Breakout sessions
Focused discussions that turn big policy into workable local action.
Stream 1: Building capability
Strong local government depends on exercising judgement over an array of complex topics. This session provides an overview of LGNZ’s Ākona programme, highlighting tools, resources and training opportunities that support effective leadership, community engagement and good governance.
Fronting a crisis
When a crisis hits, leaders are expected to provide certainty that doesn’t exist. Yet elected members and council officers still need to respond and lead in the immediate moments.
This interactive session will put participants inside a fast-moving local government crisis. Participants will test their skills in responding to a live issue in real time while facing public pressure and media scrutiny, leaving with practical tips for how to navigate a crisis.
Conference attendees who select this session can expect something a little different to the usual breakout session, and will come away with skills to help them communicate under pressure.
Stream 2: Leading through reform
Reform is actively reshaping councils. This session examines what that means for governance and leadership in practice. Drawing on legal expertise, reform experience and lessons from other jurisdictions, it helps elected members and senior leaders navigate uncertainty and lead through transition with clarity and confidence.
Stream 3: Financial sustainability and efficient delivery
Tight budgets demand smart thinking. This session focuses on practical strategies for cost-effective and sustainable service delivery. It shares real-world examples of improved performance, smarter procurement and collaboration that help councils achieve more with every dollar.
Building financial resilience
Sponsored by Russell Investments
Councils are under growing pressure to deliver more with limited revenue. This session explores how investment fund portfolios can strengthen long-term financial resilience by creating sustainable income streams, easing reliance on rates and giving councils greater flexibility to respond to future challenges. We’ll examine the governance and investment decisions behind successful portfolios, including how councils balance risk, return, liquidity and long-term goals. You'll leave with practical ideas for using investment funds as a strategic tool to support stronger financial stewardship and greater financial resilience.
Climate risk, insurance and council liability: the cost of getting it wrong
Sponsored by Meredith Connell
Councils are being asked to walk a narrowing path. The Government expects councils to prepare for future climate risks while avoiding unnecessary gold-plating and exercising discipline with ratepayer money. Communities often see those decisions differently. When homes, businesses, infrastructure or whenua are affected by flooding or other natural hazards, the question is rarely whether council spending was disciplined. It is whether the council did enough. That tension is now playing out in litigation, with claims testing councils' decisions on flood protection, natural hazards and adaptation. At the same time, rising insurance costs and uncertainty about liability are increasing financial risk. In this session, Meredith Connell partners Jessica Easton and Nathan Speir will explore the links between climate assumptions, affordability, insurance and liability. They’ll share practical guidance to help councils make proportionate, defensible decisions before the next major event.
From diagnosis to action: Practical levers for financial sustainability
Sponsored by MartinJenkins
Financial sustainability is the defining challenge facing local government, but diagnosis alone will not close the gap. MartinJenkins will present on moving from understanding financial pressure to acting on it. Drawing on their work across funding and financing, service delivery reviews, and structural reform, we’ll explore the practical levers available now: resetting service levels with communities, prioritising investment, clarifying who decides what and at which level, harnessing AI to lift productivity, and building credible pathways back to balance.
Stream 4: Innovation in action
Local government is embracing innovation at pace. This session highlights council-led projects where new ideas and technologies are making a real difference. From digital tools to new service models, we’ll explore how fresh thinking can drive better outcomes for communities.
Doing more with less
Sponsored by Warren and Mahoney
Councils are under pressure to deliver more as reform, financial constraint and expectations continue to grow. This workshop shifts the conversation beyond infrastructure versus social investment, exploring how councils can achieve both without increasing rates.
Together, we’ll explore how councils can build on what they already have, leveraging existing assets, strengthening local identity and creating multipurpose community infrastructure that delivers more without increasing rates.
Based on the idea that people choose places for lifestyle and opportunity as much as services, the session offers practical ways to make every investment work harder. You’ll leave with ideas to strengthen community voice, get more from existing resources and turn opportunities into action.
Intelligence at work: Using data to find innovation and manage risk
Sponsored by WSP
Councils are sitting on valuable data that can uncover savings, improve asset management and sharpen investment decisions. The catch? Too often, the insight is there but isn't being used. See how WSP Harmonic and Aon found duplicated and outdated asset data that unlocked multimillion-dollar insurance savings while ensuring that critical assets are insured. In the wake of natural disasters, the tools developed by WSP and Aon are also helping clients review risk and strengthen long-term planning. You may not need more data. You may need to ask better questions of the data you already have. Join the team at WSP to find out how to convert data into opportunities.
Productivity under constraint
Sponsored by Arup
Councils are being asked to do more with less: deliver reform, protect core services and keep up with community expectations on constrained budgets. This breakout gets beyond the buzzword of innovation and focuses on what really matters: improving productivity through practical, actionable solutions. We'll explore how strategic workforce planning and forecasting can help councils make better use of limited resources, opportunity for digital tools to ease pressure on stretched teams, and how capability, culture and the sharing of good practice can help successful approaches spread across the sector. The focus is on getting more from the assets, systems and people we already have, turning good ideas into measurable productivity gains, and making it easier to do business with councils, and within councils themselves.