Imagination Challenge - Upper Hutt

Girls who Grow Aotearoa New Zealand

Girls who Grow is on a mission to engage our next generation of educated female change makers, leaders and environmental guardians to connect back to the land and build meaningful career pathways into climate positive agriculture, farming, food systems and nature, to ensure thriving ecosystems across Aotearoa. The organisation connects 13 to 17-year-old girls through workshops, imagination challenges, on-farm experiences and mentorships, to build regional environmental solutions that can create deep impact and our next generation can be part of the solution to the world we want to live in. This provides pathways for young women to enter New Zealand's food and fibre sector, which accounts for 81% of the country's exports but involves only 6% of school leavers.

Project story

Te Whakatipu Kaitiaki: Growing Future Guardians

Young people across Aotearoa care deeply about climate change, biodiversity loss, and their communities' futures. Yet few get meaningful chances to turn that concern into action.

Through Girls who Grow, we've seen the magic that happens when young women connect with environmental leaders, farmers, and community changemakers. When trusted with real challenges, young people bring creativity, optimism, and fresh thinking that unlock new possibilities.

Wellington's young people face disconnection from nature and from decision-making about their environment. Schools want authentic learning experiences. Students want to matter. But there's rarely a bridge between awareness and action.

We're building one.

Fifty students from colleges in Upper Hutt, Lower Hutt and across the Wellington region will tackle real environmental challenges like healthy waterways, regenerative food systems, biodiversity restoration, and climate resilience.

Working alongside farmers, scientists, iwi representatives, and environmental practitioners, students will use design thinking to develop practical solutions grounded in both mātauranga Māori and contemporary science. The most promising ideas won't stay in the classroom, they'll be piloted on regional regenerative farms.

Students get to see their ideas come to life, measure real environmental impact, and develop the leadership skills our future desperately needs. They'll reconnect with whenua and wai while contributing to a thriving future.

Your investment grows the next generation of kaitiaki and creates a replicable model for Aotearoa.