How can Golden Bay become more resilient?
The Mōhua Golden Bay Resilience Expo was a two-day community-led initiative in Tākaka organised collaboratively by Mohua 2042 and Adaptive Resilience Solutions. During the expo on 3 May, the Aorere Valley Practical Living Series ran a stall under the banner of Rural Women Bainham. As an engagement activity, visitors were invited to vote on six suggestions on how to strengthen Golden Bay’s resilience and to add their own thoughts. Ten people voted (three votes per person) and three people added their thoughts.
| # | Idea | Votes (out of 30 possible) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Community Gardens | 7 |
| 2 | Food Hubs / Neighbourhood Food Hubs | 8 ⭐ most voted |
| 3 | Satellite Living Series | 5 |
| 4 | Community Exchange Platform | 5 |
| 5 | Mentoring & Skills Matching | 3 |
| 6 | Visitor Engagement | 2 |
What people told us
Feedback on Community Gardens and Food Hubs: People see these two ideas as deeply connected. Community gardens run by locals creates produce that feeds into shared food co-ops in each locale (such as Onekaka) making food more accessible to communities and produced close to home.
Feedback on the Community Exchange Platform: Several existing initiatives were highlighted that are already doing this work and could use more support:
- Mohua Seed Exchange
- H.A.N.D.S. scheme
- Mohua 2042 Trust
- Timebank
- Golden Bay Sustainable Living Centre (for example, tool repair workshops)
- MenzShed Mohua
New ideas added by visitors:
- A community emergency response group for Collingwood, which doesn’t yet have a cohesive group
- A community-owned solar and wind-powered food drying facility: To dry and preserve fruit and other produce, and generate income to sustain itself
New connections made
The expo was also a chance to meet people working on related projects across Golden Bay:
We re-connected with Sol Morgan from the Sustainable Living Centre. Furthermore, we made contact with representatives of the Timebank and St John. Keith Langford from St John offered to run a 3 Steps for Life session at the Practical Living Series, which is now confirmed for 21 July at Bainham Hall, 11 am. Find out more about 3 Steps for Life →
What’s next
These results will help shape the direction of the Practical Living Series and our community projects. If any of these ideas resonate with you, or if you’d like to get involved, we’d love to hear from you.
