Consultation ideas from the draft National Adaptation Plan
The arrival of the draft National Adaptation Plan is exciting news for everyone in New Zealand who cares about this topic. However, it...
debraJune 10, 2022
How to write excellent emails, submission summaries, and executive summaries
As a council staff member, you know a lot about your subject matter. However, most of the time people only want the summary!...
debraApril 28, 2022
Scared of rats in your compost? Try this trick.
I recently opened the lid of my compost bin to find a startled mouse (or young rat, more likely) dining out on the...
debraApril 4, 2022
Need to keep in touch with stakeholders? Try a newsletter.
A newsletter can be an effective, low-cost way for a council to keep in touch with a specific group of people. This could...
debraFebruary 28, 2022
How to stop worrying about deadlines
I have spent way too much time and energy worrying about how to meet my deadlines – so my goal for 2022 is...
debraFebruary 3, 2022
Struggling with a council document?
The documents we write for councils may not be Moby Dick or The Bone People, but we still have to put in the...
debraJanuary 10, 2022
Notes from a writing workshop
At a writing and editing workshop for council officers I learnt as much as I shared with the group. Here's a summary of...
debraDecember 6, 2021
Five big ideas from the Local Government Review
The Local Government Review is underway, and could lead to significant changes to what councils do and how they are funded over the...
debraOctober 29, 2021
Seven ways to structure your advice
People who work in the local government sector are swimming in information, which is a heady mix of central government and consultants’ reports,...
debraOctober 2, 2021
Three takeaways from a writing workshop
Over the past month I have been developing in-depth content for a writing workshop which will include a two-hour overview in the morning...
debraSeptember 3, 2021
