Ben Sommerville brings a new level of energy and fresh ideas to the new role as Kaiwhakahaere Kaupapa.
Ko Tapuae o Uenuku te Maunga
Ko Wairau te Awa
Ko Raukawa te Moana
Ko Kurahaupō te Waka
Ko Tuamatēne tōku marae
He uri au nō Rangitāne o Wairau
I whānau mai ai au I Te Whanganui a Tara
I tipu ake au i Tāmaki Makaurau
Ko Ben Sommerville tōku ingoa
A new role is bringing a mātauraka Māori lens to creating a more sustainable and thriving future through staff engagement with Tī Kōuka.
Ben Sommerville has recently started as Kaiwhakahaere Kaupapa (Project Manager Staff Engagement) with Toitū Te Taiao, the University of Otago’s sustainability office.
Ben brings a vast array of experience from previous mahi and roles in meaningful kaupapa, including Mana Rangatahi, an award-winning leadership and entrepreneurship programme based in Otago.
Ben’s impactful role will involve connecting with different groups and teams across the university, and supporting them to have a sustainable approach in their different areas of work.
“It’s not me going around telling people what to do, no way. My mahi will be helping teams throughout the university understand what they can do in their own spaces to be more sustainable, and actually have fun while doing it,” Ben says.
“When people think about contributing to sustainability, it's often plastic cups and putting what in what bins, but it's much more than that.
“I want to make people feel good and help them discover what they can do.
“When we engage as a community in activities that relate to sustainability, we are actually doing a lot more than we think we are.”
He has worked as a recruitment consultant for Talent Network, supported rangatahi development with Mana Rangatahi, and also currently serves as Chair of Southern Youth Development (formerly Malcam Trust).
Ben graduated from Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka in 2017 with his Bachelor of Commerce and has returned in the role of Kaiāwhina Māori within Te Kura Pakihi (Otago Business School) for the past three years. This sets him up well for increasing staff engagement in sustainability.
Ray O’Brian, Head of Sustainability at Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka, is very excited for what Ben brings to the table.
“With Ben coming into our sustainability whānau, he brings a skill set prime for bringing people together and engaging with kaupapa around doing what we can to protect and sustain our whenua,” he says.
“We’ve grown our student engagement activities so significantly that we needed more hands-on deck for staff engagement. We also want to do this in a way that honours the mātauraka that is such a significant part of Tī Koūka and our commitment to Te Tiriti. These two drivers combine to make this a really important and interesting role that Ben has all the right skills for."
Tī Kōuka is the sustainability strategic framework at the University of Otago. Tī Kōuka Ora, as the name implies, is a program set up to bring life to the sustainability strategy.
Ben will be helping teams around the University become more aware of Tī Kōuka Ora, helping make sustainability as engaging, and as enjoyable, as possible.
- Kōrero by Brigham Riwai-Couch, Māori Communications Adviser