The NZRA Recreation Conference is the premier event on the professional development and networking calendar for recreation professionals. The 2017 Recreation Conference will be held from 8–9 November at the TSB Showplace in New Plymouth, with optional field trips on Friday 10 November.

NZRA believes recreation creates great New Zealanders. Our vision is that New Zealanders are active, healthy, and connected through recreation. The NZRA Recreation Conference helps to realise this vision by looking to the horizon to understand future New Zealanders and their future recreation needs and wants.

The Recreation Conference will provoke discussion on the global/local issues that will impact our future participants and our society. We are currently working on a conference programme that highlights trends and issues and shows case studies and developments within all sectors of recreation and we look forward to sharing it with you soon. Registration for this event will open on 18 August, but first we wanted to highlight a couple of the fantastic speakers that we have lined up.

Gerrard Albert


Ngā Tāngata Tiaki o Whanganui - Fought over, debated and litigated for more than a century and a half, the Whanganui River’s post-colonial story represents a litany of missed opportunities by national and local law makers to respect the Te Ati Haunui a Paparangi primary relationship with the River as a living, integrated and indivisible whole. The river can now speak for itself. Where might this approach lead us, and what inspiration can it draw from and bring to other river communities globally?

Gerrard Albert is the Chair of Ngā Tāngata Tiaki o Whanganui, the post-settlement governance body for Whanganui Iwi for the purpose of the Whanganui River Settlement. He had a lead role in the Treaty settlement negotiations with the Crown in relation to the Wai 167 Whanganui River Claim, which culminated in the signing of Ruruku Whakatupua, the Whanganui River Deed of Settlement.

Drs Sarah Hillyer and Ashleigh Huffman


Thinking Global and Acting Local: Empowering Tomorrows Leaders to Tackle the Challenges of Today - Describes the use of sport based development to tackle some of the world’s most complex problems. Examples from volatile, post-conflict and disaster regions of the world that build local leaders to make a positive difference in local communities.

An international sports consultant with more than twenty years of experience, Sarah Hillyer works to promote peace, empowerment, and diplomacy for girls, women, refugees, and persons with disabilities around the world. Ashleigh Huffman has worked on sports projects with women, girls, refugees, and persons with disabilities in post-conflict and post-disaster communities all over the globe.

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