ASPA 2023 Conference

Keynote Address: Is it co-design or is it not co-design: That is the question.

About Anna:

Anna Rolleston is of Ngati Ranginui, Ngai Te Rangi and Ngati Pukenga descent. She originally trained in sport and exercise science, with a PhD in medicine, and is now a leading voice in healthcare in Aotearoa New Zealand. Anna is a recognised practitioner and researcher, who holds various governance roles across the sector. She is managing director of Manawa Ora (The Centre for Health), which specialises in a kaupapa Māori primary care approach to long-term condition management. Anna was founding co-director of Pūtahi Manawa, Healthy Hearts for Aotearoa New Zealand, which is Centre of Research Excellence hosted from the University of Auckland comprising a collective of researchers, health professionals and community organisations focussed on improving health outcomes for Māori, Pacific People and women.

Her work is dedicated to combining robust scientific and academic evidence with an understanding that change comes from within, but that people often need a good deal of support to facilitate that change. In all of this work, Anna is a strong advocate of exploring new ways of effectively working together with communities to optimise their health outcomes.

Keynote Address: Creating better policies and environments for children’s physical activity by Working Together with stakeholders across disciplines and roles.

Children’s physical activity, or the lack of, is associated with a myriad of physical and social factors. To generate real, sustainable impact in such behaviours, it is critical to get various stakeholders to work together. In this keynote, I will share our evidence-based, physical activity promotion efforts and experiences in working with interdisciplinary researchers, key influencers of children including parents and school principals, and governmental policymakers. While the engagement of respective parties is important, effective communication and coordination between everyone involved is critical to generating impactful outcomes from policy to practical levels.

About Amy:

Professor Amy Ha is the Associate Dean for Research (2015 – 2023) of the Faculty of Education and formerly the Chairperson (2009–2015) of the Department of Sports Science and Physical Education at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her research interests include application of information technology in physical education and sports, family-based physical activity, fundamental movement skills, physical literacy, and teachers’ professional development.

Keynote Address: The SUNRISE International Study: an example of a large-scale collaboration in movement behaviour research.

The SUNRISE International Study of Movement Behaviours in the Early Years (SUNRISE) involves 64 countries, 47 of which are low- or middle-income. An aim of the study is to provide opportunities for capacity building and to build an international community of researchers. As of June 2023, 40 countries have completed the pilot phase and 10 the main phase of the study. This presentation will summarise the progress to date against the study aims, share learnings on conducting a large-scale collaborative study, and provide insights on successes and challenges in working together across multiple jurisdictions.

About Tony:

Anthony Okely is a Distinguished Professor of Public Health and NHMRC Leadership Fellow in the School of Health and Society at the University of Wollongong, Australia. He also holds an Adjunct Professorship at Western Norway University.

Tony’s research focuses on movement behaviours in children, with a particular focus on low- and middle-income countries. He has been involved in the development of movement behaviour guidelines at a national, regional, and global level over the past 15 years. He currently leads an international study of movement behaviours in the early years called SUNRISE, which involves 64 countries, 47 of which are LMICs.

Keynote Address: “Nāu te rourou, nāku te rourou…” (with your basket, and my basket): How can sharing resources and knowledge ensure wellbeing for all?

About Farah:

Since leaving Piopio, Farah went on to complete a PhD in Sport Sociology and reach the highest echelons in rugby – playing for a decade in the black jersey (1997-2006) and captaining the Black Ferns to 3 World Cup victories.  After hanging up her boots, she continued to give back to education and sport (particularly rugby) in a variety of roles.  Most recently, Farah became the Chair of the NZ Māori Rugby Board and the first woman on the NZ Rugby Board in 2016, a director of Ihi Aotearoa Sport NZ in 2018 and Deputy Chair of the NZ Rugby Board in 2022.  Farah endeavours to use her learnings and networks to influence in sport governance and academia to provide insight gained from her experiences to challenge dominant narratives related to Māori, women and girls, leadership and sport. In 2022 she took on a new role as Pou Ākonga – leading ākonga Māori success initiatives at Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University within the DVC Māori Office and continues to enjoy being part of a high performing team, and seeing others reach their potential.