Building for soil health

The importance of soil in urban design is being explored in the next He Whakawhiti Kōrero Christchurch Conversations.

Building for Soil Health hosted by Te Pūtahi Centre for Architecture and City Making will examine the practices, design choices and strategies that support soil health and, in turn, that of other living things in our neighbourhoods.

The Christchurch Conversations discussion is being held on Tuesday 26 November from 6-7.30pm in Tūranga’s TSB space.

“Soil health is of critical importance to ecologies that support and sustain life, even in the context of a city. In te ao Māori, this understanding is deeply embedded in knowledge and practices,” Te Pūtahi Director Dr Jessica Halliday said.

“Knowing soil’s importance to the wellbeing of living systems, it follows that we should be making soil health a key part of how we build our cities. After all, urban systems and living systems are also interrelated.”

The potential for soil to improve the health of our urban spaces and what this positive transformation might look like will be discussed by the featured speakers:  kaupapa Māori researcher, activist and hua parakore grower Jessica Hutchings (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Huirapa, Gujarati) and Director at The Urbanist and Associate Director of Design, School of Architecture and Planning at the University of Auckland Zoë Avery.

The event will also feature a panel discussion and Q & A chaired by Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at Canterbury University Sacha McMeeking (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Mutunga), and end with some  soil-inspired words from multidisciplinary storyteller Juanita Hepi (Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngātiwai, Ngāpuhi).

This is a free public event, but bookings are required. You can join us in person or online.

The Christchurch Conversations 2024 programme is supported by the Christchurch City Council through the Sustainability Fund and has the curatorial support of Amanda Yates from AUT He Puna Ora Regenerative Action Lab.