2010/11 Programme

Projects

Auckland Virtual Volunteering

There are numerous not-for-profit organisations in Auckland serving a myriad of charitable and social purposes. The skills shortage is felt as keenly in this sector as it is in the commercial environment. The aim of Auckland Virtual Volunteering (AVV) is to engage online volunteers working to benefit not-for-profit organisations (NFPs) through completing skills-based tasks or objective-based assignments, using their particular expertise. Volunteers build capacity for NFPs in short bursts of effort, at times, in locations and in a manner that suits their lifestyle.

Auckland Virtual Volunteering delivers an internet solution enabling Auckland’s not-for-profit sector to publish on line challenges to solicit responses from professional volunteers with skills to match.

The team made use of an existing professional networking tool, LinkedIn, adapting the technology to meet the project requirements. They created a closed group of volunteers and not-for-profit organisations who could connect to post and answer challenges. They enticed over 100 volunteers from right across the spectrum who helped complete 8 unique challenges within the project timeline, from 6 unique NFPs. The LinkedIn Group remains open with more challenges set to be posted in 2012.

The team are continuing to build on the quality of the solution and have developed a strong partnership with Volunteering Auckland and Volunteering New Zealand who share the vision to turn the project into a permanent service offering for their members. The next phase for the AVV team is to identify a technology partner capable of developing a bespoke solution to benefit NFP organisations country-wide.

Playing in the Streets

The project was inspired by international cities such as Bogota, New York and Copenhagen which have successfully opened streets to people rather than cars over the last twenty years. Auckland’s bias towards cars has negatively affected the quality of street life for pedestrians and resulted in our children being barely present in the life of our city. In 2010 a study of the public life in Auckland measured children playing as 1% of the total activity on the city’s streets.

The Playing in the Streets project sought to change this by creating safe spaces in the city for children, young people and adults. The intention was to build a relationship between young people, the city and its businesses. The pilot project was a day event that closed part of Queen St and its adjacent side streets to cars, thus allowing Aucklanders to play sport, walk, cycle, dance, picnic and socialise between the kerbs. The intention was to demonstrate the social, cultural, environmental and importantly the economic benefits to retailers by providing a new destination for Aucklanders in the city on a Sunday. In addition the temporal nature of the event meant that for a small cost, and no physical changes to the street, Aucklanders would be introduced to the potential benefits of pedestrianising sections of Queen St.

The first Playing in the Streets event was launched in Queen St on Sunday 19th February 2012. Queen St was transformed into a park in the heart of the city, a festival of sport where children kicked soccer balls between the kerbs, kids tested their bike skills, and the streets were filled with the sounds of laughter and music. A unique event was created and Auckland’s urban landscape was transformed by 10,000 children and adults playing in the streets.

The aim of the pilot event was to test the feasibility and showcase the benefits for Aucklanders of opening streets to people rather than cars. In the medium term the aspiration is that Playing in the Streets becomes a regular event in Auckland’s CBD calendar. The concept was specifically developed so the event content could be flexible: dance, street art, music, theatre and other forms of entertainment that can be hosted in Auckland’s streets. In time the project could become a model for other centres around Auckland, bringing life, laughter and people into the streets to celebrate and enjoy our unique city. Our hope is that the project fosters civic pride and social connections between our young people and the city, and that the benefits will be felt by both over many years.

Project Greenwall - 90 Degree Vert

Vertical Gardens or green walls are described as ‘living pieces of art’ that transform urban environments from ‘concrete jungles’ to lush environmentally and aesthetically improved urban landscapes. This concept has been developed internationally and aims to improve urban aesthetics, enhance existing tourism assets and improve biodiversity in the CBD.

The 90DegreeVert Project Group worked with Greenroofs New Zealand and international company Maccaferri to create a vertical garden on the concrete balustrade wall of the Ellen Melville hall in Freyberg Place, Central Auckland.

The team also partnered with Auckland Council’s Environmental Education team through their Enviroschools programme to educate school students on green walls and involve them in the planting of the wall, as well as working alongside nursery staff from Ngati Whatua who advised on local native plant species, grew the seedlings, and hosted a planting day for the wall.

The 20 square metre green wall will include more than 1000 plants at an estimated cost of around $24,000. Final funding was secured from Fuji Xerox and Waitemata District Board on November 8th and the installation of the green wall in Freyberg Place will commence in February 2012.

It is the shared hope of the 90DegreeVert team and Auckland Council that other commercial building owners and corporate citizens based in the central city will emulate this project and look for new urban landscapes to improve with green walls.

Waterfront Walk

Auckland’s Waitemata harbour is one of our most advantaged assets. This legacy project aims to develop a Waterfront Walk between the Ferry Buildings on Quay Street all the way to Mission Bay and beyond, with points of interest highlighted en route. The Waterfront Walk is promoted via an informative and pictorial brochure, available from information stands in the CBD, as well as via a website. The long term vision for the Waterfront Walk is to create established stations along its route, featuring a combination of local art, installations depicting historic events, geographical features or reference points, and will also showcase New Zealand colloquialisms. In the future the walk will feature two permanent sculptures; at Teal Park (owned by Auckland Council) and at Okahu Bay (owned by Ngati Whatua o Orakei).

The group launched the ‘Waterfront Walk Brochure’ in November 2011 which was very well received and went into a reprint (46,000 copies!) for the Ports of Auckland ‘Round the Bays’ Marathon in 2012.

The group has also made submissions on the City Centre Master Plan, Auckland Spatial Plan and the Waterfront Development Plan in support of a waterfront walk and continues to monitor progress of these submissions, particularly as the various plans are finalised.

It is hoped the project will continue to develop and grow under the stewardship of Waterfront Auckland, Orakei Community Board and Auckland Council, to fulfil the original vision.