Latest News & Resources
Growing Food in the Southern Lakes - August Edition: Seeds, Spuds & Scavengers
Growing food in the Southern Lakes is a shared effort. Sixteen growers, foragers, and food-lovers from SLKC and local food growers are pooling what actually works in our climate, so beginners can start with confidence.
For August, we're covering seed raising, potato varieties, and what to sow and plant out this month. We'll show you how to garden alongside Central Otago's rabbits, from plant choices to fencing, how to identify chickweed and what to do with it, and share two recipes: sauerkraut and yoghurt flatbreads.
Growing Food in Southern Lakes - July Edition: raised beds, manures and perennial propagation
Growing food in the Southern Lakes just got easier. Fifteen local growers are teaming up with Wao each month to share what actually works in our climate, helping beginners get started with confidence. This month we discuss how to build a raised garden bed, using animal manures, propagating perennial plants and seed raising basics.
Growing Food in Southern Lakes - June Edition: build a compost, improve your soil, plant garlic.
Growing food in the Southern Lakes just got easier. Fifteen local growers are teaming up with Wao each month to share what actually works in our climate, helping beginners get started with confidence. This month we discuss how to setup a compost, improve your soil and grow garlic.
Growing Food in Southern Lakes - May Edition: Build Soil, Save Seeds, Prepare for Spring
Growing food in the Southern Lakes just got easier. Fifteen local growers are teaming up with Wao each month to share what actually works in our climate, helping beginners get started with confidence. Up first: Build Soil, Save Seeds, Prepare for Spring.
Critical Materials and Why They Matter
At every step, fossil fuel is embedded in our industrial system. It is both a critical material in itself (think plastics and fertiliser) as well as an enabler for other critical materials. From the diggers getting the raw materials out of the ground, to the ships and trucks used to transport it to get refined, almost everything we touch has been shaped by oil.
Wao Green Drinks Recorded Session: Resilience Response with Nathan Surendran
Recorded Session: Global instability is no longer a distant threat, it’s already reshaping life here in Aotearoa. In this recorded Wao Green Drinks session, Nathan Surendran breaks down what’s coming and, more importantly, how communities like ours can respond with clarity, confidence, and practical action.
Understanding the Energy System We Built Our World On, and What Comes Next.
We’ve built our modern world on something we rarely stop to think about - energy. Cheap, abundant, and reliable energy has shaped how we live, move, build, and grow. But the conditions that created that world are changing.
Fuel, Food, Climate and the Fragility of Our System
Fuel, food, and climate are colliding in ways that are exposing just how fragile our current system is. This piece breaks down what’s happening, why it matters for Aotearoa New Zealand, and, most importantly, what we can do to build resilience in the face of growing uncertainty.
Wānaka organisations unite to strengthen community resilience amid global uncertainty.
A cross-sector group of community leaders, businesses, and local government representatives gathered at the Wānaka Community Hub last week to discuss how global instability