Planning for local outcomes

If Olivia Smith ever had concerns a career as a planner would mean being stuck at a desk in an office all day, they certainly weren’t well-founded. The 29-year-old, from Alexandra in central Otago, began work for the Canterbury regional council, Environment Canterbury, as a planner before becoming a zone facilitator. Her role as a facilitator is a pivotal one in the Canterbury Water Management Strategy (CWMS), a strategy that’s taking a collaborative community-driven approach to water management. One of her friends joked she’s a professional socialiser, and while her job is certainly a lot more than that, being able to communicate, bring people together and empathise is an absolute necessity. Olivia holds a Master of Arts degree in social geography from Otago University. It followed a Bachelor of Science, also from Otago, majoring in physical geography with a minor in management. When first deciding what to study when she embarked on her degree she wasn’t sure where her study would take her. She toyed with all sorts of ideas – from becoming a lawyer to an early childhood teacher – before she realised it was the interface between humans and the environment that really interested her. She completed planning papers as part of her degrees and admits she found “talk of the policies and rules a tad dry”. “For me, my perception of ‘planning’ changed once I escaped the world of academia and entered the real world. “After working in several roles, I jumped at the opportunity to work on a collaborative planning project at Environment Canterbury, focused on water quality in the Waitaki region.” Olivia says the role appealed because it wasn’t about textbook planning, but getting out in the community to develop a plan to deliver local outcomes. “In my role as a planner I quickly realised that the aspects of the job I enjoyed the most were always centred on people. “I love getting to kno