Dulux has teamed up with Auckland based charity Life Centre Trust, to help give an Auckland school an extreme makeover. The ambitious makeover project will see hundreds of volunteers donning their overalls...  Read the full story at Scoop.

A team of community-minded workers are this week making their daily bread by tackling litter in Masterton's parks... Read the full story from the Wairarapa Times Age

Observations from the February 2010 Developing the Social Economy Conference in Waikatere, Auckland

Members of the Inspiring Communities Exchange team were excited to be part of New Zealand's first Community Economic Development Conference, held in Waitakere City. Here's a report back on what they experienced.

Inspiring Communities has been working alongside Opotiki leaders over recent years, especially in support of the community's aspiration for a sustainable future through new industry and jobs for local people. For years, Opotiki has been struggling economically, and the population has been in decline. But this community is positive, determined, and working outside the square towards a viable and prosperous future. Already people in this District have become experts in Kiwifruit production, and Gold Kiwifruit orchards on Opotiki's East Coast have won national recognition for production and efficiency. This 'can do' approach is about to be applied to another area of food production for world markets - farming the sea.

Victory, Nelson won the Community section in the inaugural New Zealander of the Year awards...