Workshop: From Insight to Action - 20 May 2026
Forest Thinking for Ocean Futures
Check out the events page for other upcoming Explore Your Coast events.
From Insight to Action: Forest Thinking for Ocean Futures
A free, interactive workshop exploring how we can restore our land and ocean ecosystems in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Featuring two powerful short documentaries Think Like a Forest and Seaweed, A Love Story, this event connects the challenges facing our forests and oceans, and showcases real examples of how degraded environments can recover when we work with nature.
This is more than a film screening!
This workshop is designed to help you develop ideas and turn those into action. Through interactive activities, group discussions, and a live panel, you’ll explore practical ways individuals and communities can contribute to healthier ecosystems, from local initiatives to everyday choices. We’ll explore how we think about nature, a system we are part of, and what that means for how we act.
Whether you’re a student, creative, scientist, or simply curious, this event offers a practical and inspiring space to learn, share ideas, and get involved.
Event Details
The Hunter Lounge, Victoria University of Wellington, 1 Kelburn Parade 
Wednesday, 20 May 2026
4.00–7.00pm
Food and drinks available for purchase
FREE event – register here to secure your space (link to Humanitix). Limited spaces will be available at the door.
What to expect
Two short documentaries with audience discussion
Panel discussion with Q&A featuring local voices in conservation, community, and business
Interactive action stations to explore your ideas and solutions
Opportunities to connect and collaborate on community-led action
Keen to be part of the change?
Come along and see what’s possible when we work together – and what role you can play!
Featuring two powerful short documentaries
Think Like A Forest
A film about the incredible, diverse native forests in Aotearoa and all of their benefits. Yet, over two thirds of New Zealand’s native forests are already gone and more are being damaged because of human activity. In Think Like a Forest, we present the vision for a regenerative future where humans can change this destructive trajectory through connecting with nature and taking action for Recloaking Papatūānuku.
Recloaking Papatūānuku is an ambitious, national-scale environmental initiative that will mobilise people to keep intact the old forests we have, remove predators, and carry out restoration of native bush across more than two million hectares of Aotearoa in the next 30 years. Restoration, regeneration, planting, and long term management of native forests will increase the resilience of our landscapes to the effects of climate change, and ensure our productive lands and communities thrive.
Find out more about Think Like A Forest here (link).
Seaweed, A Love Story
In the underwater world of Wellington, New Zealand, Dr. Nicole Miller dedicates her life to documenting the coastal ecosystems she holds dear. With over 800 hours spent underwater, Nicole embarks on her most ambitious mission yet: SCUBA diving 70 kilometers of Wellington’s coastline to assess the health of seaweed and giant kelp forests. Armed with her camera, Nicole brings these hidden underwater realms to life through photography, art, and immersive virtual reality experiences, while revealing the stark reality of kelp forest decline caused by overfishing, pollution and climate change. This short film chronicles Nicole’s monumental effort to inspire action, showcasing the urgent need to monitor and protect these vital ecosystems—essential to life both beneath and above the waves.
Directed and produced by Rebecca Pratt (www.saltyslate.org).
Watch the trailer here on YouTube.
Panel Discussion and Q&A
Interactive panel discussion with audience questions:
- Simon Millar, Pure Advantage, Recloaking Papatūānuku, Producer Think Like a Forest
- Nicole Miller, Explore Your Coast, Film Lead
- Nate Rigler, Kia Mouriora Te Kaiwharawhara Sanctuary to Sea Project Lead, Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne
- Moderator: Marjan van den Belt, Ecological Economist, System Thinker and Impact Modeller
ART by the OCEAN, for the OCEAN
Purchase a piece of ocean art and support marine conservation. Nicole’s artworks are available for purchase on the night with all profits supporting Explore Your Coast.
Partner with us to inspire ocean action across the motu!
We are looking for partners and sponsors to bring interactive events to venues and communities around New Zealand. If you would like to host a film screening, workshop, a Q&A or a fundraising event please get in touch!
Teachers - get in touch!
We’re excited to bring our short documentary to Wellington schools to inspire the next generation of ocean stewards.
If you’re a teacher or principal interested in partnering with us, we’d love to hear from you! Our Q&A sessions can be tailored to fit your school focus and curriculum, covering topics such as: kaitiakitanga, marine protection & restoration, marine & community science, the power of film and art in environmental storytelling, and the global importance of kelp forests and the impacts of their decline.