Living Heritage Awards honour NZ's Junior Historians
Are mangroves unwanted weeds "gorse of the sea" or are they beautiful grees that attract native birds?
Who was Mr Stellin? And why did they name the park we play in after him?
What games did our grandparents play? How did they live?
These are the questions that children in three New Zealand schools asked themselves earlier this year and their online research projects have seen them each honoured with a LIving Heritage Award.
Junior historians from: Hauraki Primary School on Auckland's North Shore; Northland Primary School in Wellington; and Mahana Rural School just outside Nelson have each been honoured with LIving Heritage Awards this week.
“Living Heritage, Taonga Tuku Iho Awards celebrate our country’s heritage and or treasures,” says NZ National Commission for UNESCO chair, Bryan Gould.
“UNESCO recognises that living or intangible heritage provides people with a sense of identity and continuity. Helping young people to learn from their past is a key way to help prepare them for the future.”
The New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO helped establish the Living Heritage Taonga Tuku Iho Awards to celebrate schools whose work contributes to UNESCO objectives by capturing heritage resources for future generations.
Living Heritage (Tikanga Tuku Iho) is a project of the 2020 Communications Trustin partnership with The Learning Centre Trust of New Zealand, The National Library of New ZealandTe Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, and Sun Microsystems.
Northland School
Northland School junior historians awarded UNESCO Living Heritage Award Nearly sixty years after a young New Zealand pilot died saving a village in WWII, a group of Wellington school children have won a Living Heritage Award for an online project that remembers his life and sacrifice.
Youngsters from the Wellington suburb of Northland had played in the Stellin Memorial Park for the past forty years – but no one seemed to know how it got its name. This year students at Northland Primary School embarked on a Living Heritage research project in which they discovered the park was named after James Kingston Stellin, a heroic young Wellington-born pilot who died while saving a village and school in France.
As part of the research process children visited the park, student researched on the Internet, talked to a local historian, watched a DVD of a dedication ceremony at the park and found photographs that told a story.
James Kingston Stellin was born in Lyall Bay Wellington in 1922, he joined the Royal Airforce as a pilot and was killed in 1944 while successfully defending the village of St Macloula Briere. His father donated land in Northland so that a park could be erected in his son’s memory. Meanwhile, thousands of kilometres in the village of St Maclou la Briere a memorial to James Stellin still stands in the town square.
Are Mangroves unwanted weeds, the “Gorse of the sea” or are they beautiful trees that attract native birds? Mangrove swamps are prevalent throughout Takapuna and yet local youngsters discovered that adults seemed divided over where they were a good or a bad thing.
This prompted four Year Five children from Hauraki Primary School - Jack, Joel, Nina and Leah –to find out more. They embarked on an online project that saw them win a Living Heritage, Taonga Tuku Iho Award this week.
The young project team talked to local people, environmentalists and studied research online. They reached the insightful conclusion that they needed to find good ways to get rid of mangroves when they are growing in the wrong place – but also initiatives to help save the local environment as well. Their overall conclusion was that there needs to be more young people like them to make a difference in the world.
An online history project initiated by the children of tiny Mahana Primary School – a rural school 30km from Nelson – has won a Living Heritage Taonga Tuku Iho Award for 2009.
The students recognised that their small community was changing and they wanted to promote a sense of belonging and pride in their past by finding out more about the lives of their ancestors and tipuna.
The online project involved all three classrooms that make up Mahana School and students report that they learned a lot more about their own families, their school, region and country. In spite of their isolation, students developed their ICT skills by contributing to their web page, producing podcasts and integrating ICT into performances. A variety of pictorial/photo resources from books and communities, local museums, archives and family collections were also called upon.
Jenny Robinson (School Administrator) (L) and Briar Smith Waddell (Student) (R) from Mahana School at the Living Heritage Awards Ceremony, Wellington
Wednesday, 18 November 2009 10:43
Mata Ora : The Living Knowledge 2009
Ancient Polynesian navigators were the first to explore and then settle the great Pacific Ocean – a vast expanse that covers a third of the earth’s surface. Their journeys began a millenia before the arrival of the first European explorers in the 16th Century.
Next week in Porirua, north of Wellington, New Zealand, the awe-inspiring achievements of ancient Polynesian explorers and scientists will be remembered during a week of “Mata Ora” celebrations hosted by the Society for Maori, Astronomy, Research and Tourism and the NZ National Commission for UNESCO.
The event is also part of celebrations to mark the International Year of Astronomy 2009 - "a gobal effort initiated by the International Astronomical Union and UNESCO to help citizens of the world rediscover their place in the Universe through the day and night time sky, and thereby engage a personal sense of wonder and discovery.
The first Polynesian voyagers used indigenous scientific astronomical knowledge, harnessing the night sky and the environment to guide them across 162 million square kilometres of ocean. Their journeys and settlements stretch from South East Asia and Melanesia in the West, to Hawaii in the north, Rapanui or Easter Island in the East and Aotearoa New Zealand in the South. To this day, the indigenous peoples of the Pacific while separated by the largest ocean on earth, remain linked to one another through language, culture and history.
Te Tiriti O Waitangi/The Treaty of Waitangi Web Resource
The National Commission’s Social Sciences Sub Commission is committed to exploring and documenting the connections between international human rights agendas and issues raised by the Treaty of Waitangi, including the relevance of the Treaty for people of different ethnicities in Aotearoa New Zealand. The Human Rights Commission has worked closely with the Social and Human Sciences Sub-Commission on this resource.
UNESCO NZ National Commission represented at General Conference
Friday, 30 October 2009 15:09
NZ National Commission for UNESCO chairman, Bryan Gould and a small delegation took part in the 35th Session of the organisation's General Conference in Paris this month. They participated in a review of the Programme and Budget for the years 2011 and 2012, and considered a number of current issues such as climate change and the impact of the economic recession internationally. New Zealand was elected to the Intergovernmental Committee on MOST (Management of Social Transformations) and will be represented on that Committee by Professor Richard Bedford, of Waikato University. New Zealand will also have a position on the Legal Committee, represented by Victoria Hallum, Permanent Delegate to UNESCO from the New Zealand Embassy in Paris. A number of key decisions were made, including the election of a new Director General. To read Mr Gould's speech, please copy and paste the link (below) into your browser.
Irina Bokova of Bulgaria elected as UNESCO's 10th Director General
Friday, 30 October 2009 15:04
Bulgarian diplomat and politician, Irina Bokova has been elected Director-General of UNESCO by the 35th Session of the organisation's General Conference in Paris this month. Ms Bokova is the first woman and the first Eastern European to head the organisation. Ms Bokova has served as the Ambassador of Bulgaria to France as well as the nation's Permanent Delegate to UNESCO. She studied at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations and at the School of Public Affairs of the University of Maryland in the United States. Ms Bokova has served as Bulgaria's Minister and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and as candidate to the post of Vice President of Bulgaria, she advocated her country's membership in NATO and the European Union. Ms Bokova replaces outgoing Director General Koichiro Matsuura of Japan who has led the organisation for two terms. Dr Matsuura has advanced a wide range of programmes including universal basic education, freshwater management and the preservation of living arts and culture. He visited New Zealand in 2004.
Tuesday, 27 October 2009 21:28
Historical Waterworks Building wins Heritage Award
The Waterworks Building and its associated engineer’s cottage located on the grounds of the Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT) in Auckland has won the 2009 UNESCO Asia Pacific Award of Merit. The building was designed by William Errington in 1875 with the purpose of bringing water from the Western Springs Reservoir to Auckland. By 1928 the source of water had changed, and the building fell into disuse. It became part of the Museum in 1964. By 2000 there was a pressing need for conservation, as the roof was leaking and sectors of the cornices had collapsed, with vegetation encroaching upon the structures. There was an added intention of restoring the Scottish-made beam engine pump machinery to full working order. In its hey day the Waterworks engine pumped two million of waters a day from the Western Springs Lake to homes throughout Auckland. It is the first time a New Zealand building has won this award.
Please visit our UNESCO Bangkok office for more information:
Pathways, Circuits and Crossroads: International Migration in Uncertain Times
The annual meeting of several research programmes dealing with processes and policies of relevance to New Zealand's international migration system wil be held on the 2-4 November at the Soundings Theatre, Te Papa in Wellington. This year's meeting is being organised by the University of Waikato's Population Studies Centre in collaboration with the Department of Labour, Monash University's Institute for the Study of Global Movements (Melbourne) and Massey University's Integration of Immigrants Programme.
Themes for the meeting are:
2 November: "International Migration and the Economy: Reflections and Responses"
What causes global climate change? What are its consequences? What are our potential solutions? These were some of the issues considered by more than 60 secondary students attending the Wellington Youth Climate Forum (WYCF) at Victoria University in September. The NZ National Commission for UNESCO helped make the forum possible with a grant from the 2009 UCAF fund. Students also planned and carried out a range of public actions to draw attention to climate change that included: making chalk art mural on Lambton Quay; handing out certificates to passengers at the railway station; writing a press release; and prepring a 'communique'. The final part of the forum saw participants use the skills they gained over the weekend to begin planning further action for fellow classmates in their respective schools on the 23rd October 2009: 350 Schools Day of Action on Climate Change. Several students also became active participants on the ReGeneration Network: a social networking site with more than 270 youth members.
Thursday, 22 October 2009 11:35
2010 Zonta Science Award call for applications
The Zonta Club of Wellington is calling for applications for the 2010 Zonta Science Award. This will be the 11th Award since its inception in 1990. The Zonta Science Award has been establshed to further the status of women in scientific fields. The Award is for an emerging woman scientist (ie. a recent PhD graduate, not a woman well established in the science area) no the top woman scientist in her field. Priority will be given to areas of science where funding is not readily available. The aims of this award are to: encourage women to pursue a career in science; actively promote science as a career for women; encourage others already in the scientific field and; acknowledge the valuable contribution of women scientists. Please contact Wendy Saunders for more information
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, Telephone 04-570-4802. Applications close on the 1st February 2010.
Wednesday, 09 September 2009 18:04
International Workshop focuses on NZ “Greenstone” Digital Library Software
“Greenstone” an internationally renowned software system for digital libraries that was developed in New Zealand is the focus of an international workshop to be held in India in November. The “Greenstone” Digital Library Software (http://www.greenstone.org) is an Open Source package for building and distributing Digital Libraries, which has been developed by the University of Waikato.
“Greenstone” is supported by the UNESCO and the Human Info NGO Belgium for spreading the benefits of this software to developing countries. The state-of-the-art software is both powerful and flexible, and of great potential interest to libraries and information centres and other public and private institutions in South Asia and other developing regions.
As part of this year’s Te Rangitawaea ICT Festival, students from Ngati Porou East Coast Schools have been trained by professional broadcasters to deliver a Noon news webcast live from the festival in Ruatoria.
Te Rangitawaea celebrates the creative and innovative digital media achievements and development of local students. The webcast will enable students to further their skills in broadcasting and to also provide an opportunity for rural Maori youth to participate in the digital news age.
Webcast Time: 12 Noon, Wednesday 16th September 2009
The festival has been supported by the NZ National Commission for UNESCO’s UCAF 2009 funding. The fund is for New Zealand projects that engage with two or more of UNESCO’s mandated programme areas: Education, Natural Sciences, Social and Human Sciences, Culture, Communications and Information.
Thursday, 20 August 2009 17:09
UNESCO World Conference on HIGHER Education
The conference was held in July and at its conclusion, delegates called on world governments to: increase investment in higher education; encourage diversity; and strengthen regional cooperation to serve societal needs. UNESCO Director-General, Koichiro Matsuura affirmed that the organisation would “continue to be a strong voice for education” . . “against a fast changing and complex landscape, we have defined future directions because we fundamentally share a common vision of higher education’s ethical and strategic responsibilities in today’s global society.” Two New Zealanders participated in this global forum, Frances Kelly (New Zealand’s Education Counsellor, currently based in Brussells) and Gail Gillon (Pro Vice Chancellor, Canterbury University/Te Whare Wananga O Waitaha.)
Writer, academic and Māori language pioneer, Kāterina Te Heikōkō Mataira (Ngati Porou) has won the prestigious Linguapax Award 2009 for her lifelong work to revive the Māori language. In the seventies Ms Mataira co-developed, alongside the late Ngoingoi Pewhairangi, the Te Atārangi community based programme of Māori language learning which trained native speakers of Māori to teach their language. This philosophy underpinned the establishment of the kura kaupapa Maori movement. Linguapax is an annual award bestowed upon leading linguists and researchers by the Linguapax Institute based in Barcelona, Spain. Linguapax is a non-governmental organisation set up by UNESCO and dedicated to the global preservation and promotion of linguistic diversity. This is the first time a New Zealander has been honoured with this award.
Thursday, 20 August 2009 17:06
NZ Diversity Forum 2009
From 22-24th August 2009, Wellington will host the 2009 NZ Diversity Forum. The forum unites flaxroots community representatives, volunteers, central and local government officials, media, academics, health professionals, language advocates, sports people, librarians, teachers, artists, museum staff, faith groups, employers, worker and young people to talk about practical ways cultural diversity can be fostered and all New Zealanders can enjoy equal opportunities and live in harmony. Events are hosted by organisations that are part of the NZ Diversity Action Programme, an initiative sponsored by the Human Rights Commission/Te Kahui Tika Tangata. The main venue is Te Papa, however events are taking place at locations around Wellington city. The NZ National Commission for UNESCO is hosting a forum on Pacific Languages in New Zealand 2: the future of Pacific languages. Contact person:
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Thursday, 20 August 2009 17:01
Award Winning Writer Appointed to Communications Sub Commission
Paul Diamond (Ngati Haua, Te Rarawa, Ngapuhi) has been appointed to the Communications and Information Sub Commission. An award winning writer, journalist and producer, Mr Diamond’s works have won Qantas Media and Media Peace Awards and in 2001 he was awarded a David Low Chevning Fellowship to Oxford University. His published works include “A Fire in Your Belly: Māori leaders speak”; and “Makereti: taking Māori to the world”.
Monday, 03 August 2009 17:09
Ethnic Diversity Broadcasting Forum, June 2009
Hosted by NZ On Air and the Office of Ethnic Affairs, this forum focused on how NZ’s changing demographics will affect the broadcast media in 2020. Promoted by NZOA board member and UNESCO NZ National Commission member Paul Smith for several years this initiative was a significant achievement and the first of its kind. Ethnic Affairs Minister Pansy Wong noted that as NZ becomes ethnically and culturally diverse, the media needs to reflect this change; savvy media outlets know this isn’t just the right thing to do – it’s also the bright thing to do. Ms Wong also observed the growth of ethnic media products and outlets. Professor Richard Bedford from Population Studies Centre at the University of Waikato highlighted the major changes taking place. He told the forum that by 2021, European New Zealanders will remain the largest (and aging) group – Asian and Pacific populations are growing fastest and their numbers will rival Maori as our second largest ethnic group. He also noted that this trend will be most evident in the Auckland region. Further themes of the role of cultural diversity in mainstream broadcasting were considered for the remainder of the Forum. The role of the Government through its charter, funding and lack of public broadcasting dominated the discussion.
Diverse Projects Supported by UNESCO Contestable Fund
Human rights education in schools, climate change projects in colleges and an information technology festival on the remote East Cape are some of the innovative projects supported this year by the NZ National Commission for UNESCO’s Contestable Activity Fund or UCAF.
“Promoting peace and social justice in New Zealand and the Pacific through education, the sciences, culture and the free exchange of ideas is our organisation’s focus,” says chairman, Bryan Gould.
“We received a high standard of applications this year and were delighted to support a diverse range of projects.”
Successful projects funded were: Human Rights in Education Project with ASP Schools (Human Rights In Education Trust): $5000; Wellington Youth Climate Forum for secondary students ($4375); Te Rangitawaea ICT festival for East Cape residents (Ngati Porou Runanga): $5000; and the Kowiana annual conference for young, Korean Kiwis (Kowiana Association): $3000
“These inventive projects reflect UNESCO’s growing intersectoral focus by engaging with at least two of UNESCO’s key mandated areas - Education, Natural Sciences, Social and Human Sciences, Culture and Communications and Information,” says Mr Gould.
Monday, 03 August 2009 17:08
SANZ to Launch Blueprint for Global Sustainability
In September, Sustainable Aotearoa NZ or SANZ is to release the resource, “Strong Sustainability for NZ: principles and scenarios”. A blueprint for sustainability that replaces the widely-used triple bottom line measure and instead gives social, environmental, and economic values equal weighting, with a model that gives greater priority to ecological values in order to sustain the natural systems and resources societies rely upon. For more information: http://www.phase2.org
Monday, 03 August 2009 17:07
Migrating Kitchens Exhibition, Te Pataka Museum, Porirua
For many migrating families, traditional foods from home are a way to celebrate unique cultural identity and heritage: these are also a tasty reminder of home! The Migrating Kitchen Exhibition is on again at Te Pataka Museum in Porirua, in which people are invited to step inside the kitchens of immigrant communities who have made Aotearoa New Zealand their newest home. The first Migrating Kitchen Exhibition at Te Pataka was held in 2007 with families from Samoa, Burma, Greece, China, Russia and Somalia sharing their stories, recipes and foods. This year families from Afghanistan, Chile, the Cook Islands, India, Italy and Zimbabwe showcase their favourite foods. The NZ National Commission for UNESCO is pleased to support the Migrating Kitchens Exhibition for another year.
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