Race Relations
Asia New Zealand Foundation
The Asia New Zealand was founded in 1994 as a non-profit, apolitical organisation dedicated to building New Zealand’s links with Asia.
Through its activities in education, business, media, arts, research and Track II diplomacy, Asia:NZ aims to build New Zealanders’ knowledge and understanding of the countries, peoples, cultures and languages of Asia so they can develop more extensive and effective relationships in the region.
Visit the website of the Asia New Zealand Foundation.
Projects 2012
Education Programme
Developing ‘Asia Aware’ young New Zealanders who will be the future leaders of our country is the focus of Asia:NZ’s education programme. It advocates promotion of Asian studies in schools and facilitates professional development for school leaders, principals and educators.
Young Leaders Network
The Asia:NZ Young Leaders Network is an initiative of the Asia New Zealand Foundation and was established to create a community of young, dynamic and talented young people who are committed to furthering New Zealand’s relations with Asia. Through network activities, participants gain the knowledge, skills and relationships needed to form enduring networks which benefit not only themselves, but the wider interests of New Zealand and the countries of Asia.
Business Education Partnership (BEP)
BEP is an initiative of Asia:NZ which is working towards an increased number of Asia Aware schools by 2015 in order to foster a more Asia Aware workforce. It proposes to do that by matching businesses with schools in order to stimulate educators into augmenting the amount of Asia content in school curricula and by highlighting the requirement of New Zealand business to have more Asia Aware employees in future.
Business Programme
Asia: NZ has direct access to leading Asian expertise, the latest on-the-ground knowledge and many years of Asian business experience thanks to its staff, board, honorary advisers and networks
The Business Programme aims to promote the growth of the Business Education Partnership, keep New Zealand business leaders focussed on Asia, and increase the number of professional development opportunities in Asia in the business sector for talented young New Zealanders.
Arts and Community Programme
Asia:NZ assists local government work with Asian communities to share their heritage with all New Zealanders through celebrations and exhibitions focusing on Asia’s culture. Our flagship events are the Chinese Lantern Festivals in Auckland and Christchurch, the Diwali Festival of Lights in Auckland and Wellington, Wellington’s Southeast Asian Night Market and the Japan Festival of Wellington. Through the arts and community grants Asia:NZ supports New Zealand-based organisations and individuals running projects of merit that educate New Zealanders about Asian arts and culture. The grants also focus on professional development for New Zealand artists, curators and other arts sector professionals through Asian artist residencies or exchanges.
Diwali Festival of Lights
Asia:NZ will partner with Auckland and Wellington City Councils, and a range of funding partners to stage the Diwali Festival of Lights with the support of the Indian community. The 2012 Auckland and Wellington Diwali Festivals will be held in October.
Chinese Lantern Festivals
Asia:NZ will partner with Auckland City Council, Christchurch City Council and a range of funding partners to stage major Chinese New Year Lantern Festivals in 2012 with the support of the Chinese community. The Auckland Lantern Festival will be held over three nights from 3-5 February 2012 at Albert Park, and the Christchurch event will be held from 10-11 February 2012 at Carlton Corner, North Hagley Park.
Southeast Asian Night Market
Celebrating the rich and diverse cultures of the ten ASEAN nations, the Southeast Asian Night Market has become a much-anticipated fixture of Wellington culture festivals since its inception in 2008. The Southeast Asian Night Market is a biennial event that will next be held in 2013.
Japan Festival of Wellington
Asia:NZ supports the Wellington City Council in organising this event together with the Japan Embassy in Wellington. The next festival will be held on 9 September 2012.
Media Programme
Asia:NZ’s media programme is dedicated to improving the quality and quantity of coverage of Asia in the New Zealand media. It does this through providing financial assistance to media professionals on reporting assignments to Asia and through internships for New Zealand journalists in prestigious Asia-based media outlets.
Media Travel and Discretionary Grants
Journalists are invited to apply for funding to undertake reporting assignments in Asia. The media travel grants cover 80 percent of a journalist’s assignment. Journalists and reporters can also apply for discretionary funding for Asia travel. These provide support for a journalist or media organisation seeking to report on a compelling news issue or event that falls outside of the timing parameters of the media travel grant deadlines.
Work Experience and Scholarship
Asia:NZ administers an annual work experience programme for journalism graduates and mid to senior level journalists with a range of partners in Asia, including the Phnom Penh Post, the Shanghai Daily, the Jakarta Post, the Philippine Star, China Daily Online, CNBC, IHT Hong Kong and the Deccan Herald. Additional partners are added every year. In addition, the Kiwi Asian Scholarship, inaugurated in 2009, is awarded each year to a promising journalism student of Asian origin.
Research Programme
Asia:NZ makes a unique and important contribution to New Zealand’s information base on all things Asian. A dedicated in-house team coordinate a comprehensive research programme which provides New Zealanders with up-to-date information about Asian issues of social and economic significance, on and offshore. All research data is publicly available on the Asia:NZ website. The team works closely with other organisations to plan research and assist with research methodology and peer review. As a hub of research on Asia, Asia:NZ hosts and contributes to a range of conferences and seminars every year.
Track II Programme
Asia:NZ takes a leading role in facilitating New Zealand representation at Track II events in New Zealand and in the Asian region. Through involvement in Track II unofficial diplomacy, Asia:NZ leads, contributes to and participates in dialogues on regional issues in the Asia-Pacific. Asia:NZ has put in place a register of New Zealanders who have the skills, experience and expertise to contribute to New Zealand’s activities in the region. This register serves as both a directory of Track II practitioners in New Zealand and as a pool of suitable delegates for Asia:NZ initiatives. Through commentaries, papers and opinion pieces on the Track II section of the website, a virtual stockpile of knowledge and expertise covering major topics of analysis by Track II practitioners has been collated.