encourage action across the region.” Michael Wentworth, GM Sustainability and Strategic Projects at Yealands.

Steering Committee

Michael Wentworth - Yealands Estate Winery, Tanya Pouwhare - NZ Ethical Employers, Heather Donachie - Export Logistics, Amber McNamara - Amber McNamara Consulting, Edwin Massey - New Zealand Wine Growers and Dr. Kate Averill - Inclusive Sustainable Development.

Host organisations

Dog Point Vineyard, Sanford Bioactive Hub, Yealands Estate Winery and One forty one Kaituna Saw Mill

Workshop Education Partners

SWE, Ekos, Inclusive Sustainable Development, Chamber of Commerce, THINK Business, EnviroHub Marlborough, Climate Karanga Marlborough and EECA.

Community Partners

EnviroHub Marlborough, Awatere Valley Trust, Climate Karanga Marlborough, NZ Wine Growers, New Zealand Sustainable Wine Growing, Marlborough Research Centre and Cawthron Marlborough Environment Awards.

We are excited to see you for this launch week!