Young thinkers solve problems

A group of young Manawatu¯ thinkers have tackled some of New Zealand’s social and environmental problems as part of the Social Experiment.

Twenty people from Manawatu¯ took part in the Social Experiment workshop at The Factory in Palmerston North, where they came up with ways to create solutions to problems facing New Zealand.

On the agenda was reducing single-use plastic, increasing community belonging, and giving young people access in schools to more leaders and hauora – the Ma¯ ori philosophy of health and wellbeing.

The group formed teams for the issues they wanted to solve and came up with ideas about how to do so, creating business models for their solutions.

At the end of the weekend workshop, the participants committed to work with other organisations also involved with solving the problems.

Massey University student Ngahuia Kirton was one of the scholarship awardees and she said the scholarship gave the group an opportunity they otherwise wouldn’t have had.

‘‘Social Experiment opened my mind to a completely new way of thinking and framing issues, and played a huge part in giving me the strength and knowledge I need to create real change in my life and my community,’’ she said.

The Social Experiment’s cofounder Hannah Wrathall said it was a priority to create equal opportunity for young New Zealanders to voice their opinions and create solutions for local and national issues.