Auckland wins world’s largest Indigenous education conference

Image: New Zealand celebrates winning WIPCE 2025 Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, New Zealand, has been selected to host the World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference on Education (WIPCE 2025). Over more than 30 years, WIPCE has grown to become a significant international event in the Indigenous education movement. WIPCE is the largest, most diverse Indigenous education forum in the world, and is expected to attract around 3,000 global representatives to share strategies for culturally grounded education. The event, to be held in November 2025, will be one of the first international conferences held in Auckland’s New Zealand International Convention Centre (NZICC), delivering an estimated economic impact to the city of more than NZD $6m (USD $3.8m). The bid was led by Auckland University of Technology’s Office of Māori Advancement and Te Ara Poutama (its faculty of Māori and Indigenous Development); Auckland Convention Bureau (ACB), a division of Tātaki Auckland Unlimited; and Tourism New Zealand’s Business Events team. The bid also received support from Māori King Te Arikinui Tūheitia Paki, the chair of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Trust Marama Royal, and academic leaders in Māori advancement. Te Wānanga Aronui O Tāmaki Makau Rau (AUT)’s pro-vice-chancellor for Māori Advancement, Professor Pare Keiha, will be the chair for WIPCE 2025. Keiha commented that the WIPCE International Council voted unanimously for AUT to host the event in 2025. “The WIPCE council was elated by (the bid’s) multi-generational focus. My esteemed colleagues have done Aotearoa proud in bringing this home, a job made possible with the full support of others, including Tourism New Zealand and the Auckland Convention Bureau,” he added. “We look forward to welcoming thousands of our global Indigenous brothers and sisters to the shores of Aotearoa New Zealand, so that we may collectively work to transform the lives of our young people, the world over.” Head of ACB, Ken Pereira, said: “We are proud of the opportunity to celebrate the mana of our indigenous Māori culture and highlight the important work being done in our education sector on a world stage. This win is an example of the importance of industry partners working together to bring world-class events to Tāmaki Makaurau.” Tourism New Zealand general manager New Zealand and Business Events, Bjoern Spreitzer, commented: “It’s truly exciting to be able to share New Zealand’s unique Māori culture and world view with the manuhiri (visitors) who will attend this conference.” “This event will create excellent opportunities for knowledge sharing and positive legacies.” NZICC’s director of Sales and Marketing, Prue Daly, said: “it is a privilege to be welcoming WIPCE … as one of our first international conventions after our much-anticipated opening in 2025.” “The sharing of knowledge and showcasing New Zealand’s manaakitanga (hospitality; kindness; generosity) are fundamental values of the NZICC, and to be able to foster this through the WIPCE conference … is very exciting.”