2025 theme: Kotahitanga - Weaving Cohesion in the Youth Development Sector!
2025 theme: Kotahitanga - Weaving Cohesion in the Youth Development Sector!
We are excited to welcome you to Ōtautahi Christchurch, for INVOLVE 7-8 August, 2025.
INVOLVE 2025 will be hosted at Te Pae Convention Centre in Ōtautahi Christchurch. This is the first time since 2006 that INVOLVE has been to the South Island!
INVOLVE is the national conference for youth development in Aotearoa. It is the biggest event in the youth sector’s calendar!
We aim to gather as many people together to ensure that the sector works cooperatively and cohesively. It is our vision that INVOLVE acts as a meeting place for the entire sector - anyone who works with or for young people - to gather, share and learn.
Involve is a chance for the youth sector to gather, connect, learn, laugh and ‘be’ together.
Kotahitanga - Weaving Cohesian in the Youth Developement Sector
"Kotahitanga"—the idea of connecting and working as a unified whānau.
The artist used networking symbols to create the waharoa, representing the various paths we walk in this space while still connecting with each other along the journey. This concept draws from digital/networking symbols, making it relevant to Rangatahi and the digital world they navigate.
At the top of the waharoa is Ranginui, symbolizing our connection to our creator, with Tangaroa and Tane Mahuta at the base, linking us to the whenua.
Surrounding the waharoa are kōwhaiwhai patterns, symbolizing Ngā Hau e Wha (the four winds), a beautiful pūrakau deeply connected to Ōtautahi.
The artist used the waharoa as the entrance to this kaupapa, inviting whānau to connect and work together within this space.
River is a visual artist and graphic designer who specialises in digital design and painting. While her work is visually striking with intense colour, her work also explores cultural appropriation.
River is a graduate of Bachelor of Arts from University of Canterbury, where she is continuing her postgraduate studies. River's research within art history looks at colonial and religious appropriation of māori culture, with a particular focus into the appropriation of kōwhaiwhai patterns within christianity, as a deliberate way to assimilate māori.
"Research is fundamental to my painting practice, it inspires me to create works that spark debate, and the narrative is usually politically charged” - River Jayden.
River Jayden
Ngāti Tahu-Ngāti Whaoa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa
