Career guidance's global body comes to Auckland: IAEVG Conference 2026 at the NZICC, 25–27 November

The International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance (IAEVG) will hold its 2026 international conference in Auckland, New Zealand, from 25 to 27 November 2026 at the New Zealand International Convention Centre (NZICC), under the theme "Navigating the Future" (IAEVG, iaevg.com). It is the association's flagship annual gathering for the career guidance field, bringing together researchers, practitioners and policymakers from education, training and employment services. The 2026 edition marks the first time New Zealand has hosted the IAEVG international conference since Wellington in 2009.

The conference is deliberately scheduled back-to-back with the ICCDPP International Symposium (22-24 November 2026), so that international delegates can attend both in a single trip to Auckland (ICCDPP; Tahatu / NZ Government).

Who runs it

The event is the official conference of the International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance (IAEVG), the controlling international body that rotates the conference between host countries each year. Recent editions were held in Jyvaskyla, Finland (2024), The Hague, Netherlands (2023) and Seoul, Korea (2022), with Dublin, Ireland confirmed to follow in 2027 (IAEVG, iaevg.com).

Locally, the conference is hosted by the Careers and Transition Education Association of New Zealand (CATE), with the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) acting as the government partner for both the IAEVG conference and the adjoining ICCDPP symposium. TEC frames the two events as supporting New Zealand's National Careers System Strategy (TEC; Tahatu).

Who it's for

The conference is open to career development professionals from education, training, employment services and related sectors, as well as researchers and policymakers working on educational, vocational and career guidance (ICCDPP). The UK Career Development Institute has flagged the event to its members as "a major international careers and guidance gathering" (CDI). Delegates can expect a programme built around sharing research, innovation and practice and engaging with international perspectives on career development and transitions.

The venue and logistics

The New Zealand International Convention Centre (NZICC) is Auckland's purpose-built convention venue in the downtown central business district, featuring the 4,500-capacity Ariki Hall plus 33 meeting rooms (NZICC). Its central-city location places it within walking distance of a large cluster of Auckland hotels and the waterfront, and it is served by the city's public transport network; Auckland International Airport connects the city to major Asia-Pacific and long-haul gateways, which is relevant for an international association conference drawing delegates from Europe, Asia and the Americas. (Transport and accommodation details are provided here as factual context for planners, not as a recommendation.)

Why it matters for New Zealand MICE

Securing a rotating international association conference of this profile is a notable win for New Zealand's business-events sector: IAEVG last met in New Zealand in 2009, and the 2026 edition returns a global professional body to the country for the first time in roughly 17 years (IAEVG). The back-to-back staging with the invitation-only ICCDPP policy symposium effectively doubles the inbound delegate value from a single week of international travel, and the explicit involvement of the Tertiary Education Commission signals government alignment behind using the event to advance New Zealand's National Careers System Strategy (TEC; Tahatu). For NZICC and Auckland, it is exactly the kind of multi-day, internationally sourced association conference the venue was built to attract.