7 November 2011

Auckland’s future: Vertical gardens, virtual volunteers, waterfront walk and playing in the streets.

Twenty five inspiring Aucklanders graduate from the Committee for Auckland’s Future Leaders Programme at a ceremony at the Auckland Museum tomorrow night with four inspiring ‘legacy projects’ which will enhance the city.

The Future Auckland Leaders initiative is a key strategy of the Committee’s programme to ignite leadership in order to make Auckland one of the world’s great places to live and work. Committee members span the public, private and not for profit sectors and are working to assist Auckland Council realise the more ambitious aspects of its newly released Auckland Plan.

Nominated by Committee for Auckland members from within their respective organisations, participants are individuals who possess strong leadership, as well as succession potential. The Future Auckland Leaders Programme taps into the energy and insight of the city’s emerging leaders, cultivating their passion for Auckland and helping channel it into city-enhancing projects. Every two years, Future Auckland Leaders unveil their projects to the broader Committee for Auckland membership. The four legacy projects for 2011 are: 90 Degree Vert, Waterfront Walk, Playing in the Streets and Auckland Virtual Volunteering.

Three of these legacy projects are focused on showcasing Auckland as a tourism asset for residents and visitors alike. The transformation of existing buildings and streets is well aligned with the Auckland Council’s Central City Master Plan which includes the greening of Auckland and encouraging more pedestrian areas in the inner city.

90 Degree Vert is working with Greenroofs New Zealand and international company Maccaferri to create a vertical garden on the concrete balustrade wall of the Ellen Melville hall in Freyburg Place, Central Auckland.

This second project aims to develop a Waterfront Walk between the Ferry Buildings on Quay Street all the way to Mission Bay with visual and historically significant landmarks highlighted en route. The Waterfront Walk brochure will encourage visitors and residents to get up close to the Waitemata harbour and new artists will be encouraged to display their work to refresh the route every 2-3 years.

A pilot event of the third Future Leaders project: ‘Playing in the Streets‘ will be launched in Queen St on a Sunday in March 2012 to showcase the feasibility and benefits of car-free streets for the Auckland community. This project is enthusiastically supported by Auckland Council as it aligns with the Central City Master plan of which the pedestrianisation of Queen St is a key element.

The fourth legacy project uses the skills and enthusiasm of Auckland volunteers to benefit the not-for profit sector in Auckland. Auckland Virtual Volunteering engages online volunteers to assist not-for-profit groups and organisations by way of completing skills-based tasks or objective-based assignments, using their particular expertise at a time and location that suits them.

Executive Director of the Committee for Auckland, Heather Shotter is impressed with the public engagement and the connections with Auckland Council and community groups that are represented in each project.

“This is the first intake of the Future Leaders Programme to graduate under the new City of Auckland structure and their projects reflect the changing face of our city. Graduates have considered the Committee’s vision for Auckland and incorporated the aspirations of the Auckland plan to deliver projects that will enhance our city now and in the future. We are exceedingly proud of the class of 2011 who have pooled their individual strengths to deliver visionary thinking with tangible outcomes” she says

About the Committee for Auckland
• The Committee for Auckland is an independent, cross-sector group of senior Auckland leaders, who work to identify issues, generate good ideas, and move these ideas into action.
• Members include corporate businesses, not for profits, local and central government agencies and tertiary institutions.
• The Committee for Auckland's work programme is designed around an understanding that initiatives which foster a great place to be, talented people and a dynamic city-region economy will deliver a successful international city.

ENDS

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