This week was a huge week for “the Reality of Everything”, with the videos of expert briefings, along with transcripts and key points all being released on the Reality of Everything website. Below is the media release that heralded this major milestone.
Expert briefings aim to reshape New Zealand’s election conversation about the future
As New Zealand heads towards a pivotal general election, organisers of the recent Reality of Everything Symposium are urging New Zealanders to engage with the defining challenge of our time: the planetary polycrisis. They say that without a much broader public and political understanding of the interconnected crises shaping our present and future, meaningful action will fall short of what is urgently needed.
Organisers of the sold-out symposium have now made recordings of expert briefings, along with transcripts and key points, freely available online, with the aim of shifting the national conversation towards the interconnected challenges that will shape our nation’s future. The recordings represent New Zealand’s first freely accessible, cross-disciplinary briefing series on the polycrisis, covering climate change, biodiversity collapse, Te Tiriti issues, energy realities, food security, public health, trade, insurance retreat and public finance.
The symposium attracted strong public interest, with in-person tickets selling out within two months of being announced and hundreds more participating via livestream.
Now there is recognition from the political sphere that these interconnected crises require urgent attention. Symposium organisers have been invited to present a “mini symposium” at Parliament covering food security, trade and public finance. “It is heartening that this invitation came from parliamentarians on the political left and right, unified in their concern about the emerging polycrisis and its implications for the wellbeing and livelihoods of New Zealanders”, Knight notes.
Organisers have also been inundated by requests to present Reality of Everything events around New Zealand. “It is really hard to keep up with the demand, but we are doing our utmost to respond to every request,” Knight says.
Organisers believe that the intense public and political interest reflects a growing recognition that many of the challenges affecting everyday life in New Zealand cannot be understood in isolation.
“People are experiencing rising insurance costs, increasing food prices, pressure on health services, extreme weather events and growing international instability. These are often discussed as separate issues, but they are profoundly interconnected.”
“Unless we understand the whole system, we risk treating symptoms rather than causes.”
With the November 2026 election approaching, organisers believe the recordings provide an opportunity for the media, policymakers, business and community leaders and citizens to engage with the evidence that is often missing from political and media commentary. Organisers are calling for the recordings to be widely shared through workplaces, government, schools and universities, community organisations and professional networks to help build awareness across society.
Knight says, “Democracies function better and produce better decisions when citizens are well informed, and we hope these resources will help foster a richer national conversation about the future we want to create.”
“The lead up to the election provides an opportunity to have a more informed conversation about the realities we face and the choices ahead.”
The recordings, transcripts and key points are available for free on the Reality of Everything website.
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