Excellence Award winners

The Hurunui District Council Coastal Conversations Project focuses on 6 small beach communities and how each community in the District will take control of their future and how, as a community, they will adapt to the changing hazard risk over...

Buzzly is Aotearoa’s digital youth engagement and insights platform, specifically designed to bridge the gap between young people and local government. Developed collaboratively by Auckland Council, Datacom, AWS, and Mission Ready HQ, Buzzly transforms traditional youth consultations into interactive, and...

In a historic moment for Aotearoa, Taupō District Council and Ngāti Tūwharetoa have further strengthened their partnership and connection by coming together in one purpose-built whare ‘He Whare Hono ō Tūwharetoa’. This landmark three-story whare stands as a testament to...

Hurunui District Council manages 17 water schemes with 26 water sources spread across a district of 8,641 km2. With around 14,000 residents, the district has the 6th lowest population density of any local authority in New Zealand. In 2015, the...

Predator Free Wellington (PFW) is a groundbreaking initiative with the ambitious goal of making Wellington the world's first predator-free capital city by eradicating rats, stoats, weasels and possums. This innovative project is a collaboration between Wellington City Council, Greater Wellington...

Whakatāne District Council has reimagined work. What began as a building refurbishment in response to required earthquake strengthening work resulted in a seismic shift in how we work. We realised changing how we work actually changes how we live. And...

Rotorua has a rich history as one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s key tourism destinations, a title that our community has been proud to hold for many generations. Our unique natural environment and Māori culture are fundamental to the experience for...

Helping flood-devastated homeowners get their lives back on track following Cyclone Gabrielle drove the Hastings and Napier Voluntary Buy-out Programme, a pioneering model for disaster recovery in New Zealand. The country's first ‘Locally led – Crown and Council funded’ approach...

Following the Tairāwhiti flood event in March 2022, which revealed coordination challenges due to a lack of situational awareness, the Tairawhiti Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) team initiated an innovative project to improve situational awareness and set up a common...

Te Rere o Ōmanawa – Ōmanawa Falls is a $9 million project which has featured a unique level of co-design and collaboration between the project partners. The physical aspects of the project provide a track through the Puwhenua forest, with...

Re-creating the heart of Ashburton through the Te Whare Whakatere and Baring Square East project has created a new community hub housing the Ashburton District Council's civic and administrative functions, as well as the library. The building and surrounding area...

Local elections are the chance for our residents to choose the future of the New Plymouth District. Local representatives make decisions that, arguably, have the most immediate effects on our residents day-to-day lives. Historically, that importance has not been reflected...

Waiaroha is home to a state-of-the-art water treatment plant, built right in the city centre, that supplies clean, safe drinking water to Hastings. But it is so much more than that... The discovery centre and its landscaping are fully focused...

As part of Taupō District Council’s commitment to the provision of social services in the district, a project to rebuild Waiora House, a social services hub and affordable home to a number of not-for-profit organisations, was initiated. The project involved...

Cyclone Gabrielle left Wairoa alone and isolated. The district had no communication, limited electricity supply and was regionally isolated by road for five days. The only way to communicate with hundreds of flood-impacted whānau was by distributing A4 hardcopy information...