Innovation through collaboration… Together we are more than the sum of our parts!

Our Intellectual Capital (IC) is our super power. It is our past and our future. It can build community, social cohesion, compelling identity, common prosperity, and quality of life…

Nelson’s long history of innovation…

  • The Nelson Institute, NZ’s first literary, scientific, and philosophic institute

  • Cawthron Institute, NS’s first public-benefit science trust organisation

  • The first provincial museum – Nelson Provincial Museum,

  • The First public school system in NZ (called The Nelson Model) which becomes the basis for all public schools in NZ

  • Nelson School of Music, the first school of music in NZ,
  • NZ’s oldest state-supported high school – Nelson College,
  • NZ’s first Nobel Prize laureate – Lord Ernest Rutherford,

  • Founding place of the World of Wearable Art;

  • Suter Art Gallery, the third public art gallery in NZ,

  • Most active Science Society in NZ,

  • Among the most active Institute of International Affairs in NZ,

  • One of the first technical education institutes in the country – NMIT,

  • NZ’s longest continuous library service to the public,

  • The most scientists and researchers per capita in the nation,

  • Te Whatu Ora Nelson Marlborough, the biggest provider of jobs located within the region,

  • Very high rates of entrepreneurial businesses per capita

We’re on the right track…

Nelson has a history of not only the cultivation of the intellectual and creative life of its people, but it has a history of extending the world of art, knowledge, and culture to a wide swath of its people. The council and leaders of Nelson have a history of treating the sharing of knowledge as a fundamental obligation it has to the public.

But we face challenges…

The problem is that most of these people are working in isolation from each other and the wider community, and although many would like to help in some way, they don’t have a clear outlet for applying their skillset for the greater good. We see a desperate need to bring our intellectual capital community together on projects that serve the wider community overall and build identity and affinity among members of the local intellectual capital sub-group.

Which is where WICK comes in…

WICK – the Whakatū Intellectual Capital Kohanga– is the start of bringing this idea to life within the Nelson Tasman Region. Over 100 people in our IC community have been consulted and brought together to foster a shared sense of community among these individuals from disparate backgrounds. Based on ongoing conversations with our IC community, their ideas and visions have been brought together through our informal WICK network. This has resulted in 10 specific initiatives that will help make Whakatū a more vibrant, inclusive and liveable city.

With a bold vision for the future…

As a young country we do not yet embrace the value of intellectual life the way more mature countries such as those in Scandinavia, France, Russia and Japan do. Once the WICK initiative to promote intellectual capital, the life of the mind, and an innovation economy has matured, it can serve as a blueprint for other cities around the country and build the quality of intellectual life of our society and the viability of our innovation economy.

Our Organisation

WICK is not a membership organisation. We are an affiliation organisation – a group of people united by a common vision who come and go (and come again) as the projects animate our passions.

Find out how you can become involved