WAO’s annual summit and its largest event wrapped up a few weeks ago with significant success.
WAO co-founder Monique Kelly said her vision for the summit was to ensure it was inclusive and offered sustainable solutions at different stages.
"It doesn’t matter where you are on the spectrum — everyone is sort of starting out with whatever they do," she said.
The summit was held in locations across Wanaka, Hawea and Queenstown and focused on regenerative food sources, sustainable building and what it means to be a better business.
Ms Kelly said the summit would lead nicely into what the trust wanted to focus on next year.
The success of the summit meant the trust would be able to focus more on sustainable events.
"So next year, that’s going to be a big part of what we do".
She confirmed green drinks and film nights would continue and there was the chance of other events being added to the agenda. Water conservation, food resilience and reducing car dependency would also be a focus next year as the trust wanted both visitors and residents to be better informed about these crucial topics, she said.
"It’s really about trying to get as much information and education out there as possible".
Youth involvement is a major part of the trust’s priorities, which means their youth programme, Generation WAO, will be continuing and optimising their involvement with local schools and young volunteers.
Overall, Ms Kelly was enthusiastic about the upcoming year, seeing it as an opportunity to further increase the progress the trust had already made.
