Welcome to Neighbours Day Aotearoa!
The kaupapa of Neighbours Day Aotearoa is to encourage people to get to know your neighbours better! It is as simple as that!
Previous years have seen people joining Neighbours Day Aotearoa to hold plant swaps, BBQs, community movie nights, street parties, beach clean ups, and even small acts like sharing a cup of tea or running errands for our neighbours. You can check out pics of previous Neighbours Day Aotearoa events here and check out our FAQ’s page for more information here.
In the lead up to Neighbours Day Aotearoa 2022, we’re putting on a series of free online community sessions around the themes of sharing, giving and building. This is an opportunity for us to come together to share ideas, learn, contribute, and get inspired to activate our streets, suburbs and neighbourhoods.
Register your Neighbours Day Aotearoa activity with us
If you have an idea, we would love it if you would register it with us so we know how many people across the motu are intentionally doing something for Neighbours Day Aotearoa 2022.
Whether the intention is big or small, it all helps to build more connected and stronger neighbourhoods. Need some inspiration? We have listed a few ideas
Kai Connections
Kai Connections is the theme for 2022. This is about getting people to engage in all the different ways we connect over kai – growing, sharing, eating. A common denominator amongst all communities in Aotearoa is how food brings people together, so we expect to see many diverse ways that Neighbours Day Aotearoa will be celebrated in 2022!
Ideas for events include front yard BBQs, crop swap, sharing food or recipes, helping people in their garden – all ways that neighbours can connect over kai. Whether the intention is big or small, it all makes a difference.
Let’s connect through kai
Join in now by sharing a recipe! We thought we would kick things off now by encouraging people to share a favourite recipe.
This could be a whānau favourite, your aunty’s special chutney, a secret (or potentially not!) curry dish, or your most-loved cake. We’ll then share your recipe throughout the land for people to try, share, and enjoy within their communities.
Submit your recipe easily by completing the online form or email it to [email protected]
Find your Community Connector
Community Connectors will help spread the Neighbours Day Aotearoa kaupapa across the motu, build momentum and work alongside communities to put on neighbourly events.
They will support people like you to take part in Neighbours Day Aotearoa 2022 with the goal being to have more people celebrating, connecting, and saying hello to their neighbours.
Check out if you have a Connector in your area by clicking on the button below. If you don’t have someone near you and you would like some help or advice, email us at [email protected]
About Neighbours Day Aotearoa/ Mō mātou
Neighbours Day Aotearoa aims to help bring people together by encouraging intentional connection with their neighbours, whether that be organising a street party or just saying ‘Kia Ora!”
Neighbours Day Aotearoa began in 2009 and it is a collaborative campaign organised and supported by Lifewise, Inspiring Communities, Christchurch Methodist Mission, New Zealand Red Cross, Neighbourhood Support New Zealand, Kāinga Ora and Auckland Council.
Thousands of neighbours, organisations, local government and local businesses have been involved, bringing neighbours together over ten days in March each year.
Regardless of where you live, knowing your neighbours matters. We believe that knowing your neighbours better - knowing you can call on them, or they can call on you makes your neighbourhood more friendly, fun and safe.
Have you heard the saying ‘the neighbourhood who plays together, stays together’? Well, we just made that up to be honest, but we do know that in communities with more everyday ‘neighbourliness’ are stronger and more resilient, significantly enhancing the wellbeing of individuals, family/whānau and the wider community. On a more serious note, we know that stronger neighbourhoods can be part of the successful antidote for many social issues within Aotearoa.
Why Neighbours Day Aotearoa?
We acknowledge te reo Māori as one of the official languages of Aotearoa; the word Aotearoa is a word that originally was used to describe our beautiful country. Unlike English, Aotearoa is the only place in the world where we can speak te reo Māori and we want to be a part of keeping te reo Māori alive and relevant.
