From Te Tai Tokerau to the world stage: Healthy Families Far North selected to present at International Play Conference

Healthy Families Far North has been selected to present two abstracts at the International Play Association (IPA) World Conference in Ōtautahi Christchurch this November, recognition that puts our community-led approach to play and prevention on the world stage.

The IPA conference brings together practitioners, educators, researchers and policy-makers from across the globe to shape the future of play.

This year's theme, mahi auaha (innovating for play), explores bold, inclusive and culturally rich ways to ensure all tamariki have the right to play, their own way – a fitting home for two kaupapa born right here in the Far North.

‍He Manuao: Youth-led funding in action

He Manuao is a youth-led micro-investment fund in Te Tai Tokerau, putting real decision-making power in the hands of taitamariki to shape how their communities access sport and active recreation.

Instead of the complex applications and adult-led criteria that shape most funding models, He Manuao puts the decisions in the hands of young people themselves, funding what taitamariki identify what works for them, whether it be shoes, transport, club fees, or cultural forms of movement.

Taitamariki presenter, Judy Heta, who helped lead the kaupapa, will introduce the short film on He Manuao during Film Night on Tuesday 3 November – a chance, she says, to show what's possible when young people are given real decision-making power and not just a seat at the table.

“This isn't just our project, it's proof that when you trust rangatahi with real decisions, real change happens,” she said.

“Getting to stand up in front of people from all over the world and tell that story, for us, not about us, means everything."

‍Te Amo Pūtoro: Re-indigenising play, movement and belonging

The second abstract takes its name from Te Amo Pūtoro, the community-led māra hūpara (playground) at the Kerikeri Sports Complex, designed and built alongside Ngāti Rēhia, whānau and community.

It's a live example of what re-indigenising play, movement and belonging can look like in Te Tai Tokerau, grounded in mātauranga Māori and exploring what tākaro Māori offers communities today. It also speaks directly to the conference’s focus on kotahitanga and tākaro Māori, and to the deeper kaupapa behind our mahi: that play, movement and belonging are foundational to hauora.

Te Amo Pūtoro has been accepted as a 45-minute panel discussion at the conference.

Healthy Families Far North Manager Mike Tipene says the selection reflects years of relationship-building and trust with whānau and communities across the region.

“Having two kaupapa selected to present at this year's conference is an opportunity for us to show the rest of the country, and now the world, what community-led prevention looks like for us here in Te Tai Tokerau," he said.

"This isn't work we've done for our hapori, it's work our communities, whānau and iwi have led themselves. That's what makes it worth presenting."

Both kaupapa reflect a core belief behind Healthy Families Far North's mahi, that preventing chronic illness starts long before the clinic door – in the everyday systems, play, movement, belonging – that shape how tamariki and whānau live.

He Manuao and Te Amo Pūtoro will be presented at the IPA World Conference in Ōtautahi Christchurch, 2–5 November 2026.