THE 2026 ANNUAL LINCOLN EFFORD ADDRESS
Kia Pai te Noho – To Live Well
A Place to Stand, a Future to Shape
MIRIANA STEPHENS

What does it mean to live well - not only as individuals, but as whānau, communities and across generations?
Drawing on her work across papakāinga housing, food security, whenua, enterprise, mātauranga Māori and community development, Miriana Stephens explores how the places we belong to, the food we produce and share, the knowledge we hold, and the choices we make today shape our collective future.

At the heart of the lecture is Kia Pai Te Noho - to live well, an expression associated with the Ngāti Rārua tūpuna, Tana Pukekohatu. It provides a starting point for thinking about our relationships with one another and whenua, and our responsibilities to those who follow us. What might this mean in practice at a time when Aotearoa is grappling with challenges in housing, food security, inequality and a changing climate?

Reflecting on Lincoln Efford's commitment to social justice, peace and education, the lecture considers how these enduring ideas might help us think differently about some of the challenges we face today. At its heart is a question that reaches beyond any one issue: what would it take to create an Aotearoa where people have a place to stand, the means to live well, while recognising our shared responsibility to one another and to the generations yet to come?

Speaker Profile:
Miriana Stephens (Ngāti Rārua, Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngāti Ranginui) is from Motueka and has spent much of her career working at the intersection of whenua, whānau, enterprise and community development.
She is General Manager AuOra at Wakatū Inc (www.wakatu.org/), where her work focuses on food systems, mātauranga Māori, science and innovation, and developing new economic opportunities for whānau and communities. She has been closely involved with Te Āwhina Marae (www.tam.org.nz/) and its redevelopment. Her current work includes Kai Anamata mō Aotearoa, a research and action programme exploring local food security and the future resilience of Aotearoa's food system (www.kaianamata.co.nz/).

Members Dinner 6pm
We welcome all our members for a light dinner before the event. Not a member yet? Join up via our website from as little as $15 a year.
Please secure your seat by registering on our website, and members please email the office to rsvp for the dinner:
admin@cwea.org.nz
ph. 03 3660285