There’s a moment before things shift. You can feel it building in the whenua, in people, in the way ideas start to move.

For 2026, that’s where we’re heading.

Ka Rū Ka Hā | Awaken the Energy sets the kaupapa for the Firth NZILA Wānanga 2026, bringing together Indigenous knowledge, landscape architecture, and collective leadership in a moment of shared activation.

Background

The 2026 Wānanga theme has been shaped through a collective process, grounded in kōrero with members and guided by the Institute’s strategic direction.

Developed alongside Te Tau-a-Nuku, it brings together cultural leadership, member insight, and organisational priorities, with contributions from across the Board and wider team.

What emerged were clear priorities for the profession:

• Strengthening leadership
• Responding to environmental and societal change
• Embedding Indigenous knowledge and perspectives
• Supporting our role in advocacy and systems change

This theme holds all of that, grounded in the context of Aotearoa.

The whakataukī

Ka pū te rū hā, ka hā o te ranga tahi; ka rū ana te whenua, ka rū ana te tangata
As the earth draws in shaking breath, the breath of people rises as one. When the land quivers, so too are the people.

This sits at the heart of Ka Rū Ka Hā.

When the whenua moves, we move with it. Our communities, our practice, and the systems we work within are all part of that response.

Theme narrative

Ka Rū Ka Hā speaks to a stirring of energy.

An awakening of breath, purpose, and collective momentum.

It acknowledges the land as a living ancestor, signalling the need for renewed responsibility, creativity, and connection. As the whenua responds to environmental, social, and cultural pressures, so too must our leadership, our design practice, and the systems that shape our shared future.

This kaupapa invites us to respond through Indigenous frameworks that honour whakapapa, reciprocity, and interdependence between people and place.

It also positions landscape architects firmly at the forefront of enabling that response.

Programme streams

The wānanga will explore this kaupapa through three interconnected streams:

Rū Te Tangata — People and Leadership
How we lead, support communities, and draw on Indigenous leadership models to navigate change.

Rū Te Whenua — Design and Practice
Land-based practice, innovation, and design approaches that respond to a shifting environment while honouring place.

Ka Hā Te Ranga — Systems, Policy and Advocacy
The systems shaping our landscapes, and how policy, governance, and advocacy can evolve to support resilient futures.

The visual identity

Created alongside Ariki Creative as a kaupapa partner, the visual identity reflects raranga, weaving whenua (copper), wai (blue), and tipu (green) into a collective expression of movement and connection.

It draws on rarangatahi, the idea of banding together, weaving ideas and effort, and carrying lessons from the past into a stronger collective future.

Ka Rū Ka Hā visual identity developed by Ariki Creative  

What’s next

This is just the beginning.

• Call for speakers coming soon
• Programme and speaker announcements to follow
• Tickets on sale soon

If this kaupapa speaks to your work, your thinking, or your practice, we’d love to see you in it.

Keep an eye on the website as the wānanga continues to take shape.