FCRC Symposium 'The Future We Build' 2026 at the University of Auckland

A half-day climate-and-cities symposium at the University of Auckland

The Future Cities Research Centre will hold its symposium "The Future We Build: Cities, Climate Change and the Intensification Challenge" on Tuesday 3 November 2026, running from 1:00pm to 5:00pm with networking and refreshments afterward, according to the New Zealand Institute of Landscape Architects (NZILA) events listing. The session takes place in Room 421-619 at 26 Symonds Street in the Auckland CBD, on the University of Auckland's city campus, and is free to attend.

Who runs it

The symposium is hosted by the Future Cities Research Centre (FCRC), a transdisciplinary research centre at the University of Auckland's School of Architecture and Planning that focuses on climate change and social, cultural and spatial urban well-being, per the centre's own website. The organising contact is Dr Iresh Jayawardena, Research Domain Lead at FCRC, who is listed on the NZILA notice as the point of contact for questions and who also moderates the closing panel.

Who it is for and the programme

The NZILA listing frames the event around how research, policy and practice can collaborate on climate-resilient, liveable and sustainable urban futures. The programme includes keynote addresses from Cornell Tukiri (Climate Innovation Lead - Maori, Climate Connect Aotearoa) and Emily Grace (Chief Policy Officer, Te Kokiringa Taumata | New Zealand Planning Institute), PhD research presentations, and an industry research showcase led by Cushla Loomb (Business Director - Climate Resilience, Beca) and Prof. Paola Boarin of FCRC. The audience is professional in orientation: the listing records CPD recognition, including 5 Category 1 NZPI CPD points, with NZRAB points still to be confirmed.

Venue and logistics as factual context

The confirmed venue, 26 Symonds Street, is a University of Auckland building on the edge of the Auckland city centre, within the central-city campus precinct and walking distance of the CBD and public-transport links along Symonds Street. As a half-day, free, CPD-bearing academic symposium with a set room booking rather than a hosted conference package, the logistical footprint is a single afternoon session plus a networking function.

Why it matters in NZ MICE

The symposium sits in a dense cluster of late-2026 built-environment and landscape events in New Zealand, and it illustrates the university-anchored association and research segment of the Auckland meetings calendar: a free, professionally accredited gathering that draws planners, landscape architects, engineers and policy figures into the city campus. Its cross-sector line-up of academic, government (NZ Planning Institute) and industry (Beca) speakers reflects the association-sector pattern of combining CPD, research dissemination and networking in a compact Auckland CBD setting.