Support our Youth Environmental Voice Summit in Mohua Golden Bay!

Kia ora e hoa and thank you for visiting our page for Lighthouse Aotearoa's upcoming Youth Voice Summit in April of 2027! See below information for a bit of background on our organisation, and the event for which we are currently seeking funding support. We are extremely grateful to the Nelson Tasman Climate Forum for serving as an umbrella charitable organisation for this and previous fundraisers.

Background

Lighthouse Aotearoa is an organisation of environmentally conscious youth (aged 11-18) based in the Whakatū Nelson and Tasman regions of Aotearoa New Zealand. Most of our activities involve young people making their voices heard on climate change and other envirosocial matters, and some our engagements with local government and community have been highlighted in the following news articles ([1], [2], [3]).

However, we feel it is also incredibly important to provide young people with immersive experiences in Aotearoa's beautiful environments. These opportunities not only reward the rangatahi for their hard work and offer undeniable improvements to physical and mental health, but also provide a range of other benefits supported by a clear peer-reviewed consensus. Direct experiences in natural settings help young people to foster ecological understanding, emotional attachment to nature, and concern for environmental issues. More specifically, rangatahi who spend time in natural environments are more likely to value biodiversity and demonstrate environmentally responsible attitudes and behaviours throughout their lives.

In September of 2025, young people from Lighthouse, along with those from a similar group called Next Generation Conversation (NGC) in Ōtautahi Christchurch, participated in the Climate Futures Summit Camp in the Marlborough Sounds, where they stayed for two nights in cabins, went paddleboarding and on bush walks, and engaged in a series of Youth Environmental Voice Workshops. This was an amazing experience for the young people, and, in addition to providing a series of unforgettable experiences, has resulted in significant novel civil engagement outcomes. The Open Letter the rangatahi have written to central and local government - using material derived from the workshops at the Summit - is currently driving their engagement with three Councils and six Ministers of Parlaiment from four different political parties across the ideological spectrum.

This Year's Event

We are currently seeking funding support to send the young people on a similar camp to the 2025 Climate Futures Summit, but this time to Mohua Golden Bay in the Tasman region! This camp will operate similarly to the first one ("If it ain't broke, don't fix it!") with a healthy balance of immersive nature experiences and youth environmental voice workshops.

Our planned activities so far include:

• Staying three days, two nights in cabins at Golden Bay Holiday Park in Parapara, a scenic location right on the beach, and equidistant to several of the other activities we have planned. Exact dates are TBD, but will be during the Term 1 School Holidays (10-24 April).

• Engaging in a series of three Youth Environmental Voice Workshops, each with a clear outcome and designed/facilitated by a pair of young people. These workshops combined will result in a follow-up action of the young people's choosing, which may be similar to, or different from, the Open Letter from the previous camp.

• Visiting the iconic destinations of Wharariki Beach, Te Waikoropupu Springs, and Wainui Falls - all environmentally and culturally significant sites in the area. The visit to each site will be accompanied by a 1-3 hour walk, allowing much time for reflection on the importance of protecting Aotearoa's special places.

• A canoe/kayak journey offered at a discounted rate by the provider in light of the nature of the Summit.

What We Need

At the moment, this trip is just a dream.

Some funding has been pledged already for which we are very grateful, but we are seeking to raise an additional $4000 to cover food, accommodation, and the full range of activities, as well as to significantly reduce the cost we must request from families of the young people attending. By donating on this page, you are helping immensely to make this initiative possible, and to provide the young people with an unforgettable experience that will inform their choices now and in the future.

Funding Provisions:

• If we are unable to meet our funding threshold and the camp does not go ahead this time, we will contact all donors to ask whether each would like their donation returned, or earmarked for a specific future initiative.

• In the unlikely event that we raise more than $4000 through this page, or are able to cover the full cost with other sources, any additional funding raised here will be earmarked for the next biennial camp. If you would like for your donation to go only toward this year's initiative, please indicate so when donating, and we will ensure that is the case.

Thank you so much for your time, and absolutely feel free to send us any questions or feedback! You can do so by emailing info@lighthouseaotearoa.org.nz.