Workshops
Theme: Research

Description: In this session, researchers from He Kāinga Oranga Housing Research Group and the New Zealand Centre for Sustainable Cities, at the University of Otago, Wellington, present three studies. Each 15-minute presentation links the ideas of housing, support, health, and wellbeing, and is followed by a Q&A.

• Adara (Primary care and supporting people with experience of homelessness)
• Chang (youth social outcomes and public housing)
• Cheyenne (an intervention helping households to address fuel poverty)

Audience: This session is for attendees interested in the health and wellbeing of people living in public and community housing, including other researchers, Community Housing Providers, support organisations, health professionals, and those working in policy and/or governance roles.

Description: How do neighbourhoods and housing redevelopment shape wellbeing across Aotearoa, and what can we learn from comparing communities over time and place? This interactive workshop shares emerging findings from Te Hotonga Hapori – Connecting Communities, a programme examining how housing, neighbourhood environments, and access to resources influence wellbeing outcomes. The session brings together multiple strands of evidence, including overall programme insights, deprivation analysis, changes in wellbeing over time, and innovative spatial and environmental methods. Participants will explore how different dimensions of neighbourhood context - from access to services, to street-level environment quality, to broader socioeconomic conditions - combine to shape lived experience.Through interactive discussion and visual tools, the workshop aims to deepen understanding of how place-based factors influence wellbeing, and to support thinking about how evidence can inform housing and community development practice.

Audience: Suitable for researchers, policy makers, and community housing practitioners interested in neighbourhood wellbeing, housing redevelopment impacts, and innovative place-based research methods.

Description: In May 2026 The Salvation Army Te Ope Whakaora released the first of a series of papers on the 6 pillars of reintegration, with the first focused on the role of housing.

In Aotearoa New Zealand, more than 43 percent of people released from prison return within two years, and almost two‑thirds (59.2%) reoffend, highlighting the urgent need for effective reintegration strategies that support people to build stable, crime‑free lives upon release.

The 6-Pillars is an evidence‑based model, used by the Department of Corrections and aligned with international best practice, provides a coherent framework for understanding what people need to successfully reintegrate. Because these pillars reflect real‑world experience, overlaps between them are expected and intentional. Barriers in one area often reinforce challenges in another. For example, unstable housing can worsen mental health, limit access to employment, or hinder family reconnection.

This presentation focuses on the first SPPU paper “Making Home base” that looks at Pillar One: Accommodation because finding accommodation is a critical part of successful reintegration.

Each report in the full series explores one pillar in depth, drawing on research, policy analysis, The Salvation Army’s frontline expertise and lived experience insights.

Together, they aim to provide a comprehensive picture of reintegration in Aotearoa New Zealand and identify practical reforms to improve outcomes for individuals, whānau and communities

Audience: TBC