Please note: booking is not required for this event.
For every scale of practice, because every site is part of nature! Join us for the second installment of Melting Moments where we dive into bio-diversity tools, case studies and strategies.
Rich and healthy ecologies offer more than a ‘nice to have’, their formulation and maintenance are crucial to being good kaitiaki. In addition to providing lifelines to living taonga, they elevate our unique sense of place and contribute significantly to our own sense of wellbeing.
There are a multitude of things that can encourage biodiversity in your projects. Come learn how to use the recently launched bio-diversity calculator by Jacqueline Theis and Yolanda van Heezik of Peoples-Cities-Nature, including a step-by-step walk through** and analysis of how to make a high scoring project. But wait there’s more! Amy Hobbs of WCC will also be hosting conversations on city wide strategies for making greener environments, as well as Josh Forrest from Tonkin + Taylor sharing insights on how recent construction and coastal infrastructure projects are influencing ecologies.
**Bring along your laptop or other device to get involved
Presenters
Amy Hobbs has over 20 years of experience in landscape architecture, urban design and project management, and is passionate about creating sustainable and liveable environments that enhance the quality of life for people and communities. As the Design Manager within the Major Transport Projects team at Wellington City Council, Amy provides expert design and delivery advice and coordinates complex transport projects like Golden Mile and Thorndon Quay. She was instrumental in developing the business case for the Green Network Plan at WCC and the development of the Council endorsed Green Network Plan.
Joshua Forrest is an Ecologist at Tonkin + Taylor with ten years of experience specialising in avifauna and herpetofauna across Aotearoa New Zealand. His current focus is on kororā (little penguin) ecology, particularly assessing how construction and coastal infrastructure projects influence kororā behaviour, habitat use, and long‑term population outcomes. Joshua has contributed to major projects including Te Ara Tupua, as well as work across Wellington, Auckland, the West Coast, and Nelson. He is experienced in evaluating ecological effects and developing mitigation, offsetting, and compensation approaches that balance project delivery with meaningful conservation gains.
Jacqueline Theis is a doctoral ecology candidate in the Zoology Department at the University of Otago, supported by the “People, Cities and Nature” research programme. She contributes to the Aotearoa BiodiverCity team’s work on urban biodiversity and leads the creation of the New Zealand Biodiversity Factor (NZBF), a suite of tools that help assess and improve the biodiversity value of urban developments. Her research also explores invertebrate colonisation of urban green installations to inform urban planning and conservation strategies.
Yolanda van Heezik is a professor in the Zoology Department at the University of Otago. Her research focuses on, among other things, urban biodiversity in both private gardens and public spaces, as well as people’s attitudes, motivations and knowledge about biodiversity. She is a member of the MBIE Endeavour-funded “People, Cities, Nature” research programme; her team, Aotearoa BiodiverCity, is providing the means and goals for optimising the way biodiversity can be integrated into urban spaces.
Kaupapa: Melting Moments is about local discussions that connect people with exciting things happening nearby. It’s a forum to discuss the ambitions and challenges of sustainability, to connect with those leading the way, but also to bring a spirit of reciprocity so that we can learn from each other and move forward together.
Free. Registration not required.