Culture and creativity strategy

For more than 1000 years, culture and creativity have been a vital part of where we came from, who we are, and who we’ll become.

What it is

We’re working with our community to develop a Culture and Creativity strategy for our district.

This strategy will guide and support how we invest in arts, culture, creativity and heritage. 

Ensuring the strategy embeds and reflects whakaaro Māori, and the wawata (the aspirations) of the mana whenua iwi of Kāpiti is crucial. We're seeking guidance from our mana whenua partners on the this important mahi. 

We have a once-in-a-decade chance to dream big together about the future of creativity, the arts, culture, and heritage across the Kāpiti Coast.

We know our communities are also dealing with wider challenges, and opportunities. Investing in culture and creativity is an investment in our people, our community wellbeing, and our vision.

Each township along our coast has its own character and historic richness, and our district as a whole has a vibrant arts and cultural scene. Arts, culture, creativity, and heritage play a vital role in enabling thriving communities and are so important for our sense of identity, wellbeing and hauora.

Council is already investing in culture and creativity in many ways across the rohe, including through our museums, gallery, public art, events, cultural and heritage trails, and libraries, providing people a means of expression, a welcoming community and a sense of identity and belonging.

We know there’s already abundant passion, commitment, and investment outside Council that’s already making a big difference, too.

What we’re doing

To help develop our strategy, we've talked with around 70 people involved in arts, culture, creativity and heritage across our district. We’ll soon be asking our wider community about the great things happening, the challenges we face, and your ‘big ideas’ to make culture and creativity even more awesome.