Nelson Council and WSP take top honours at Āpōpō Asset Management Awards

Today, a whakatau was held at Nelson City Council with Te Tauihu iwi to receive Te Kōmata o Te Rangi – Supreme Asset Management Excellence award.

The event recognised the critical success factors of this mahi, being the integration of mātauranga Māori (body of ancestral knowledge) and the participation of ngā iwi o Te Tauihu in the work undertaken.

The taonga (award) recognises and celebrates the pinnacle of achievement in infrastructure asset management in Aotearoa New Zealand. Te Tauihu (top of the South) will share kaitiakitanga (custodianship) of the taonga until it is returned in 2025 to the award ceremony held in Ōtautahi (Christchurch).

Āpōpō is Aotearoa New Zealand’s lead association for infrastructure asset management professionals. It is previously known as IPWEA NZ (Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia). 

“Asset management frameworks help organisations make decisions about their infrastructure to achieve their strategic goals. They're about balancing costs, benefits, and risks to keep everything running smoothly,” says WSP Kaitohutohu Māori - Matua (Senior Advisor - Māori) Nathan Capper.

“The Kaupapa Māori framework is the first-of-its-kind to be developed for asset management. It provides an alternative approach to asset planning while facilitating iwi Māori input to be integrated and considered in decision making through the application of a cultural framework.” 

Nelson City Council Kaihautū, Pania Lee, says iwi capacity to engage on the asset management process has been a significant challenge.  

“In 2020, iwi practitioners recommended Nelson City Council engage an independent Māori cultural consultant to provide technical support through a Kaupapa Māori lens, and in 2023 Te Tauihu iwi and Nelson City Council supported WSP Māori Business Advisory Services to facilitate engagement between iwi and Council on the AMP process. 

"What we know is that when we include whānau, hapū and iwi in our processes - we plan, design and build great infrastructure projects."

Nelson Mayor Nick Smith says the award recognises the practical work Nelson City Council is doing to implement the Together Te Tauihu iwi partnership agreement, with infrastructure projects making up a huge portion of Council’s work and budgets.

“The award recognises the benefits of early engagement with iwi that enables cultural issues to be identified at the beginning of the design process and for engineering structures to include distinctly New Zealand design features.”

The innovative new framework aligns with international asset management standards (ISO, IIMM, NAMS). It acts as a starting point for discussions between partners on cultural values that may be woven through planning and decision making on assets and provides the ability for conversations located within a local context to be adapted and adopted for a national audience.

Commenting on the work, Āpōpō’s judging panel noted how well it elevated the importance of Te Ao Māori (Māori worldview) and mātauranga in delivering long-term resilient, considered, and culturally-aware asset management practices.

“It's great to see Te Ao Māori considered in all its forms in asset planning, and refreshing to see how much thought has gone into this piece of work. The project enhances asset management practices by fostering iwi participation, and integrating indigenous knowledge and values into the asset management lifecycle make it a deserving recipient of the Supreme Award. It symbolises a step change in infrastructure asset management excellence.” 

As Platinum sponsor, WSP had a strong presence at this year’s Āpōpō Congress. WSP facilitators, session chairs, and presenters featured across the three days of the event. As well as taking out the Supreme Award, recognition for our people and projects came thick and fast.

WSP, Fulton Hogan, Waka Kotahi and Aurecon won the Āpōpō Community Award for Northland's Kāeo Bridge Upgrade:

Community involvement was central to this project, which replaced a single lane bridge just north of Kāeo township. The judges were especially impressed with the way the project's planting initiative engaged local kura and tamariki - encouraging them to become kaitiaki of the future.

WSP, CLL Solutions, NZTA Waka Kotahi and Stellar Projects won the Āpōpō Sustainability Award for the Mangamuka Gorge Slips and Rehabilitation (Emergency Response) project:

Environmental preservation is an important part of this major slip repair project on State Highway 1 between Kaitaia and Mangamuka. In protecting the area's biodiversity and outstanding natural landscape, the judges noted that "the project clearly upheld Te Ao Māori principles across the life of the project and beyond".

WSP technical principal for water Liam Foster won Best Technical Paper at the Āpōpō Congress for his overview of Sponge Cities: A Nature-Based Approach to Urban Climate Change Adaptation in Aotearoa New Zealand. This was the subject of an influential research report written last year as part of WSP's partnership with the Helen Clark Foundation.

Elsewhere, WSP network management engineer Kanishk Garg won the Congress’ AECOM / IMNZ Young Leader Scholarship.

Āpōpō President, WSP’s Gary Porteous says with over 300 registrations the Congress is the asset management industry’s biggest annual opportunity to bring people together to network and learn from one another.

"This annual get-together provides a valuable platform for infrastructure asset management professionals to learn from industry leaders, share best practices, and collectively grow expertise. By coming together, we can drive innovation, improve infrastructure management practices, and ultimately benefit the communities we serve."

The growing importance of Rautaki Māori (Māori strategy) in asset management was a strong Congress theme - reflected in several presentations, Āpōpō's asset management guide and a recently launched professional accreditation - which now include te ao Māori (Māori worldview) principles.

Gary says the 24/7 nature of operations and maintenance, especially across transport and construction, makes asset management an inherently stressful industry. For this reason, wellbeing was another important Congress theme.

For more information about Āpōpō's work and Congress, visit https://apopo.co.nz.