The University of Otago has deliberately picked some controversial topics for its Winter Symposium series to provoke discussion among New Zealanders before the September election.
The symposium series, being held in association with the Otago Daily Times, will start in Wellington on Wednesday evening with ''Who will have jobs in 20 years' time?''
University deputy vice-chancellor, research and enterprise, Prof Richard Blaikie said the Winter Lecture Series had been an important part of the university's calendar for years.
''But we felt it was time to revamp it and introduce a new format which allows a wider range of academics to share their expertise publicly.
''For this first Winter Symposium we have deliberately chosen controversial topics we hope will provoke discussion and which New Zealanders will think about ahead of September's election.''
Some of the brightest and leading thinkers would look ahead 20 or 30 years and present their views on who would still have jobs then, what future there was for the regions and what state the environment might be in by then, he said.
The symposium was aimed at anyone interested in the future of New Zealand, wanting to get a clearer idea about some of the real issues facing Kiwis and what politicians needed to focus on, Prof Blaikie said.
It was hoped the issues raised at the symposiums, also being held in Auckland on July 12 and Queenstown on August 8, would be discussed widely by people in their work and social settings.
Twelve academics from departments across the university would explore the questions from all angles, Prof Blaikie said.
To help ''ginger up'' the audience, Lyttelton satirist and ODT columnist Joe Bennett would be the master of ceremonies for all three events.
Panellists had been asked to talk in their specialist areas for between seven and 10 minutes. At the end of each presentation, the audience would ask questions to start the debate.
Prof Blaikie said it was hoped the three events would provide much food for thought in the countdown to the election and prompt politicians and would-be MPs to consider how the ideas of academics might inform future policy to make for a better New Zealand.
The ODT will publish a news story from each event and follow up the topics with wider-ranging background articles at a later date.