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Aho Tini
Aho Tini means the many threads that bind us to culture/ahurea, energy/te ngao – physical and non-physical (ngoi/korou), including aho-whenua (of land), aho-moana (of sea), aho-rangi (of sky), aho-toi (of the arts), aho-whanau (of family), and more.
The Aho Tini name incorporates ‘aho’ (the cross threads of weaving or a mat) and ‘tini’ (many) and expresses the “creative ecosystem” idea. “Aho Tini draws together the many strands of Wellington’s creative and cultural genius, and weaves them into something that is stronger, more powerful and more sustaining than they are in isolation.”
Ihirangi | Contents
To Matou Wawata – ta matou e kite ai | Our Vision – what we will see
The rich cultural traditions and identity of our capital city inspire our exciting and innovative arts, culture and creativity. Wellingtonians can access and participate in arts and culture, and explore their creativity.
Together, in partnership with the arts, culture and creative sectors and with mana whenua and Maori, creativity, collaboration and innovation are woven through everything we do.
He wa mo tetahi rautaki hou | Time for a new strategy
As arts, culture and creativity continue to enrich our lives, connect us and drive our economy, how we think about, create, share and experience arts and culture is evolving.
Our cityscape is changing. Venues that have been unavailable due to the Kaikoura earthquake are being strengthened. City infrastructure upgrades and intensification will affect the central city, and arts, culture and creativity will play an important part for our future city – compact, resilient, vibrant and prosperous, inclusive and connected, and greener and accessible.
The changing needs of Wellington’s increasingly diverse communities, new technological opportunities and the growing understanding of what it means to be a Tiriti partner make this the right time for a new strategy. Change has been accelerated by our local and international experience of the Covid-19 pandemic. We have a turning point and opportunity to embrace new trends while we continue to treasure and nurture what we value. Our arts and creative sector is keen to work with us and has generously contributed to the development of Aho Tini.
Now is the time to be bold. Our experience of the Covid-19 pandemic challenges us to think about how we express our arts, culture and creativity as a capital city of a Pacific nation in partnership with mana whenua and Maori. We can harness our renewed passion for creative experiences, strengthen our identity, and be transformative. We can use this passion to bring creatives, our national organisations and institutions together to work with central government to drive our creativity even further.
We have a turning point and opportunity to embrace new trends while we continue to treasure and nurture what we value.
Introducing Aho Tini 2030
This strategy combines the review of the 2011 Arts & Culture Strategy, together with the original Aho Tini principles (2018), to give new direction for cultural wellbeing for the city. Aho Tini 2030 will provide direction for the Council and Council Controlled Organisations (CCOs) in supporting cultural wellbeing, working alongside the many artists, creative industries, local organisations, national institutions and training organisations, cultural groups, friends and whanau that all play a part. The name Aho Tini was gifted by mana whenua to encompass this work.
This creative and collaborative approach will lead us through the next 10 years of innovation in Wellington. Drawing on the city’s strengths and traditions of creativity, the development of this strategy provides an opportunity to reflect on what the generations before us have laid down and plan how we want to work together for the future.
“In the arts, there is light, hope and breathtaking beauty in innovation, courage and creativity.” (Makerita Urale, Senior Manager, Pacific Arts Creative New Zealand)
Makerita reminds us of the power of the arts – and that the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic saw “award-winning Pasifika artists with international careers” packing shelves (Makerita Urale, Stuff, 31 Dec 2020). There are challenges for us in creating and setting off on our strategy path. Aho Tini 2030 encourages us to combine our talents and work together.
Wellingtonians love arts and culture
Arts, culture and creativity are important to Wellingtonians and give us a strong sense of identity. Residents are highly engaged and increasingly diverse. Our geographical intimacy and compact form encourage collaboration and innovation. The city attracts thinkers, creators and innovators with a strong creative industry presence and young people launching their careers. Wellington is home to significant national creative organisations and training institutions. Maintaining our city’s reputation for creativity and innovation is critical to attracting new artists, businesses and events, which will help us grow.
Wellington is a place to debate and express views on key issues, and to co-create with the strong creative, digital and public sectors. It is the place to experiment and push creative boundaries, and to take risks with contemporary, emerging, local, d/Deaf and disabled, and Maori and Pacific indigenous arts. Wellington is the place to bring communities together, draw in tourists and host big events and experiences.
The Council has responsibilities to support the social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing of Wellington under the Local Government Act 2002. The city is where we create, play, rehearse and perform, and express our cultural identities. Arts, culture and creativity help with healing, exploring complex issues, giving us a voice and connecting us together.
Collectively, the Wellington arts and creative sector comprises institutions, organisations, businesses, agencies, groups and individuals that connect with several million people each year, locally, nationally and internationally. They represent philosophies and activities that span creativity, the environment, and the intellect. They are sources of physical and mental wellbeing and actively connect people. Their work builds and reinforces community.
The arts and creative sector give shape to Wellington, its personality and ways that its citizens experience the world.
They shape understanding of the physical, bio-diverse landscape of the city; its cultural and creative life; the physical and digital engagement of our citizens. They represent experts and sources of knowledge which could lead our community into a more resilient, better future.
In shaping its arts, culture and creativity strategy, the Council is thinking about the widest definition of the ‘arts sector’ (and using that term interchangeably with ‘arts and creative sector’ throughout the strategy). Definitions vary across cultures, and include contemporary forms of practice alongside heritage forms, individual and community expression and creative industries, which span both purely commercial as well as subsidised forms of practice.
The arts sector is also part of a wider creative milieu. Art resources are not just specialist activities (art making) and outputs (artworks) developed and delivered within particular artforms. They include generic creativity, skills and talents central to all artforms and which underpin a vast array of creative activity.
Creativity and innovation are intrinsic to the sector. These abilities underpin and find expression in a variety of outlets or zones, including the traditional performing, visual and literary arts, film, fashion, landscape design, architecture and so on. These abilities are opening up new outlets both within the creative sector and in other sectors, including the commercial world.
We must also acknowledge how the landscape we operate in has, and continues to be, shaped by our continually changing cultural landscape. Artists and communities will continue to respond and react to this, and each decade opens up new pathways for thought, action, reinterpretation and redress.
Wellington is the home of arts, culture and events and the offering is exceptional and excellent.
Nga Aronga e Wha | Four Focus Areas
Four focus areas will direct the work of the Council to bring the vision to life.
These focus areas will also help to guide the work of Council Controlled Organisations such as Wellington Museum, City Gallery Wellington, CapitalE and WellingtonNZ.
In partnership with mana whenua, Maori, and central government, we will work with our communities, artists and creatives, local, regional and national organisations and institutions, to achieve our goals and bring creativity to everything we do.
Focus Area 1: Aho Tangata Our people – connected, engaged, inclusive, accessible communities.
Our communities are connected by diverse arts and cultural expression.
Focus Area 2: Aho Hononga Partnership with mana whenua and Maori.
We honour te Tiriti o Waitangi and the Council’s partnership with mana whenua in the outcomes we deliver.
Focus Area 3: Aho Whenua Our places, spaces and venues – our city is alive.
Our city is alive with the possibility of art around every corner.
Focus Area 4: Aho Mahi Pathways – successful arts and creative sector, and careers.
Wellington is an incredible place to create, live, learn and work.
Each focus area has approaches to realise our goals and actions to guide us toward success in our Action Plan, including what will be delivered and how. We will establish benchmarks in the first year to track and evaluate our progress.
Nga Haepapa a Te Kaunihera | The Council’s roles
The Council acts as provider, funder, partner, facilitator, advocate, and regulator to support cultural wellbeing. It acts alongside many other partners and players in this sector in Wellington including other government and non-government agencies that play a strong role in this area.
Provider
Providing a range of venues, community facilities, events, festivals, exhibitions and experiences, which bring to life:
- The city’s arts, culture and heritage taonga.
- Our public art programme and community art initiatives.
- Toi Poneke Arts Centre and City Art Collection.
As a provider we also:
- Directly organise major and community events and festivals through partnership arrangements.
- Provide most of the venue infrastructure for the performing arts, and operate as principal funder of museums, art galleries and other visitor attractions.
- Own and operate an extensive network of community centres, venues and libraries across the city, which welcome all citizens and their cultures.
- Provide support for the film sector.
- Provide advice on:
- How to drive urban development.
- Place management, interpretation and storytelling, public art.
- Use of language and symbols.
Creative expression is across the city, on the street, in communities and public spaces as well as in theatres, galleries and venues.
Funder
Funding grants to support a wide range of arts and cultural activities. In 2020/21, the Council had operating expenditure of $25 million and capital expenditure of approximately $50 million.
Partner
Working with other funders and leveraging expertise, philanthropic and commercial opportunities. Telling local stories through the UNESCO City of Film.
Facilitator
Supporting access to arts and culture, and opportunities such as international exchanges and residencies.
Fostering Wellington as a technological and creative hub.
Advocate
Influencing key government agencies, private sector and international partners.
Promoting Wellington to attract and retain talent, students, tourists and investment.
Regulator
Enforcing harm-protection bylaws.
Managing busking, street closures, safety and traffic to support festivals and other forms of cultural expression.
Nga Matapono | Principles
Alongside many others, the Council has a role in supporting cultural wellbeing. The Council will apply the following principles as we work to support cultural wellbeing.
We honour te Tiriti o Waitangi and the Council’s partnership with mana whenua and Maori in the outcomes we deliver. Nurturing and protecting cultural knowledge and skills is a responsibility under te Tiriti. Strong partnerships with mana whenua are fundamental to the success of this strategy and we will work with mana whenua and Maori to understand and achieve desired outcomes.
We ensure the foundations are in place for everyone to realise their aspirations. Foundations can be hard infrastructure (such as facilities and physical assets) or soft infrastructure (like people capabilities, information and programmes) and are resources which improve wellbeing.
We work creatively and collaboratively with others for our diverse communities. Arts, culture and creativity connect our communities and help us encourage pride in our diversity. The Council is just one entity and needs to work with others effectively to make things happen in the city. We want to be innovative and try new ways of working with the diverse populations in Wellington (including youth and seniors, Maori, Pacific peoples, other ethnic groups, d/Deaf, disabled and rainbow communities) in ways that work for them.
We invest to deliver measurable results across multiple outcomes (economic, social, environmental, cultural). Bringing a creative approach to everything we do ensures that we achieve multiple outcomes, challenging us to understand and respond to complex issues such as climate change. Seeking these multiple benefits in place management and placemaking brings creative vibrancy into our city.
We deliver outcomes to enhance the lives of current and future generations. This principle acknowledges that how we operate today impacts on outcomes for current and future generations. Applying this principle to our work means better engagement with young people to understand the longer- term consequences of decisions made today. Drawing on the diverse arts, cultures and creative expressions of our communities helps us plan for our future and respond to local and international challenges. Our places, spaces and people use arts, culture, creativity, and play to connect our communities across generations, supporting the transmission of knowledge and skills.
Aho Tini 2030 Mahere Kokiri | Action Plan
Actions to bring Aho Tini 2030 to life are outlined in the Aho Tini 2030 Action Plan. Implementation of the Action Plan will be done through collaboration. The plan includes actions to deliver on the strategy which are in varying stages of development and will be explored further with the arts and creative sector as we implement the plan.
Collaborative structure to drive Aho Tini 2030
The creative sector has contributed willingly and generously to shaping and sharpening Aho Tini 2030. We would like this connectivity to continue and propose to design this in collaboration with the sector. The breadth of the sector means any one committee will struggle to encompass a full and rich range of views.
Ultimately, Aho Tini Creative Sector Working Groups(s) will be asked to both champion the vision and explore trends, opportunities and partnerships.
It will bring Councillors, Council and CCO staff and the sector into a live discussion.
The Action Plan therefore includes the setting up of relationship infrastructure in the first year. This will facilitate our work and build on the collaborative energy which has supported the development of the strategy. The ways we support ongoing and productive relationships with the community and arts and creative sector will be co-designed together as requested. A mechanism to ensure that the aspirations of mana whenua are expressed through Aho Hononga will be created and these aspirations will be brought to the groups in the way determined by mana whenua.
The Action Plan for years 1-3 will be reviewed and updated in 2024.
Aronga 1 | Focus Area 1
Aronga 1: O matou tangata – He hapori honohono, whakarekareka, kaha whakaahei ano i te whai wahitanga o te tangata. Kua tuhonoa o tatou Hapori ki nga toi kanorau, me te whakaaturanga a-ahurea.
Focus Area 1: Aho Tangata Our people – connected, engaged, inclusive, accessible communities. Our communities are connected by diverse arts and cultural expression.
We are proud of our role as the nation’s capital of islands in the Pacific and the world. We want everyone to feel welcome to take part in our arts and culture. Our offerings will reflect our increasingly diverse communities, making everyone feel represented in our arts and cultural facilities and programmes. We will be innovative and engage with our diverse population (including youth and seniors, Maori, Pacific peoples and other ethnic groups, disabled people and people facing barriers to access, and rainbow communities) in ways that work for them. We will grow our use of art and cultural expression to address inequality and social issues. Our experiences will encourage and connect to our children and young people in schools and beyond.
Our communities will become more connected by arts and cultural expression, with strong local story telling. We will engage groups from diverse and under-represented communities to ensure they are reflected in arts and cultural events. We will be bold, experimental and responsive in our approach so that we can support artists to make work that challenges and inspires. We will continue to enable our communities to generate art and cultural expression in our central city and neighbourhoods, and encourage higher levels of participation and appreciation for arts, culture and event offerings. Communities will tell their stories through public art programmes that support cultural expression and we will value our diverse cultural traditions. We will use libraries and community infrastructure to support digital inclusion in Wellington.
Focus Area 1 - Approaches
- Reflect the increasing diversity of our communities and encourage access, availability and participation in arts and culture.
- Celebrate nga toi Maori and te reo Maori with Wellington communities.
- Enhance local vibrancy for, and with, communities in the central city and neighbourhoods.
Focus Area 1 - What we’ll see
- Wellington as New Zealand’s most creative city.
- Contracted and funded activities increasingly reflect population diversity.
- Audience and participation reflect our diverse communities.
- Creative vibrancy in city and neighbourhoods.
- People with disabilities or barriers to participation can access and engage in arts and culture.
Case Study 1: Kotahi, Waitangi Day Festival in Strathmore
Supported by the Arts and Culture Fund, Kotahi is a community developed and led suburban festival. The Strathmore Waitangi Day Festival is reliant on approximately 100 volunteers from the local community to run and there’s a strong sense of local pride in the event from the community.
The focus is on strong Maori creative content, reflecting diverse local communities and engaging young people in creative activities.
Aronga 2 | Focus Area 2
Aronga 2: Ka mahitahi ki te Iwi Maori – E whakamana ana matou i Te Tiriti o Waitangi me te hononga o te Kaunihera ki te Mana Whenua i roto i nga putanga ka taka mai i a matou.
Focus Area 2: Aho Hononga Partnership with mana whenua and Maori. We honour te Tiriti o Waitangi and the Council’s partnership with mana whenua and Maori in the outcomes we deliver.
The Council recognises the importance of the mana whenua relationship and has formal memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika (Taranaki Whanui) and Te Runanga o Toa Rangatira Incorporated (Toa Rangatira), based on the following principles:
- Partnership - Acting reasonably, honourably and in good faith to ensure the strategic relationship has integrity and respect, in the present and for the future of Wellington.
- Participation - Recognising that both parties can contribute, for mutual benefit, in deciding the future of the city, working towards and achieving the parties’ visions.
- Protection - Actively protecting the taonga of Taranaki Whanui and the taonga of Ngati Toa Rangatira, and safeguarding cultural concepts, values and practices to be celebrated and enjoyed for all Wellingtonians.
The Council has a responsibility to take into account the principles of te Tiriti and to improve opportunities for Maori to contribute to local government decision-making processes. Under the MOUs, each party recognises the tikanga |
authority of the other to exercise their responsibilities – kawanatanga (governance) by the Council, rangatiratanga (customary authority) and kaitiakitanga (guardianship) by tangata whenua.
We value the unique contribution of Maori to the cultural landscape and identity of both Wellington and Aotearoa. We also recognise the mana whenua spaces shared with the city for the expression of arts and culture, such as Pipitea Marae and te Wharewaka. We will continue working with mana whenua to ensure their matauranga Maori and stories are expressed in our city’s infrastructure, places and spaces – te wai, te whenua – for generations to come. Together we will find new ways for Maori to:
- Participate in decisions affecting Maori culture and its products (Waitangi claim 262).
- Achieve the creative aspirations of Te Tauihu Te Reo Maori Policy and for te reo Maori everywhere.
This will see our signature events, including Matariki, flourish to express our partnership, and see nga toi Maori and the use of te reo Maori grow throughout the year.
The 10 Year Maori Strategy is currently being developed. Five co-facilitated wananga with mana whenua and Maori across Wellington articulated the aspirations and priorities for the city. The 10 Year Maori Strategy will inform the work for this focus area.
Focus Area 2 - Approaches
- Tell stories of our region and country with mana whenua and Maori.
- Ensure that nga toi Maori and te reo Maori are highly visible.
- Encourage respectful use of tikanga.
Focus Area 2 - What we’ll see
- Consultation with mana whenua and Maori early and often.
- Increased tikanga capacity within the Council.
- Increased use of te reo Maori.
- Increased equity of funding system and proportion of funding for nga toi Maori.
- Strong and thriving nga toi Maori economy.
Case Study 2: Ahi Ka 2018 – part of Council’s Matariki programme
Wellington City Council’s Matariki festival Matariki ki Poneke reflects the growing importance of Matariki as a civic celebration of te ao Maori and the presentation of strong Maori creative content. This festival is part of expanding our relationship with mana whenua.
The programme provides paid work for local creative practitioners, event professionals and organisations. It delivers free family focused events and activities and encourages the creativity of our rangatahi. The event ensures that Nga Toi Maori is visible and accessible in our city.
Aronga 3 | Focus Area 3
Aronga 3: O matou wahi/Aho Whenua – Te Atamira o to tatou taone. He wahi auaha te taone katoa, ka kitea pea nga mahi toi i ona hurihanga rau.
Focus Area 3: Aho Whenua Our places, spaces and venues – our city is alive. Our city is alive with the possibility of art around every corner.
Our cityscape is alive with ideas that challenge, nourish and inspire us as our city grows. Our places and spaces are the stage for creative expression of our identity as the capital city and our home. Wellington is the place to experience and learn the nation’s story. Our cultural assets and experiences will be accessible and affordable, showcase the arts, and enliven with culture and community creation, rehearsal and performance. Arts, culture and creativity will play an important part for the development of our future city – compact, resilient, vibrant and prosperous, inclusive, and connected, and greener.
Our places and spaces, such as venues, streets and parks, will be designed and enabled with infrastructure and technology to facilitate vibrant creative expression day and night, encouraging collaboration and the collision of ideas. As Wellington grows, we will work alongside this investment in our infrastructure to ensure that arts, culture and creativity keep our city vibrant and alive. Our central venues, spaces, streets and experiences will provide a cultural spine that is easy to activate with arts and culture and have the technological infrastructure to support this. There will be affordable, appropriate, accessible venues, spaces and places. Public art will abound in and on our places and spaces. We will see our stories expressed by creativity embedded in our infrastructure projects. We will reinterpret our strong heritage foundations and share matauranga Maori in ways that challenge us and inspire us.
We will galvanise the physical network which the Council operates, with partners from public, private, mana whenua, non-profit and community sectors to shape the physical and social character of a neighbourhood, town, city or region around arts and cultural activities. Arts and culture will spill out of our venues and onto the streets, drawing people in to take part. Working with artists, creative placemaking will animate public and private spaces, rejuvenate structures and streetscapes, improve local business viability and public safety, and bring people together to celebrate, inspire and be inspired.
We will work together to deliver efficient planning, regulatory and infrastructure development to provide the foundations that make Wellington attractive, safe, accessible, and a place where creative people want to live, grow and work.
Focus Area 3 - Approaches
- Improve access to affordable, accessible, and fit- for-purpose venues, places and spaces.
- Build the presence of nga toi Maori and te reo Maori and how they are seen, felt and heard in our city.
- Share Wellington’s and the nation’s stories across our cityscape.
- Ensure creative thinking and practitioners are involved early in our major infrastructure projects.
- Support creativity through simple, efficient, enabling processes.
Focus Area 3 - What we’ll see
- More spaces for people to create in the city and neighbourhoods.
- Council venues are suitable for current and future needs.
- Customers are satisfied with Council processes.
- Venues, facilities, and spaces are more accessible.
- Artists and creatives are involved in infrastructure projects.
- Wellingtonians and visitors experience the city’s heritage and the nation’s story in our landscape.
Case Study 3: Wallace Street Mural by Sheyne Tuffery, 2020
Sheyne Tuffery’s mural is based on extensive research into what the Mount Cook area was like during the pre-colonial era. It was painted during the Covid-19 pandemic Alert Level 3 and when the street was closed for water works. Local residents took a lot of interest in the mural’s development and Sheyne also worked on it with students from Wellington High School.
Having a diverse range of murals in the city helps to minimise graffiti, support artists, encourage communities to engage in local issues and history or reflect and highlight their natural environment.
Aronga 4 | Focus Area 4
Aronga 4: Nga Mahi – Nga ahumahi, rangai me nga huarahi mahi auaha, angitu hoki. He wahi autaia a Poneke ki te auaha, ki te noho, ki te mahi.
Focus Area 4: Aho Mahi Pathways – successful arts and creative sector, and careers. Wellington is an incredible place to create, live, learn and work.
The arts and creative sector gives shape to Wellington, its personality and the ways that Wellingtonians experience the world. This creative ecosystem is a significant contributor to the city’s 24-hour economy, spanning entrepreneurial to community. Wellington is a nationally significant centre of creative sector education, producing workers with highly transferable skills into new and ever-broader applications. Wellington is particularly rich in national and local creative sector agencies and businesses, and matauranga Maori is increasingly applied across entertainment, fashion, film, television, culinary hospitality, cultural performances and tourism. The hidden histories and untold stories and memories of Wellington and Aotearoa will be held in our libraries, archives and museums, and shared.
We will position Wellington as an international hub of creativity and innovation providing significant leadership, particularly as the home of mana whenua and Maori arts, supporting and enhancing a unique world-leading creative ecosystem. We will deepen our collaboration with the sector and central government, national and local organisations, and educational and cultural institutions to support pathways to help our creative engine grow and thrive. We will improve access and build audiences and participation to expand the market. We will proudly celebrate our diversity, enlivening arts and culture with our international connections.
Wellington is a great place to learn, start careers and flourish. We will collaborate to retain people in their 20s and 30s in creative employment, grow the market and capacity of creative industries, and ensure that Wellington is an accessible and affordable place to live and work. We will continue to celebrate our national and leading arts institutions that help generate employment in Wellington while prioritising the use of local artists and creatives to support our local creative economy, working together to enable scale and reach. Together we will build capacity by supporting career pathways and tuakana-teina opportunities so artists can flourish in Wellington.
Focus Area 4 - Approaches
- Work with partners to build capacity, access, availability, and grow the arts and creative sector.
- Support emerging and growing creative businesses, including from under-represented and marginalised groups.
- Attract, develop and sustain talent.
- Make Wellington the best place in Aotearoa for young creatives to live, learn and grow.
- Empower the capital city to be the home of mana whenua and Maori arts.
- Support the arts and creative sector to provide local and global leadership in arts, culture and creativity.
- Support contemporary art and its practice across all art forms.
Focus Area 4 - What we’ll see
- Increased use of local talent.
- Sector careers are more sustainable in Wellington.
- Programmes offered make a difference and support career and business development.
- New partnerships are developed and flourish.
Case Study 4: CubaDupa Street Festival in Cuba Street
Supported by the Wellington NZ Major Events Fund and the Wellington Regional Amenities Fund, CubaDupa is a unique large-scale free event developed in Wellington.
The festival encourages visitors from out of Wellington as well as offering free quality entertainment for residents. Covering two days, the event provides paid work for artists, event professionals and suppliers as well as increasing economic activity in the city. The event also supports emerging event professionals to learn new skills.
Appendix: Glossary of accessibility and inclusion terms
Accessibility and inclusion are important, so definitions are provided for these terms.
Accessibility: “We access all places, services and information with ease and dignity”. New Zealand Disability Strategy 2016-2026.
Barriers: “Something that makes it difficult or impossible for people to do something.” New Zealand Disability Strategy 2016-2026.
d/Deaf: An inclusive term for those who identify as Deaf with their own languages and those with a hearing diagnosis or who are hard of hearing.
Diversity, diverse: Diversity is the range of human differences, including but not limited to ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion or ethical values, national origin and political beliefs.
Communities: Communities can mean people who are from a particular demographic group, people who live in the same geographic area, people who share an interest, have a common shared experience, or something else.
Inclusion, inclusive: All people are able to engage or participate regardless of financial means, disability, age, gender, ethnicity, citizenship etc.
Under-represented and marginalised groups: Under-represented and marginalised groups are people who are disadvantaged by society, for example d/Deaf and Disabled people, people with diverse sexuality, gender identity and sex characteristics, Maori, Pacific, refugee-background, migrant, elderly, and young people.
At times we name demographic groups to ensure they can’t be excluded.