Message from Society President – Dr Brent Clothier
Dr Brent Clothier shares his foreword as President of Royal Society Te Apārangi.
Kia ora Fellows,
Autumn is upon us. We now look back at summer whilst pondering the year ahead. Where will the future take us?
Over the last year, the Society has embarked on an initiative to develop a future strategy which, for the first time, took a longer view beyond the term of an individual President. Rather the focus was inter-generational, and out twenty years to 2042. Also for the first time, we sought to engage the breadth of our constituency in developing a future plan. To do so we used the consultancy MartinJenkins.
MartinJenkins conducted 11 interviews with people both inside and external to the Society, including some from overseas. An online survey drew 400 responses, which is not bad from a database of 1600. Face-to-face meetings were held with Fellows and Members at six locations around New Zealand. Two wānanga and three group interviews were held with Māori Fellows and Members. Plus 40 Early Career Researchers (ECR) gave us feedback as part of their He Pito Mata forum last year.
Input and many suggestions were received from across the broad ambit of the Society, and these were distilled into a draft of all-encompassing Strategy.
At our September 2023 meeting, Council approved the Strategy to be posted on our website, affording opportunity for any final comments to be received. The final version of the Strategy can now be found on our website. It has been a long, constructive, and engaging process. We have ended up with a great long-term Strategy.
Our vision is “… an Aotearoa guided and inspired by science and research”. The shorthand use of ‘science and research’ is clearly spelled out in the preamble of the Strategy document.
Our purpose is “… growing pathways of knowledge to enable science and research to be shared for the benefit of all”.
The four strategic priorities are: "knowledge pathways, influence and impact, people and partnerships, plus independence and growth”.
This clear vision, definite purpose, and the four priorities have been very useful in helping to decide what actions are needed over the next three years on our pathway to 2042. On 28 February, the Council and the Executive had a planning day facilitated by Denise Church. We were able to distill which actions were an immediate priority. The President-Elect, Professor Dame Jane Harding, the Council, and the Executive will now decide on these so that a 3-year business plan can be developed.
It has been hugely beneficial in this 3-year planning exercise to have had an agreed strategic map that points our journey towards 2042.
Unfortunately, Dr Sereana Naepi has resigned from Council as our ECR representative with immediate effect. This left Council with vacancy for an ECR representative through until June 30, 2025. To maintain continued ECR representation the Council appointed, for 16 months, an interim ECR representative rather than hold an election. We are pleased to welcome to Council Dr Htin Lin Aung of the University of Otago as the ECR representative. Htin is Associate Dean Pacific Research in the School of Biomedical Sciences, and a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology.
Nau mai haere mai,
Ngā mihi
Brent Clothier
President, Royal Society Te Apārangi