In this month’s column, we spotlight a local eco festival in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland and show how public libraries have played a vital role in this annual celebration of community-driven climate action.
AUCKLAND LIBRARIES AND THE ALBERT-EDEN AND PUKETĀPAPA ECO FESTIVAL
First launched in 2022, the Albert-Eden and Puketāpapa Eco Festival is a month-long festival aimed at building awareness and creating localised solutions for climate action. With a jam-packed and diverse programme of events, there’s a little something for everyone: exhibitions, hands-on workshops, market stalls, film screenings, panel discussions, and so on. The festival receives funding from the Albert-Eden and Puketāpapa Local boards, with its mission to support local climate action in line with Auckland Council’s Te Tāruke-ā-Tāwhiri: Auckland's Climate Plan.
Local libraries across the Albert-Eden Puketāpapa Ward are essential to festival programming, says Festival Director Natalie Wotherspoon. “Our festival is as much about building networks and creating connected, resilient communities as it is about sharing ideas and skills, and with libraries being at the heart of communities and, for many, their community hub, it has a far reach into communities.”
Over the past three years, Natalie has worked with the teams from Auckland Libraries’ Epsom, Mt Albert, Mt Roskill and Point Chevalier Libraries to plan and deliver a wide range of free events in and around library spaces. Natalie says that the event hosts, mostly community groups or local not-for-profit organisations, value the opportunity to use library spaces for events. “From an event organiser perspective, libraries are ideal for workshops. Event hosts know this is a reliable venue to deliver a workshop, and the participants feel welcome and comfortable attending.”
AUCKLAND LIBRARIES AND THE ALBERT-EDEN AND PUKETĀPAPA ECO FESTIVAL
First launched in 2022, the Albert-Eden and Puketāpapa Eco Festival is a month-long festival aimed at building awareness and creating localised solutions for climate action. With a jam-packed and diverse programme of events, there’s a little something for everyone: exhibitions, hands-on workshops, market stalls, film screenings, panel discussions, and so on. The festival receives funding from the Albert-Eden and Puketāpapa Local boards, with its mission to support local climate action in line with Auckland Council’s Te Tāruke-ā-Tāwhiri: Auckland's Climate Plan.
Local libraries across the Albert-Eden Puketāpapa Ward are essential to festival programming, says Festival Director Natalie Wotherspoon. “Our festival is as much about building networks and creating connected, resilient communities as it is about sharing ideas and skills, and with libraries being at the heart of communities and, for many, their community hub, it has a far reach into communities.”
Over the past three years, Natalie has worked with the teams from Auckland Libraries’ Epsom, Mt Albert, Mt Roskill and Point Chevalier Libraries to plan and deliver a wide range of free events in and around library spaces. Natalie says that the event hosts, mostly community groups or local not-for-profit organisations, value the opportunity to use library spaces for events. “From an event organiser perspective, libraries are ideal for workshops. Event hosts know this is a reliable venue to deliver a workshop, and the participants feel welcome and comfortable attending.”
WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP ON CLIMATE ACTION
In addition to offering physical spaces within and around their buildings to festival event hosts, the Albert-Eden and Puketāpapa community libraries draw on their existing community connections to design their library’s festival programming. Mt Roskill Library regularly partners with the Roskill Bike Hub and Puketāpapa Climate Action groups throughout the year, so reaching out to them to design Eco Festival events is par for the course.
For the second year running, Mt Roskill Library partnered with these two groups to run Climate Action Family Fun, a free Sunday afternoon event with various activities to get local families thinking about low-carbon alternatives and sustainable transport. These activities included e-cargo bike try-outs, free bike safety checks, and climate action sign painting for tamariki.
These kinds of partnerships and events raise community awareness around climate action and have real outcomes, says Richard Barter, chair of the Puketāpapa Active Transport Trust, who is behind the Roskill Bike Hub and Puketāpapa Climate Action. Richard explains that e-cargo bike try-outs have “resulted in families buying an e-cargo bike and not requiring that second car.” Similarly, workshops like the EcoPlay Challenge facilitated by local sustainability coach Janani Mohanakrishnan use real stories and fun games to outline the simple changes people can make to lower their household carbon emissions, with participants leaving having committed to taking on one action.
While most events are designed and delivered by community partners, library staff play a key role with on-site event support and promotion. Both Mt Albert and Mt Roskill libraries partnered with local migrant-led charitable organisation Earth Action Trust for fun street clean events to raise awareness around waste reduction and recycling. For the Mt Roskill session, native plant identification was also included in the event through an extended collaboration with the Migrant Programme Coordinator from Conservation Volunteers NZ.
Offering Te ao Māori workshops has been a focus for Mt Roskill Library in their annual Eco Festival with opportunities for the community to learn about the vital link between the health of Te Taiao and the health of people. For the 2023 Festival, artist and Kairaranga Ahi Nyx (Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Raukawa) led a four-hour workshop where 20 participants learned key principles and processes of raranga (weaving) and a hands-on experience weaving their very own set of paraerae (Māori sandals).
In 2024, Kairongoā Emma Haslam (Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Hauā) hosted a three-hour workshop delving into the key philosophies, principles, and processes of Rongoā Māori, traditional Māori healing practice. Both workshops were fully booked, and participant feedback was hugely positive, revealing a keen appetite from the community for Te ao Māori-centred programming for the festival.
ARE YOU INVOLVED IN CLIMATE ACTION IN YOUR MAHI?
The LIANZA Standing Committee on Climate Action want to hear about the climate action initiatives and projects happening in your library. Thank you to those who completed the survey in May. Your feedback will help us provide guidance and resources to the sector on climate action over the coming months and years.
Didn’t get a chance to answer the survey? No worries, we’re always keen to hear from you! Please reach out to us at [email protected].
In addition to offering physical spaces within and around their buildings to festival event hosts, the Albert-Eden and Puketāpapa community libraries draw on their existing community connections to design their library’s festival programming. Mt Roskill Library regularly partners with the Roskill Bike Hub and Puketāpapa Climate Action groups throughout the year, so reaching out to them to design Eco Festival events is par for the course.
For the second year running, Mt Roskill Library partnered with these two groups to run Climate Action Family Fun, a free Sunday afternoon event with various activities to get local families thinking about low-carbon alternatives and sustainable transport. These activities included e-cargo bike try-outs, free bike safety checks, and climate action sign painting for tamariki.
These kinds of partnerships and events raise community awareness around climate action and have real outcomes, says Richard Barter, chair of the Puketāpapa Active Transport Trust, who is behind the Roskill Bike Hub and Puketāpapa Climate Action. Richard explains that e-cargo bike try-outs have “resulted in families buying an e-cargo bike and not requiring that second car.” Similarly, workshops like the EcoPlay Challenge facilitated by local sustainability coach Janani Mohanakrishnan use real stories and fun games to outline the simple changes people can make to lower their household carbon emissions, with participants leaving having committed to taking on one action.
While most events are designed and delivered by community partners, library staff play a key role with on-site event support and promotion. Both Mt Albert and Mt Roskill libraries partnered with local migrant-led charitable organisation Earth Action Trust for fun street clean events to raise awareness around waste reduction and recycling. For the Mt Roskill session, native plant identification was also included in the event through an extended collaboration with the Migrant Programme Coordinator from Conservation Volunteers NZ.
Offering Te ao Māori workshops has been a focus for Mt Roskill Library in their annual Eco Festival with opportunities for the community to learn about the vital link between the health of Te Taiao and the health of people. For the 2023 Festival, artist and Kairaranga Ahi Nyx (Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Raukawa) led a four-hour workshop where 20 participants learned key principles and processes of raranga (weaving) and a hands-on experience weaving their very own set of paraerae (Māori sandals).
In 2024, Kairongoā Emma Haslam (Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Hauā) hosted a three-hour workshop delving into the key philosophies, principles, and processes of Rongoā Māori, traditional Māori healing practice. Both workshops were fully booked, and participant feedback was hugely positive, revealing a keen appetite from the community for Te ao Māori-centred programming for the festival.
ARE YOU INVOLVED IN CLIMATE ACTION IN YOUR MAHI?
The LIANZA Standing Committee on Climate Action want to hear about the climate action initiatives and projects happening in your library. Thank you to those who completed the survey in May. Your feedback will help us provide guidance and resources to the sector on climate action over the coming months and years.
Didn’t get a chance to answer the survey? No worries, we’re always keen to hear from you! Please reach out to us at [email protected].
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