For much of the past decade, the story around skilled trades has been one of decline, ageing workforces, falling apprenticeship numbers and a persistent perception among school leavers that a university degree was the only serious path to a stable career. That story is starting to shift, and the change is coming from an unexpected […]

Teachers across Aotearoa are being invited to take students on a free virtual journey through Central Otago this August, where they will learn how landslides shape the landscape — and what scientists and engineers are doing to better understand the risks. Funded by the Natural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake, the LEARNZ field trip, On […]

The recent magnitude 6.3 earthquake near Te Anau, and the tsunami warning that briefly followed, were a reminder that New Zealand’s biggest seismic risks don’t always stay where they’re expected. Resilience is no longer just about compliance or retrofitting after the fact, but about how buildings and infrastructure are conceived from the outset. That shift […]

Work-related disease kills far more building workers than falls, vehicles and machinery, and WorkSafe NZ estimates it claims between 750 and 900 lives across the nation’s workforce every year. Measured against the acute toll that dominates site safety, a worker is 15 times more likely to die from a disease the job caused than from […]

From low-carbon concrete and seismic resilience to structural innovation and the economic outlook for construction, the Concrete NZ Conference 2026 promises three days of ideas, insights and industry connections that will resonate well beyond the cement and concrete sector. Held from 21–23 October at Wellington’s Tākina Convention and Exhibition Centre, this year’s conference evokes the […]

New Zealand’s leading vocational education research event is marking two decades of bringing researchers, educators, employers and policymakers together, with abstract submissions and registrations now open for the 20th New Zealand Vocational Education and Training Research Forum. Co-hosted by Skills Group and BCITO, this year’s forum carries the theme Building Bridges, reflecting the idea that […]