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      Beaches, wineries and Art Deco. The Hawke's Bay has a diverse economy, including business services that support its sectors to be the second largest contributor to regional GDP in the country. A popular tourist destination, the region has some of the countries best restaurants as well as stunning scenery, markets and festivals.

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      The Bay of Plenty is officially New Zealand's sunniest destination, enjoying short-lived winters and long summer days. The Region offers some of the country's most spectacular views and many ways to enjoy the pristine scenery and natural wonders. Visitors also enjoy exploring the Bay's Māori heritage and pre-European roots.

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      The Waikato is known for its rolling plains, fertile land and the mighty Waikato River. The region is the fourth largest regional economy in New Zealand, with a strong focus on primary production and associated manufacturing.

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      Whanganui

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      Welcome to Whanganui. This is our place; where history is full of stories, legends and rich legacy. Where a thriving arts scene, creativity and evolving culture inspire our modern lives. Where breath-taking natural landscapes capture imaginations at every turn.

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      Located in the lower North Island, Manawatu is heartland New Zealand, offering an authentic Kiwi experience.

      The main in the region are Palmerston North, most notable for Massey University. Palmerston has a vibrant, arts and culture scene.

      The region's economy is based on food production and processing, research and education. The region is also home for the New Zealand defence force.

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      Northland was originally home to some of our country's first human inhabitants. Today, it is one of the fastest growing regions in New Zealand and home to nearly 189,000 people. Rich in culture and history, the region boasts a stunning natural environment.

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      Auckland Region stretches from the the beaches of the Pacific Ocean in the east to the expansive beaches of the rugged west coast of the Tasman Sea. Auckland City, the largest urban area in New Zealand is considered the main economic center of New Zealand and a popular destination for international students and travellers.

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      Gisborne is a Region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. It's known for wineries and surf beaches such as Makorori. The region has maintained a strong Maori heritage. The region's economy is made up mainly of agriculture, horticulture and forestry.

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      The West Coast, or as some locals call it, the "Wild West", is a long thin region that runs down the South Island's west coast.

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      Canterbury is a region on New Zealand’s South Island marked by grassy plains, clear lakes and snow-capped mountains. Its largest city, Christchurch, is famed for its art scene and green spaces.

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      There are few places in the world which will leave you with a lasting sense of difference. Central Otago is undoubtedly one of them from its landscapes, its seasons, its people, its products and experiences.

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      Marlborough Region is on the north-eastern corner of the South Island. The region is well known for its winemaking industry, and the Marlborough Sounds, an extensive network of coastal waterways, peninsulas and islands.

      Apart from the wine industry, aquaculture, agriculture and tourism play an important role in the local economy.

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      Southland is New Zealand’s most southerly region and includes the World Heritage ranked Fiordland National Park.

      The region's only city Invercargill offers a relaxed pace of life with wide streets, little traffic, spacious parks and gardens, striking Victorian and Edwardian architecture and impressive sporting facilities including New Zealand’s first indoor velodrome. Southland's location is such that views of Aurora Australis or the Southern Lights are common.

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New Zealand and Japan high schools win ‘dragon’s den’ style business pitches tackling Sustainable Development Goals

Attention: This article was automatically translated and is still waiting on one of our editors to approve the translated content. 
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Five high schoolers from across New Zealand have been crowned winners in the inaugural BizVenture Programme, a pilot initiative led by Education New Zealand and its Japanese partners to give Kiwi and Japanese students a first-hand experience conceiving business solutions that address the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Forty specially selected students* from New Zealand and Japan collaborated in a three-day virtual exchange on September 18-20, where they chose one challenge addressing some of Japan’s pressing social issues, before designing and presenting a business plan in a ‘dragon’s den’ style pitch to judges.

Each team answered to one of three briefs surrounding relative poverty, gender equality or youth mental wellbeing.

The winning New Zealand team comprised of Hamish Robinson from Napier’s Taradale High School, Benjamin Young from Tauranga Boys College, Daniel Blight from Nelson’s Waimea College, Kaiah Sherriff from Southland Girls High School, and Abirami Kabilan of Auckland’s Pakuranga College – with the budding entrepreneurs choosing to tackle a solution that directly enhances the mental wellbeing of Japanese teenagers.

UNICEF reports rank Japan 37th amongst the 41 OECD countries for children’s mental health, assessed by factors including life satisfaction and suicide rates (New Zealand is in a similar position at 38th).

The Kiwi students successfully pitched a concept to develop a sustainable clothing brand called 大丈夫, which translates in English to “It’s Okay”, with the aim of promoting positive conversations around mental health amongst Japanese youth – including ambitions to gain the support of high-reach Japanese influencers to help push their critical wellbeing message.

“While a clothing brand in itself is not particularly creative, we feel our idea to use clothing as a way to push our message about the importance of mental health is,” their business plan explained. “Using clothing to spread our message is distinctly unique in Japan, a nation with negative stigma surrounding mental health.”

17-year-old Abirama Kabilan (Pakuranga College) said of her venture: “The UN SDGs are some of the biggest problems facing humanity today, so working on them was a pretty full-on task. Despite this, it was amazing to see what happens when a couple of young people put their heads together. One thing we all realised was that the SDGs are interlinked, so by working on one it puts us in a better position to target the others.”

Kabilan says the exposure to Japanese business and societal culture was eye-opening.

“One of the most interesting things about this cross-cultural experience was seeing how the Japanese students approached the same problems. Young people around the world in other countries will have such different ways of approaching these problems too, imagine the ideas we would come up with if we all worked together.”

Meanwhile, the Japanese winning team developed a business case for a new app to support Japanese fathers doing housework and actively bringing up children – a social dynamic challenge for Japan’s working mothers. This challenge was set in response to Japan’s rank as 120th in the gender gap index – worst among G7 countries – and the Japanese government not achieving its mandate to increase women in senior leadership roles to 30% by 2020 (currently at 15%).

The bilateral collaboration saw the students exposed to business and culture in both countries via a weekend of interactive workshops with New Zealand and Japanese guest speakers, cultural mentors and language coaches, in preparation for their pitches.

ENZ’s programme is designed to continually build on New Zealand’s diplomatic relationship with Japan when travel for international students is limited.

“Over many decades Japan and New Zealand have benefitted from an enduring partnership, and next year we will be celebrating 70 years of diplomatic relations. Education has played a really important role in fostering people-to-people ties, and supporting the development of what are now, in 2021, very close connections between our two countries,” says Hamish Cooper, New Zealand Ambassador to Japan.

“Before the pandemic, more than 10,000 students from Japan studied in New Zealand every year, making an important economic contribution, but also enriching our schools and communities, and helping New Zealand students become more globally connected.”

Following the pilot’s success, BizVenture collaborators have bigger plans for 2022.

“Our plan is to host BizVenture face-to-face in respective countries in the future and for winning teams to visit each other’s countries,” says Misa Kitaoka, Education New Zealand’s Director of Education for Japan. “We plan to fundraise and partner with business advocacy leaders and organisations in both countries to support students’ travel cost and/or implement their business ideas in the marketplace.”

BizVenture also served as an important show of commitment by the New Zealand and Japanese governments collectively working towards achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals.

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