2025 EMPA commences in Aotearoa New Zealand with a unique place based learning experience centred in Ōtautahi/Christchurch

A week of immersive learning in Ōtautahi/Christchurch has shown the newest cohort of ANZSOG’s Executive Master of Public Administration (EMPA) program the power of place-based collaborative leadership and innovative responses to crises. 

Teaching and learning in place is a major part of the EMPA because it reorients students from their local contexts and comfort zones. Understanding the issues and challenges of an unfamiliar place gives them the chance to view their work from a different perspective, and think more deeply about what public services can do for their communities. 

The week of learning in Christchurch in March 2025 was part of the Delivering Public Value subject of the EMPA – which is delivered at the beginning of the program to give students a grounding in the concept of public value as one of the key animating ideas of the EMPA. It challenges students to think about what value government creates, how, and with whom.   

Ōtautahi/Christchurch provided a perfect location for immersive learning. The city has experienced enormous challenges: from the devastating earthquakes in 2010-2011, to the Mosque terrorist attacks in 2019. A key focus of the week was how local and central government as well as the community, responded to these events, and the resilience, creativity and innovation that characterised the response. Ngāi Tahu, the local iwi Māori was instrumental in the immediate response and continues to play a crucial role in the rebuild and recovery process, including in collaboration with government.  

Across a range of events, immersive learning experiences and in-depth panel discussions students heard from local leaders as well as senior former and current politicians and public servants from Aotearoa New Zealand. 

“Being physically here in Christchurch was powerful, and so was hearing from Māori scholars and about Māori practices. I wouldn’t have gotten that elsewhere.” – 2025 EMPA student 

To help the students understand Christchurch’s history and develop their ‘geographical imagination’ the program included walking routes (some led by New Zealand EMPA alumni) and other interactive experiences, so they got a sense of the place and the ongoing recovery process.  

Students saw first-hand some of the innovations occurring in Christchurch including the Justice and Emergency Services Precinct (collocated government services), the temporary Cardboard Cathedral, the Gap Filler projects, and learnt more about the diverse challenges and community resilience documented in the earthquake ‘experience’ museum Quake City. 

EMPA Academic Director Dr Christopher Walker said launching the EMPA in Christchurch allowed ANZSOG to lift our visibility and strengthen relationships with Aotearoa New Zealand. Two other EMPA modules are delivered in Wellington, including Managing Public Sector Organisations and the conclusion of the program where students present their group work-based projects and celebrate their graduation. 

“Students have been immersed in the unique complexities of public services in Christchurch as they continue to work with the community to rebuild the city. They have now got an understanding of the different frameworks that operate in Aotearoa New Zealand, which they can use to shape their thinking about public sector work,” Dr Walker said. 

“Each year we take EMPA students to a location for immersive learning – the week in Christchurch has been an irreplaceable chance for them to get an in-depth understanding of another jurisdiction, and to build connections with each other.” 

The structure of the program weaved Indigenous perspectives throughout the teaching and included three Māori academics – Dr Lindsey MacDonald (Ngai Tahu), Sacha McMeeking (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Mutunga),and Professor Jason Mika (Tūhoe, Ngāti Awa, Whakatōhea, Ngāti Kahungunu) – as well as other Māori contributors in various sessions across the program.  Students learnt from faculty from across Aotearoa, from the Universities of Canterbury, Waikato and Auckland. 

ANZSOG Practice Fellow Sally Washington is based in Aotearoa and worked in the New Zealand government following the earthquakes. She led the Seismic Shifts program set up to draw lessons from Christchurch about enabling public sector innovation and what it takes for leaders and organisations to be innovative. 

“The experience of Christchurch was exceptional because the city, as it stands, is a testament to public service collaboration and innovation” – 2025 EMPA student 

During the week she led several discussions, including facilitating a lively panel with former Christchurch mayor Vicki Buck and former Canterbury District Health Board CEO David Meates, both known for their innovation leadership in the city. The panel focused on thinking about how to move the public sector from innovation in crisis to innovation by design.

“Christchurch has suffered, survived, and shows a collective commitment to thriving. The two aligned EMPA practice themes of innovation and collaborative governance are part of that equation,” Ms Washington said. 

“Students got to see practical examples of those themes. The EMPA team of Chris Walker, Avery Poole and David Coombs did a superb job of designing a week that clearly inspired our students. It was a privilege to help bring that to fruition”    

Other highlights from the week included: 

• Students engaging in a thoughtful (and highly practical) discussion of Māori co-governance, led by Professor Jason Mika, with Associate Professor Sacha McMeeking from the University of Canterbury and Professor John Reid from the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre, who shared their insights on the factors that enable and block collaboration between Māori and government. The students were challenged to reflect on how their agency practices support or hinder processes that connect with Indigenous communities. In a separate session, Sacha McMeeking shared the He Ara Waiora framework with students. He Ara Waiora is a policy framework co-designed for the New Zealand Treasury to ensure Māori perspectives on wellbeing and living standards are considered in advice on government policies and programs. 
• Building understanding of political astuteness, and getting a New Zealand perspective on how to build good relationships between the public service and ministers, through a discussion led by Sally Washington, and including Wayne Eagleson (former Chief of Staff to NZ Prime Ministers John Key and Bill English), The Hon. Lianne Dalziel (former NZ government cabinet minister and former Mayor of Christchurch) and Andrew Kibblewhite (Secretary of the Ministry of Justice). The panellists challenged students to understand the politics without getting involved in the politics. That means providing free and frank, but careful and considered analysis and policy advice to give ministers the best chance of delivering successful outcomes for the public. Students have now returned to their home jurisdictions, to digest what they saw, learned, and consider what they might now put into practice.

Initial feedback has been highly supportive of the week in Christchurch, with students describing the week as an exceptional experience which ‘provided a living example of the importance of place in determining what constitutes public value’. 

One student described it as: “invaluable for an immersive connection to place and community, particularly for Commonwealth government employees who may not have frequent opportunities to directly connect with the communities we serve.” 

Students shared what they would immediately take back into their daily work, including engaging more authentically with First Nations communities, collaborating better internally and across government, and using the power of storytelling to articulate the value public services create for people. 

ANZSOG’s Executive Master of Public Administration is a unique two-year program designed specifically for the public sector and delivered with ANZSOG’s partner universities. The EMPA explores the core principles of public sector management and leadership in a contemporary context and is designed for public sector professionals who are committed to serving at the highest levels of government. Since 2003, more than 70 EMPA students have gone on to hold roles as CEOs or Secretaries (equivalents) after completing the program.