As part of the region-wide “Footprints for Our Future” project hosted by the Rotary Bay of Plenty Community Group during the week 8–14 September "Healing our Waters" is a powerful evening of inspiring stories.

We will hear from three highly respected speakers . They will cover the state of our waterways (including our watershed streams, rivers, lakes and estuaries), the science behind restoration, and the practical steps communities can take to protect and regenerate them.

The venue is the University of Waikato – Tauranga Campus and entry will be by pre-purchased ticket only (tickets available at events.humanitix.com/healing-our-waters). Our speakers are:

Keynote speaker Dr Mike Joy is a prominent freshwater ecologist and science communicator currently at the Institute for Governance and Policy Studies at Victoria University of Wellington. He has been publicly outspoken about the decline in freshwater quality and ecosystems, especially the impact of nutrient pollution from intensive dairying. This has led to awards from scientific organisations, as well as criticism from the dairy industry. Recently he published a memoir "The Fight for Freshwater".

Professor Chris Battershill leads Coastal Science at the University of Waikato. His main interests include coastal marine ecology and aquaculture. He leads a major research program examining the effects of land runoff on coastal reef systems, on food webs linking land and sea productivity and on resilience in a changing climate.

John Burke is an adviser for two major catchment environmental restoration projects. Project Parore covers seven catchments at the northern Tauranga Moana. The large Wai Kōkopu catchment is near Pukehina. He has an agri-business background and owns the environmental award-winning Pukekauri Farm, near Katikati.

More information at: https://www.footprintsforourfuture.org.nz/