Waitangi National Trust and Foundation North announce partnership to plan for 2040
Waitangi National Trust and Foundation North have announced a new partnership agreement, with Foundation North committing $3 million over three years to support the development of the Treaty Grounds. The partnership comes as we celebrate the significance of Waitangi as the home of our nation's founding document and look ahead to the bicentenary of the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in 2040.
The partnership recognises the importance of the Treaty Grounds to New Zealand and supports the work and long-term vision Waitangi National Trust has set for 2040, backing the planning that will help shape the journey ahead.
The announcement was made at the Combined Community Trusts' conference, Partnering for Impact – 2040 & Beyond, held at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. The conference explored how capital can serve future generations, a theme that reflects the thinking behind this funding partnership.
In hosting the conference in its rohe, Foundation North frames that conversation around three ideas:
• what we hold and value,
• how we care for it,
• why it must endure.
These ideas align closely with the intentions of Waitangi National Trust's trustees as guardians of the Treaty Grounds and its future: caring for taiao and taonga, sharing decisions with communities, and ensuring all New Zealanders see Waitangi as a place of significance and importance to them.
The new agreement builds on Foundation North's previous contributions to Te Kōngahu Museum of Waitangi. Together, the two commitments reflect a relationship that has grown from a landmark capital project into a shared commitment to planning for the decades ahead.
Waitangi National Trust Board Chair Dame Jenny Shipley says: “Planning for 2040 is about cherishing and upholding past undertakings and investing in the shared future that the Treaty foresaw as two peoples committed to build a nation together.
This special partnership gives us the room to think and plan across generations. We are grateful to Foundation North for walking alongside us on that journey.”
Chief Executive Ben Dalton says: “Foundation North's support for Te Kōngahu Museum of Waitangi showed what is possible when we are trusted to dream big. This new agreement extends that trust to the way we plan, so we can shape the next chapter at Waitangi together with the communities who care for this place.”
In closing the conference, Dylan Lawrence (CEO of Foundation North) commented “There is nothing like immersing yourself in a place that reminds you of where you come from. When the nation gathers here to reflect on 200 years of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, we want to know the Waitangi National Trust has not had to walk that road alone".
