Seismics and the City 2016 was held on Friday 18 March at Rydges Latimer in Christchurch. The theme was Shaping Canterbury’s Future Now – Collaboration, Regeneration & Innovation.

The forum was the fifth in a unique cross-sector series involving representatives of public, private and community sector organisations and interested individuals sharing their visions and voicing their concerns and solutions for creating a vibrant, 21st century city in a prosperous region.

It was an opportunity to look back and reflect on the lessons of the last five years and to look forward and be part of the early engagement with the new post-quakes entities Regenerate Christchurch and Otakaro Limited.

The ninth annual Education Leaders Forum was held at Waipuna Hotel and Conference Centre, Auckland on 25 and 26 August 2015. It was for education leaders and aspiring leaders from across the learning spectrum from early childhood to tertiary education and education stakeholders.

With the twin themes of Brain Changing & Mind Shifting – Neuroscience insights into learning and leading ELF15 focused on state of the science research and learning practices for boosting student achievement and effective leadership strategies for facilitating learning culture change with maximum engagement and minimum resistance.

There are important implications for all learners, not just those with disabilities, in a better understanding by all educators of new neuroscience and the general principles and specific practices of brain plasticity which assist learners strengthen weak cognitive capacities underlying learning dysfunctions through a programme of specific cognitive exercises.

The 4th annual Seismics and the City conference was held on 27 March at Rydges Latimer Conference Centre. It was a timely forum for representatives of public, private and community sector organisations and interested individuals engaged in the rebuilding of Greater Christchurch in the wake of the earthquakes of 2010-11.

The 2015 theme was Creating a Greater Christchurch – Sketching the Bigger Picture. It connected the dots on a broad canvas and fill in the bigger picture of recovery and renewal as rebuild momentum gathers pace. It also provided rare opportunities for cross sector feedback, input and knowledge sharing to enhance the quality of high level strategic planning and implementation. The direction of the recovery is as important as the speed.