Aotearoa New Zealand is becoming one of the most diverse countries in the world. Diversity enriches our communities with new perspectives, cultures, languages and ways of understanding the world. It fosters creativity, innovation and connection, helping create vibrant places where people can thrive.

Yet diversity alone does not guarantee belonging.

As our communities become more diverse, we are challenged to think differently about social cohesion, participation and identity. How do we build trust across differences? How do we create shared experiences while honouring the uniqueness of each culture? And how do we ensure that growing diversity strengthens our communities rather than fragments them?

These are some of the defining questions facing Aotearoa today.

To explore these questions, Christchurch City Council and Leadership Lab are partnering to host Multicultural Ōtautahi: A Collective Imagination Hui. 

The hui will open with a keynote presentation from economist and commentator Shamubeel Eaqub, who will share insights from the Helen Clark Foundation’s Social Cohesion Report 2026.

Shamubeel’s contribution will ground the conversation in evidence followed by mana whenua and tangata whenua responses from Eruera Prendergast-Tarena and Atarau Hamilton, while opening space for reflection on what these changes mean in our local context.

This is not a typical workshop. It is an opportunity to listen, to reflect on lived experience, and to engage with others across differences. It is an invitation to pause and consider not only where we are, but who we want to become as a city – creating space to collectively imagine the future of a multicultural Ōtautahi and the role each of us can play in bringing it to life. 

Event Details:

Multicultural Ōtautahi: A Collective Imagination Hui
Saturday 29 August, 9.00am–2.30pm
Multicultural Centre

Register: forms.office.com/r/SuzitmXDRj

About the Facilitator:

Erica Austin (she/her) is a #ChChAmbassador, designer, leadership consultant, Next Generation Foresight Practitioner NGFP 2026 Fellow, community strategist, and facilitator based in Aotearoa New Zealand. With a background in architecture, she brings over a decade of experience activating ideas, connecting people and places, and co-creating transformative experiences that spark belonging and possibility. As Senior Leadership Consultant and Impact Strategist at Leadership Lab and Kaiwhakahaere (CEO) of Ako Ōtautahi Learning City Christchurch, Erica applies systems thinking and participatory design to explore how communities thrive amid complex social and environmental change. She facilitates storytelling, scenario-building, and futures thinking workshops, guiding participants of all ages to creatively explore the worlds they want to live in.

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The conversation will not end on the day. Insights, questions and emerging ideas from the hui will help shape the Leaders for Equity Unconference, being hosted on 18 September. The Unconference will provide a further opportunity to deepen these conversations, explore emerging themes and identify practical pathways for collective action. 

You’re also invited to:

Friday 18 September, 9am-2:30pm | Leaders for Equity Unconference 2026

Click here for more information about Leaders for Equity Unconference 2026.