Initiatives around the community gardens

Green Impact programme

Green Impact is a team-based sustainability programme for staff and students to make change towards a more environmentally, socially and economically sustainable and resilient future.

Find out more

Manukau Gardening Club

All students are welcome to share knowledge, learn, and cultivate herbs and vegetables. There's no need to register, you can just turn up. If you have any questions, speak to Te Mātāpuna Library and Learning staff ki Manukau at South Campus.

Try something new and help cultivate gardens ki Manukau at South Campus on Mondays at 11am at Te Māra Kai Garden beds directly behind ME building.

Matariki planting

Matariki (Māori New Year) is celebrated in June/July of each year. The Matariki gardens were created to celebrate Matariki and bring together people and groups from all walks of life, creating a space to learn, share knowledge and connect with the land and their unique ancestry.

Gardening workshops

Gardening workshops take place regularly across the three campuses. Contact us to find out about upcoming events.

Compost

North Campus has four CarbonCycle Composter boxes for food scraps and garden waste. These boxes provide nutrient dense compost of the active gardens on campus.

Over the past years, students have been involved in the collection, propagation and germination of seedlings from Smiths Bush.

Smiths Bush is located in Northcote, a 5-minute walk from AUT North Campus.

Seedling propagation

Native seeds collected from Smiths Bush are prepared for germination at AUT North Campus.

Seedlings successfully harvested and grown include Kahikatea, Tairairi and Kohekohe.

Steps for successful harvested included:

• Collection: students collect seeds that are available around March/April and can be used or are needed at campuses.
• Germination: seeds are placed in trays of seed raising mix at the correct depth and spacing for that species.
• Propagation: seed trays are placed in the nursery space, which has an irrigation system set to run automatically, and placed in more/less sun depending on species.
• Monitor: weed as necessary, remove fallen leaves and wait to see what emerges.

A hāngi is a traditional Māori meal that is cooked by steaming food which is usually placed underground.

Hāngi holds significant cultural and social importance in Māori culture and has several layers of meaning. The process of cooking food in the ground signifies a connection with Papatūānuku. Preparing hangi may take several days, involving contributions from various members of the community.

Finally, enjoying the prepared meal fosters gathering, connection with one another, not to mention getting to enjoy delicious kai.

Ko au te whenua, ko te whenua ko au
I am the land, the land is me

While traditional hāngi has been a part of the AUT community for several years, two permanent hāngi sites were established in 2023 to make these events more accessible to prepare on a large scale for students and staff.

The hāngi sites are located at:

• North Campus: behind AE block
• South Campus: in the grassed area behind the gym

The process

• Digging a pit: The first step in preparing a hangi is to dig a pit in the ground. The size of the pit can vary; it must be large enough to fit the stones and wood as well as the food.
• Heating stones: Large, smooth river stones are selected and heated in an open fire until they become extremely hot. Rail iron is also commonly used.
• Preparing the food: The food to be cooked is traditionally wrapped in leaves, such as cabbage or banana leaves, which help keep it moist and impart flavour. Common ingredients for a hāngi include meats like lamb, pork, or chicken, as well as root vegetables like kumara (sweet potatoes) and potatoes.
• Layering in the pit: The hot stones are placed at the bottom of the pit. Then, the wrapped food is carefully arranged on top of the stones.
• Covering and cooking: After the food is in place, the pit is covered with earth and sometimes with wet cloth or sacks to trap the heat and steam. This creates an underground oven, and the food is left to cook in the pit for several hours, typically around 3-4 hours.
• Uncovering and serving: Once the food is cooked, the pit is carefully uncovered, and the steaming hot dishes are removed. The result is a delicious and uniquely flavoured meal with tender, smoky and earthy notes.

The bamboo and PVC structure on the bottom field on North Campus that has become known as The Outdoor Classroom, has proved to be a valuable alternative teaching space. This teaching space, more officially known as Te Whare Ako Taiao, was never built to last forever. It was constructed by staff and students as a proof of concept that a weather-proof teaching space could be constructed for minimal cost by a group of outdoor education enthusiasts with a bit of common sense and Kiwi ingenuity. We got at least 6 years of use out of it before the bamboo started to deteriorate to a point it needed an upgrade to be sure of surviving the coming winter. The structure was upgraded at the end of 2024 through a series of student and staff working bees. This was done at minimal cost, utilising the same PVC canopy from the original build, and we opted for tanalised timber this time, slightly bigger and with permanent seating.

Now that the Outdoor Classroom has proven its worth to the School of Sport and Recreation and for other users, the upgrade lends this space an air of permanence. It'd be great to have a similar space at South Campus so the students there can enjoy the rich learning opportunities that such a space affords. Without such a space those rich social and cultural encounters are lost along with the associated development and learning.

Pacific Food Lab – Aotearoa is one of the non-profits that works closely with AUT.

Together, we contribute to sustainable food systems in Aotearoa New Zealand and the broader Pacific region by connecting and collaborating with chefs, farmers, food producers, academics and scientists.

We aim to support the development of resilient and regenerative food systems, particularly in relation to the challenges that sustainable development presents, by contributing to food-centric projects that promote the health and wellbeing of our communities. Our long-term goal is to use food as a means to improve the quality of people’s lives, as well as the communities where they live, work and play.

Working together

In 2024, we co-hosted AUT’s Culinary Arts and Gastronomy Winter Series, which brought together a mix of academics and industry in an eclectic range of events all designed to stimulate discussion, explore tastes and highlight the potential of food.

We have also launched a quarterly potluck book club with Slow Food Auckland. We alternate between cookbooks and a non-fiction books, and often invite the authors to join us at Piko Café on City Campus to enjoy kōrero and kai.

Learn more about Pacific Food Lab

Oke Charity provide Kiwi kids the opportunity to learn life and social skills by introducing productive gardens into schools.

We have had the pleasure to collaborate with Oke on garden projects, providing our students with the opportunity to make an impact in their wider community.

Student involvement

A group of four students who studied the lifestyle nutrition course at AUT, actively engaged in Oke Charity's community service initiatives at Kingsford Primary in Mangere South Auckland.

"In addition to physically constructing the garden beds, we also played a significant role in the project's planning and logistical aspects in collaboration with the charity. This experience provided us with invaluable perspectives and served as a reminder of the importance of staying connected with the land, as well as understanding the historical foundations of food and agriculture through generations of practise. Despite the labour-intensive nature of building garden beds, the subsequent appreciation of the work undertaken has reinforced our belief in the significance of sustaining agriculture and promoting the cultivation of vegetation and plantations."
_{- Vernel, Jarryd, Henry and Micheal, 2023}

Learn more about the Oke Charity