Business cases for nature-based solutions - using stormwater as a case study
26 November, 12:00pm
Free registration
Join us for this webinar exploring how to build compelling business cases for nature-based solutions (NbS) in stormwater management.
This session dives into real-world New Zealand case studies, highlighting the non-monetary benefits of NbS—such as resilience, biodiversity, and community wellbeing. We will explore what NbS are, why use NbS for stormwater management, and review the building blocks of a solid business case. Sharing feedback from a recent workshop, we will work through the barriers to successful NbS business cases and how to overcome these. We’ll demonstrate that NbS stack up against traditional alternatives and build confidence in putting forward solid business cases for NbS measures.
Presenters:
Peter Christensen - Storm Environmental
Stephanie Dijkstra - Storm Environmental
Lake Ōkāreka Lake Weed Eradication
4 December 2025, 11:00am
Free registration
The ongoing management of invasive lakeweed in Lake Ōkāreka has shown that invasive submerged weeds can be suppressed to near-eradication in a moderate sized lake. This project has enabled native vegetation to regenerate and overall ecological condition, cultural and recreational values to improve.
Join this webinar to learn how consistent investment, partnerships and community, current management tools and surveillance systems have been key to reducing hornwort, Egeria, and Elodea to zero density, and Lagarosiphon to very low densities - and how these approaches have the potential to scale up to larger Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes.
Presenter:
Hamish Lass - Bay of Plenty Regional Council
Moral Injury. Professional and personal pain in the environmental sector: root causes and a call to action
9 December, 11:00am
Free registration
Forty years ago, Professor Neil Erickson at the University of Waikato warned planners and engineers about the dangers of building in floodplains. Yet despite all our modelling, catchment management and climate change planning, here we still are. Not just with developments in floodplains, but with stopbank limitations, overloaded urban flow paths, ignored evidence of past mass movement, and more.
In the last decade the frequency and intensity of flooding and landslips has been devastating, not only for the communities who suffer the consequences, but for us as professionals. This is not what we trained for. So how did it happen? This presentation will explore the impacts of inappropriate development on industry morale and some of the emerging solutions.
Presenter:
Clare Feeney - The Strategic Environmental Training Institute
