Workshop series
Workshop series
Raupapa Wānanga
This page is designed for teachers and outlines our education workshop series for invited school groups, along with key information to help plan your visit to Mystery Creek Events Centre.
Workshop information and planning your visit to Mystery Creek Events Centre
The workshop series is designed to immerse students in meaningful learning environments where they actively engage with real-world sustainability challenges. Each workshop day begins with one of two entry points: students either investigate and respond to an environmental incident or explore systems through a short theatrical performance that establishes a shared visual framework. This framework is revisited and developed throughout the day, supporting deeper understanding as learning progresses.
By the end of each workshop day, students leave equipped to apply environmental, economic, and social sustainability lenses to navigate the complex decisions that shape our communities and environment.
The programme is deliberately structured to foster critical thinking, problem-solving, and systems understanding. Each workshop day is delivered through three interactive sessions, with each session aligned to one of the United Nations Three Pillars of Sustainability: environmental, economic, and social. Students examine how the day’s focus area relates to each pillar, encouraging them to move beyond single-issue thinking and recognise the complexity of real-world sustainability challenges.
Learning is active, participatory, and experiential. Ākonga are guided through an action-packed day of hands-on experiments, games, role-plays, simulations, and collaborative challenges, where knowledge is constructed through doing rather than passive instruction. This approach supports diverse learning styles and creates space for curiosity, creativity, and shared discovery.
Which schools can participate?
Piloting in 2026, selected schools within Waipā are invited to participate to ensure the programme is fit for purpose. From 2027, Sustainable Futures will be available to all schools within Waipā, with a phased expansion into other Waikato districts in subsequent years.
Workshop series
Workshop 1: Water
20 July 2026
Students become water detectives, investigating the health of the river and where pollution might be coming from. Using real scientific tools, they will test water quality and learn how runoff, waste, and everyday human activities can affect rivers and the people who depend on them. Students will explore how water connects homes, farms, businesses, and ecosystems, and why protecting water is not just an environmental issue, but a community responsibility. This workshop builds scientific thinking while helping students understand that clean water is essential for both nature and people.
Workshop 2: Micro-organisms
21 July 2026
Students discover that some of the most important workers in our environment are too small to see. Microorganisms help clean water, break down waste, and recycle nutrients back into the soil — but they can also spread disease when systems fail. Through interactive challenges and community decision-making activities, students explore how microbes are used in real-world solutions like wetlands, composting, and wastewater treatment. They will also learn that even the best science depends on fair and responsible human decisions, linking biology to social sustainability and real community choices.
Workshop 3: Plants
10 August 2026
Students become scientists, business leaders and Environment Court jurors as they explore the important role plants play in New Zealand's environment, economy and communities. Through hands-on investigations, trade challenges and real-world decision-making, students discover how plants support biodiversity, industries and everyday life. Along the way, they learn that creating a sustainable future requires balancing environmental, economic and social outcomes while working through complex trade-offs and competing priorities.
Workshop 4: Animals
11 August 2026
Students discover why protecting animals matters through a series of interactive games, challenges and debates. From exploring how native species survive and reproduce, to investigating the connections between biodiversity, communities and the economy, students learn that everything is connected. By stepping into the roles of game show contestants, explorers and political advisors, they explore the environmental, economic and social choices that help shape the future of Aotearoa's wildlife.
Trip information
Location: Mystery Creek Events Centre
Time: 9:30am–2:00pm
Health & safety information
View our Hazard Identification document.
Schools are responsible for supervising their students and providing their own RAMS documentation. RAMS template example
For evacuation and safety purposes, teachers are asked to provide a list of all students attending on the day.
All attendees must wear covered-toe shoes to comply with the venue's health and safety policies.
Cost per student
Following school and community feedback, the Society has underwritten 67% of programme costs.
Workshops are offered at $5 per student per workshop.
This ensures accessibility while maintaining engagement and value.
Inclusions
What's included:
- Student workbooks
- Pre and post-workshop resources
- Competitions and activities
- Safe, vetted educators and volunteers
Note:
Transport is not included. Schools are responsible for arranging transport to and from Mystery Creek Events Centre for students, teachers and chaperones. Students are to bring their own lunch, water bottle.
Workshop timetable
| 9:30am | Welcome & group allocation |
| 10:00am | Session 1 |
| 10:55am | Morning Tea |
| 11:15am | Session 2 |
| 12:10pm | Lunch |
| 12:35pm | Session 3 |
| 1:30pm | Reflection, competition briefing and next steps |
| 2:00pm | Teachers and students depart |
Directions
Mystery Creek Events Centre
Gate 2, 125 Mystery Creek Road Ōhaupō, Hamilton 3881
Sustainable Futures supports schools to move beyond surface-level sustainability learning and into rich, hands-on experiences that students genuinely connect with, where learning happens almost without students realising it.
Contact us
If you would like more information about our Programme, please email us.