NEXT Foundation Review

NEXT was launched with the vision of creating a legacy of environmental and educational excellence for the benefit of future generations of Aotearoa New Zealanders.


New Funding for a Predator Free NZ

Predator Free 2050 Ltd has announced new funding available for some regions, and for developing new predator free tools and technologies.


Sir David Attenborough Gives PFNZ2050 the Thumbs Up

Iconic environmentalist Dir David Attenborough has given New Zealand’s ambitious plans to become Predator Free the the thumbs up – telling our Prime Minister Jacinda Arden that the “knees of rats shake when New Zealand is near.


Project Janszoon Under The Spotlight During Royal Visit

NEXT environmental initiative Project Janszoon – which
is restoring the biodiversity in the Abel Tasman National
Park- came in for special attention this week when A list
royals Prince Harry and his new wife Meghan visited the
Park.


Rat Cunning in the Capital

Are rats using storm water drains to get around Wellington? That report and more updates in the latest edition of a Predator Free Wellington’s newsletter.

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No Rat is Safe in Wellington – Not Even in Student Flats

Wellington city is on a mission to become the first
Predator Free City in the world – and no rat is safe-
not even in student flats! A group called Traplordz
has been formed to tackle the rats in students flats-
as this report in Stuff explains.


NBR Puts Spotlight on NZ Philanthropy Sector

Philanthropy plays a crucial part in improving New Zealand society, with private funds stepping in to ease the country’s shortfalls. But what entices people to give away large chunks of their money, and how is the sector evolving?


Major Funding Boost For Predator Free Wellington

Predator Free Wellington’s vision to be
the first capital city in the world to be
Predator Free got a boost this week –
to the tune of $3.2million.
Predator Free NZ 2050 Ltd announced
the financial support to the initiative
founded two years ago by NEXT, the
Wellington City Council and the Greater
Wellington Regional Council.


Mount Aspiring College Teacher Wins Bright Spots Award

The Education Hub has announced Mount
Aspiring College teacher Chris Waugh has
won one of its Bright Spots Awards for innovative
teaching practice. The Wanaka Sun reports
on the details of the award – which NEXT funds.


Gisborne Boys High Teacher Wins NEXT Funded Bright Spots Award

Gisborne Boys High School Head of
Science Darcy Fawcett has been named
one of the winners of The Education Hub’s
Bright Spots Awards. Darcy has developed
a data interpretation tool to determine if teachers improvements
in practice are effective.


Omata School Children Help Locate Predators At Taranaki Mounga Project

A group of school children from Omaha
School west of New Plymouth are playing
detectives to help the Taranaki Mounga project. They are
trawling through hours of video footage to help
locate where the predators are – so the
Taranaki Mounga team know where
to target their trapping efforts.


NEXT Funded Bright Spots Awards for Innovative Teaching Announced

A group of Taupo teachers developing a programme to encourage young Māori women to enrol in STEM subjects and a Christchurch primary school designing an oral language programme for new entrants are among the winners of The Education Hub’s inaugural Bright Spots Awards, funded by NEXT Foundation, announced today.


Kea World Class NZ – Full List of Winners

Philanthropy, arts, science and technology – Kea has published it’s full list
of winners of the 2018 World Class NZ awards – where NEXT founders
Neal and Annette Plowman took out the Supreme Award.


NEXT Executive Pay Tribute to Neal and Annette Plowman

NEXT Founding Chair Chris Liddell, CEO Bill Kermode, the Board and the Plowman family
have paid tribute to NEXT founders Neal and Annette Plowman, upon the announcement
they are joint recipients of the 2018 Kea World Class New Zealand Supreme Award.


Closing the ZIP on Possums

Wilderness magazine reports on the latest
innovations from NEXT supported Zero Invasive
Predators, and how they are applying new
tools and techniques to eradicating
predators from a test site in Perth
Valley, Westland.


NEXT/ The Mind Lab Collaboration to Upskill Teachers in Technology

“It’s a privilege to be able to support
teachers who want to better prepare our
future generations of New Zealanders –
there’s no more impactful place to invest in
education,” NEXT CEO Bill Kermode reflects
on the foundation’s investment in upskilling
teachers in technology through The Mind Lab.


Taranaki Region Receives $11m from PFNZ 2050 Ltd to Become First Predator Free Region

A large-scale predator project, the biggest of its kind in New Zealand, was launched in Taranaki today supported by more than $11 million from the Government.
Taranaki aims to be the first predator-free region in the country under the project, called Taranaki Taku Tūranga – Our Place, Towards a Predator-Free Taranaki and is led by the Taranaki Regional Council.


Plowman Medal Awarded to NEXT Champion Frank Janssen

NEXT champion Frank Janssen has been awarded the Plowman medal for his
generous contribution to NEXT’s education
investments. Thank you Frank for your valuable
insights – straight talking – and your philosophy
of giving back.


The Power of Two: ZIP Chief Executive, Al Bramley, on the DOC/NEXT Collaboration

Zero Invasive Predators Chief Executive, Al Bramley, shares his insights on the Power of Two – the collaboration
between the Department of Conservation and NEXT
to form ZIP.

Al details the journey of ZIP as it
develops tools and techniques to remove predators
from the mainland – and shares his belief that the PFNZ 2050 will
happen – but it will take the power of many.


NEXT Celebrates Four Years – Update on EOI Process

NEXT Foundation is celebrating four years since its launch in 2014 – and now supports sixteen environmental and education initiatives.

Thirteen of those investments have been made since the foundation’s inception – and three are continuing support for projects started before NEXT’s launch.


NEXT Supports Bright Spots Awards for Teachers

“The Bright Spots Awards are another opportunity for us to support examples of excellence in practice in New Zealand education. We are delighted to be able to partner with The Education Hub in them,” NEXT CEO Bill Kermode commenting on the new awards for teacher innovation, supported by NEXT.


NEXT Expert Teacher Awards Announced

Two teachers have been selected as the
winners of the NEXT Expert Teacher Award
at the Mind Lab by Unitec Postgraduate Certificate
in Applied Practice graduation held this week.


WHIO Census at Taranaki Mounga

Department of Conservation rangers and their conservation dogs
Tai and Marti have been conducting their own census – counting
endangered whio ducklings at the NEXT supported environmental
initiative Taranaki Mounga.


The Mind Lab launches Digital Passport for Teachers with NEXT Support

The Mind Lab by Unitec has launched a new
education platform today to enable teachers to develop the skills and understanding to
deliver the new digital technologies curriculum. NEXT is supporting the new
Digital Passport initiative as a natural progression from its investment in sponsoring
teachers to undertake The Mind Lab’s postgraduate technology qualification.


Mainland Predator Eradication Project Planned for Perth River

A new predator control project is in the pipeline which
could be significant in New Zealand’s ambitous goal to
be Predator Free by 2050. NEXT supported Zero Invasive
Predators is planning an intensive operation near Whataroa – where
the Perth River could act as a natural barrier to keep predators
out – forever.


Tai – Secret Canine Weapon at Taranaki Mounga Project

Tai has been successfully sniffing out whio in Taranaki. He is one of the first Conservation Dogs certified to locate whio in the region and has helped to locate a record number of 64 whio chicks on eight rivers this season.


Seven Sharp Profiles The Summer Learning Journey

More than 500 primary and
intermediate schoolchildren from
low decile Manaiakalani schools have
been blogging over the holidays under
the NEXT supported Summer Learning
Journey. Seven Sharp journalist Michael Holland caught
up with two girls from St Pius X school in
Auckland to check out what the programme and
the “summer slump” is all
about.


The Tomorrow Accord – The Shape of Conservation to Come

“The Tomorrow Accord has emerged as a
blueprint for private/public conservation that
is … probably here to stay”. Wilderness
magazine reports on the groundbreaking
agreement between the Government and
NEXT Foundation to ensure environmental
gains are guaranteed by future governments.


NEXT and Play it Strange – travelling side by side for a better NZ

“I learnt classical music so I could get out of study and hide in the music rooms…” Mike Chunn – friend of NEXT, music mentor and Play it Strange Trust CEO
takes us back to where his passion for music began – how Split Enz was born –
and how NEXT and his music charity are travelling side by side
for a better New Zealand.


Mount Taranaki Granted Same Legal Rights As A Person

The NZ Government has granted the iconic
Taranaki mountain a “legal personality.” The Chairman of
the NEXT supported Taranaki Mounga project; and Chief negotiator
for the Taranaki iwi Jamie Tuuta has described it as “significant to
Maori people nationwide.


Project Janszoon Annual Report

Project Janszoon; a NEXT supported environmental initiative
restoring Abel Tasman National Park, has
published its 2017 annual report.

Click here to read the report.


Project Janszoon Celebrates Five Years

Project Janszoon – a NEXT environmental
initiative is celebrating its fifth anniversary.
The project is a collaboration between the
Department of Conservation; The Abel Tasman Birdsong Trust
iwi and community to restore the Abel Tasman National
Park.


Summer Learning Journey Boosted by NEXT Foundation

“Summer Learning Journey is an excellent example of a well structured education innovation with robust evidence and a scalable model,” – NEXT CEO Bill Kermode in the NZ Herald, in a report about NEXT’s latest education investment.


NEXT announces new Education Investment in Summer Learning Journey

A blogging programme for school children – to help them maintain academic grades over the summer holidays – is to expand significantly with support from NEXT Foundation.

The Summer Learning Journey has been developed through a partnership with Manaiakalani teachers and the Woolf Fisher Research Centre at the University of Auckland to counter the “Summer Slump” – where school students can lose a year or more of their academic progress in writing when they break for the six-week summer holiday.


Collaboration in Action on Taranaki Mounga

Taranaki Mounga is gradually
being brought back to life – He Kawa Ora.
The NEXT supported project is large scale and ambitious –
but all parts of the community are collaborating
to slowly turn the vision
into reality.


Zero Invasive Predators Trial in South Westland

NEXT supported environmental
initiative ZIP has had some great
success in a predator eradication
trial in South Westland.
The aim was to rid the area completely
of rats and possums using a modified
method of aerial predator control.


NEXT announces new education investment in SPACE

NEXT Foundation has announced it is investing in an educational support programme for new parents and their babies – SPACE.SPACE for you and your baby is a programme run through early childhood education and community organisations offering parent education, parent support and community connectedness.


Eradication Nation

“If any country can pull off an eradication blitzkrieg
New Zealand can..” International recognition for
New Zealand’s ambitious Predator free 2050 goal
in an article in bioGraphic, part of the California
Academy of Science.


Rotoroa Island at the Vanguard of Conservation – Philippe Cousteau

NEXT environmental initiative Rotoroa
Island has been praised by visiting filmmaker
and conservationist Philippe Cousteau as being
at “the vanguard of conservation”.
Cousteau – grandson of environmental icon
Jacques Cousteau – was visiting the island
to film a programme for Xploration Station.


Ngā Pūmanawa e Waru recognised as finalist in Rotorua Westpac Business Excellence Awards

The NEXT supported education initiative
Ngā Pūmanawa e Waru was recently
selected as a finalist for the prestigious
Rotorua Westpac Business Excellence Awards.

The Rotorua district-wide initiative brings together the best of teacher practice coupled with an appropriate future focused learning pedagogy with the endorsement and support from parents, caregivers, community, business and iwi.


Cacophony Project Update


In this newsletter – The Cacophony Project reveals developments with a high resolution heat camera to better detect predators. It’s part of its mission to bring information technology into predator management.


Collaboration key to Predator Free NZ


Naturalist and environmental advocate Ruud Kleinpaste talks to NewstalkZB about how collaboration is the key for a Predator Free NZ. NEXT Predator Free Community Champion Kelvin Hastie and the Wellington City Predator Free Project come in for special mention.


Kiwi release and monitoring on Taranaki Mounga

Taranaki Mounga and Taranaki Kiwi Trust have teamed
up to give kiwis released onto the Mounga a better
chance of survival.
As this video shows, some of the kiwis released onto the Mounga this month have been fitted with transmitters
for better protection.


Springboard celebrates ten years.

One of the education initiatives NEXT
Invests in – Springboard Trust – is celebrating its 10th birthday.
Springboard offers strategic leadership advice to school principals and in the video below its Chairman Ian Narev outlines its success over the past decade.


Zero Invasive Predators Update – Annual Report 2017

New innovations in possum trapping,
rat detection and new prescriptions for
1080 are highlighted in the ZIP annual
report published this week.
NEXT invests in ZIP – which
is at the forefront of developing new technology
to assist with the challenge of New Zealand
being Predator Free by 2050.


Takahē population reaches 300

The endangered takahē – once thought to
be extinct, has now reached a population of 300.
Radio NZ reports on the history and recovery efforts
of this unique species.
NEXT’s environmental initiative Rotoroa Island is home
to a breeding pair of takahē and a chick as part of an innovative
conservation programme between DOC, Auckland Zoo and Rotoroa Island.


NEXT Expert Teacher Award winners announced

Sandy Bornholdt from Mt Manganui’s Te Kura o Matapihi has been recognised as the country’s top digital teacher, winning the prestigious NEXT Expert Teacher Award at The Mind Lab by Unitec’s graduation in Auckland last week.


September 2017

In the NEXT September Newsletter we highlight our education investment in the First 1000 days
with an opinion piece from the Children’s Commissioner; and some technology trials in Talking Matters.
We also bring you an environmental update from Project Janszoon and introduce some young Canterbury songwriters
in our Meet the Musicians series.