CREATING A PROSPEROUS, RESILIENT SOUTH AUCKLAND_ WHERE CHILDREN AND WHANAU THRIVE YEAR IN REVIEW - DECEMBER 2017 3 Overview: A mandate to transform South Auckland he Southern Initiative is a place- of our discoveries will be relevant and The Southern Initiative is involved in some very T based initiative in the Auckland useful to the services operating in South important social and economic development work and the Plan. Its coverage spans four Auckland Auckland; others will make their impact “ team has an excellent overview about how to affect the Council local board areas - Māngere- separately from service provision. deepest impact in that regard. It also has all important Ōtāhuhu, Ōtara-Papatoetoe, Manurewa insight into South Auckland’s needs and how to best help and Papakura. We work with whānau, local the community meet those needs, particularly around social change agents, grassroots TSI’s role is to champion, stimulate entrepreneurs, businesses, agencies and helping children reach their full potential. TSI is doing some and enable community and social various organisations to explore, create impressive work and is achieving great results, innovation in South Auckland. and test radical solutions to some of South Auckland’s most pressing social Auckland Mayor, ” Our central philosophy is strengths-based and economic challenges. Phil Goff. and whānau-centric, reflecting what we’ve heard from the community that We’re about transformation and we’re “only the ‘hood can change the ‘hood”. about innovation. This means taking risks, trying new things, and learning as It’s not our job to replace or compete we go. The work being done in South Auckland is ground with the many services working in the “breaking and producing innovative, interesting and social, economic development and impactful outcomes to the benefit of this city which is education space in South Auckland. Our something Aucklanders can be proud of, approach is to learn, explore, experiment and examine what sorts of things might Auckland Council Chief Executive, ” work to help this area thrive. Some Stephen Town. 4 Our priorities These are no small challenges, and we • The population of South Auckland is know the best way to achieve enduring, younger than the rest of Auckland. The transformative change is to tap into the success of these young people in terms south’s assets, talents and opportunities to of education, skills, employment and focus on projects which will produce high- community participation will shape the quality results. future of South Auckland and Auckland • By 2068 people aged 65 years or This document sets out our work in the older will account for a significant past year, grouped according to our three 28 percent of the population. South priorities: Shared prosperity; Resilience; and Auckland’s young population will be Thriving Children and Whānau. All of our critical to the tax base needed to pay innovation efforts, from small initiatives for pensions and health care. to large scale programmes, contribute ur priorities link to our purpose - to to one or more of our priorities and their We want South Auckland to be O create a prosperous, resilient place outcomes. recognised as the enterprise capital of where children and whānau thrive. New Zealand, leading the country in The Auckland Plan makes our role clear: Auckland may be the economic engine community-led economic development “Strengthening children and families in of New Zealand but the city’s prosperity and inclusive economic growth. stable homes and employment”. We have depends heavily on South Auckland’s a central place in delivering the plan’s success. South Auckland is New Zealand’s priorities for the south, especially ensuring biggest opportunity, and The Southern children have the best start in life, there As the New Zealand Institute of Economic Initiative is at the forefront of harnessing are clear pathways and support for further Research’s (NZIER) Resilient South that power to make impactful education and training for school leavers document says: transformational change. (as well as good, local jobs), inclusive economic development and quality • Auckland will thrive if South Auckland housing. thrives 1 5 Our opportunity: Innovation and collaboration he Southern Initiative is unique in its Our closeness to community enables us to complex challenges to be part of the South Auckland presents T innovation capability combined with its collaborate with grassroots change makers, south’s transformation. The keys for “New Zealand’s biggest position in local government. entrepreneurs and a range of Māori and unlocking strengths and assets to take on opportunity as a place and Pasifika enterprises to create alternative complex challenges lie in local communities community for lasting and As part of the Auckland Council family business and economic models to enable themselves. Rather than creating more impactful social and economic shared prosperity. services or programmes to ‘fix’ South we can influence decision making, service transformational change. The delivery and asset use, considerable levers Auckland we partner with whānau to Southern Initiative plays a for social transformation given the family’s We are committed to empowering people explore, create and test new size and scope. Collaborative procurements at the sharp end of South Auckland’s and innovative solutions. powerful and successful part with Auckland Transport are creating quality in helping the community employment as well as training and enterprise identify and seize innovative opportunities and we are partnering with opportunities to make a real ATEED and Panuku Development Auckland on difference in people’s lives. a number of projects. Auckland Council is Our strong relationship and effective rightfully proud of the collaboration with central government “ excellent and impressive also means local and central government work being undertaken by are working together on important social TSI across a number of strong and economic issues. Our Co-design Lab is an excellent example of this in action. focus areas for big change It is funded by Auckland Council and including housing quality and eight central government agencies - the affordability, child poverty Department of the Prime Minister and reduction, raised wages and the Cabinet, Treasury, Te Puni Kōkiri, the New future of work, Zealand Police, MBIE and the ministries of health, education and social development. Auckland Councillor” Alf Filipaina. The Southern Initiative team 6 Auckland Co-design Lab n integral and vital part of our team, Insights from this work directly influenced A the Auckland Co-design Lab’s tenet is council assets, such as libraries, to better to unlock people’s capability so they can support South Aucklanders parenting actively take part in designing their own very young children. Our driver licencing future while advocating for system change project report has been used by a cross- that supports positive transformation. agency working group to address issues at a national level and is referred to as a A unique model, the lab is an institutional ‘go to’ document for central government structure focused on facilitating change agencies. Our Attitude Gap report, focused and an innovation engine that can design on the gap between employers’ and young and test approaches which achieve people’s expectation of the world of advanced outcomes. It designs and work, is a valuable resource for a variety leads projects focusing on complex and of organisations. We are working with constant challenges facing communities the Ministry of Education to develop an in South Auckland and New Zealand by early childhood education project which creating conditions for trust, creativity and will involve front line staff, parents and collaboration, with a bias towards action. agencies exploring parental engagement, quality education and school readiness. As part of the Early Years Challenge we became involved in University of A key purpose of the lab is to support Auckland’s Growing Up in New Zealand capability building across central a Having the co-design lab inside TSI provides both a platform and study which includes more than 1200 nd local government, achieved by support for a better dynamic connection between two essential elements of children in South Auckland. The study participation in live projects as well as a “ gives us the robust ‘big data’ to weave co-design masterclass series that transformation – innovation and implementation, with practice-based and human-centred attracts participants from central evidence to develop solutions to make a government, council, community Director Learning and Systems Innovation, The Australian Centre” for Social Innovation, difference in children’s lives. groups and mana whenua. Dr Ingrid Burkett. • Shared Prosperity • ities around the world are grappling with more jobs to the South Auckland region, rising inequality and the concentration or linking local people to available jobs, C Shared prosperity can be created by lifting the incomes of wealth and prosperity in a diminishing we purposely seek out those jobs with of South Aucklanders through quality and sustainable number of people. the greatest potential for personal, family employment and enterprise opportunities. and community transformation. Simply The emerging global consensus is that connecting people to employment that is inequality is a handbrake on economic precarious, at risk of automation and/or BY: growth. In its 2014 evaluation, the OECD only moves people