Mountains to Sea Strategy
I was invited by the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust to scribe at a strategy wānanga facilitated by Miranda Cassidy-O’Connell (from the Centre for Social Impact).
The wānanga focus was to gather input from their Auckland and Northland teams for their strategy for the next three years.
Part of wānanga involved consulting with the group about their ideas of how the strategy might look. Their strategy centred on the three pou of tangata, te taiao and the organisation. We discussed various ways to visualise the relationship between the three pou. In the end the group arrived at the shape of a pikirua, which beautifully reflected the flowing relationships of waterways between the mountains and sea and the organisation’s whole ecosystem approach.
See the final strategy illustration at the bottom of the page.
A little surprise in this event was arriving to learn that the venue refused to allow anything to be attached to the wall… So these drawings were done entirely on the floor — actually quite fitting for a drawing that maps the flow of an awa from the mountains to the sea….
KIND WORDS from MOUNTAINS TO SEA:
"Jacqui assisted us in developing our 2024-2027 strategy through a workshop with our Northland and Auckland teams. Miranda Cassidy-O'Connell from the Centre for Social Impact facilitated structured activities that strengthened relationships while evaluating our conservation work. Participants engaged in small group discussions to share their motivations, celebrate achievements, acknowledge areas for improvement, and envision success indicators for the coming three years. The day culminated in practical steps to implement our strategic pillars, with metrics assigned to each pillar and exploration of unifying visual metaphors.
Jacqui brilliantly illustrated these conversations and began creating an image representing our strategy implementation, which we collaborated on together over the following week to complete. Her exceptional talent as an artist and interpreter brought complex concepts to life for us, helping everyone visualize our shared future with greater clarity and purpose. We were so happy with the results and highly recommend Jacqui as a visual scribe. Her ability to really HEAR what is being said and turn it into a visual representation is truly outstanding"
Kim Jones, Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust, Poutokomanawa/Co-Director
Afterwards I couldn’t resist adding a bit more colour to finished image in Procreate…
close ups:
The final strategy illustration in the form of a pikirua:
I absolutely love the way Mountains to Sea strategy encompasses the entire ecosystem…. all the species, including human. In the process of creating this image I got to learn about new species as well as te reo names of more familiar ones. It was a delight to be able to contribute to their important mahi of connecting people with, and educating them about te taiao.
Ngā mihi maioha ki a koutou.
