Alastair Child is Director of the Auckland Co-design Lab. The Lab is a joint initiative between Auckland Council and several central government agencies. It is part of the council’s Southern Initiative team which is focused on growing community and social innovation in South Auckland. Alastair will share the experiences of taking a co-design approach to working with passionate South Auckland parents to gain new insights and ideas focused on improving early years outcomes. In particular how a whānau friendly approach has provided key pointers about what the journey towards ‘co-production’ looks and feels like in practice. Alastair has 12 years experience in UK and New Zealand local government, including developing innovation-based approaches to early years and child poverty and establishing an innovation lab.