Welcoming Communities Plan
This is Rangitīkei District Council’s commitment to lead collaborative efforts to develop and implement a Welcome Plan. This Plan is intended to be community-owned.
It will follow the Welcoming Communities Standard and ensure that our district is more open and accepting, building on existing efforts to embrace cultural diversity and inclusion. The Welcoming Communities programme is coordinated by Immigration New Zealand (INZ), in collaboration with the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, Department of Internal Affairs, and the Human Rights Commission. The programme is delivered at a local level, as local councils and community groups have the best understanding of the complexity of their communities and can implement solutions that best reflect the local context. The initiative is aimed at supporting positive outcomes for recent migrants, former refugees and international students, as well as the local communities they join. In Rangitīkei we have also included New Zealand residents who have recently moved to the district as newcomers.
The programme was piloted between 2017-2019 in five regions across Aotearoa New Zealand. In September 2020 INZ opened for Expressions of Interest from other Councils, and in 2020 Rangitīkei District Council (RDC) applied to join. This application was successful, and the RDC Welcoming Communities Officer began work in November 2021.
Welcoming Communities Rangitīkei has already set up an Advisory Group, conducted a stock take of existing community and Council activities, and consulted with partners and stakeholders to develop this Welcome Plan. As this is the first version of the Welcome Plan, it will continue to grow and develop.
If your organisation would like to contribute, please contact the Welcoming Communities Officer at welcomingcommunities@rangitikei.govt.nz.
