FLANZ Conference 2026: He Tāngata is a three-day association conference on flexible, open and distance learning, held 7–9 October 2026 at Otago Polytechnic in Ōtepoti Dunedin, hosted by the Flexible Learning Association of New Zealand with ODLAA as principal sponsor.
The FLANZ Conference 2026, themed *He Tāngata*, is a confirmed in-person conference running 7–9 October 2026 at Otago Polytechnic in Ōtepoti Dunedin. According to the dedicated conference site, the event brings the education community together to share ideas and showcase recent innovations in learning and teaching, with a particular focus on distance, online and blended delivery. Registration is open, submission and early-bird deadlines closed on 31 August 2026, and a programme outline has been published, with a draft detailed programme to follow.
The theme *He tāngata* — "the people" — draws on the understanding that education is fundamentally about people. The organisers frame the conference around the sector's achievements in improving how people engage with learning, and how education technologies can be used effectively when educators and learners are separated by space or time.
The conference is organised by the Flexible Learning Association of New Zealand (FLANZ), a registered charity (CC37269) based c/o Open Polytechnic in Lower Hutt, Wellington. FLANZ works to enhance flexible learning practices across all sectors of New Zealand education and to advance research and scholarship in open, distance and flexible learning. It publishes the Journal of Open, Flexible and Distance Learning (JOFDL) and runs professional networks alongside its conference programme.
The 2026 event is supported by a strong sponsor line-up. The Open and Distance Learning Association of Australia (ODLAA) is principal sponsor, positioning the conference as a trans-Tasman gathering. Massey University is the Awards sponsor, and Open Polytechnic and local Dunedin company ADInstruments are also named as supporters.
The conference targets education professionals working in flexible, distance, online and blended modes — academics, teachers, learning designers, technologists and policy makers. The organiser reports a large number of presentation submissions, promising a packed programme of presentations and workshops. Confirmed keynote speakers announced by FLANZ include Dr Mark Nichols, Dr Selena Chan, Professor Kathryn MacCallum and Dr Adrian Woodhouse.
Beyond sessions, the programme includes the annual FLANZ AGM, held during the conference, and a FLANZ Awards function to be held at the Ōtepoti/Otago Museum.
The conference is hosted at Otago Polytechnic (Te Kura Matatini ki Otago), whose Dunedin campus sits in the city's tertiary precinct next to the University of Otago, allowing shared resources including accommodation and library facilities. Delegates enter via "the Hub", a central communal space designed as the campus front door with entrances on Forth Street, Union Street and Harbour Terrace.
For delegate movement, the conference site notes that visitors fly into Dunedin International Airport, about 30 km (a 30-minute drive) from the city centre, reachable by taxi, coach or rental car, with direct international flights weekly from Brisbane and domestic services via Auckland and Christchurch. Dunedin itself is compact and walkable, with a local bus service and taxis for door-to-door travel. On accommodation, FLANZ points delegates to a Dunedin business-events accommodation guide and highlights negotiated arrangements at the Scenic Hotel Dunedin and the Fable Dunedin.
FLANZ Conference 2026 is a solid example of the association-conference segment that anchors much of New Zealand's regional business-events calendar. It draws a national — and, via ODLAA, trans-Tasman — professional audience to Dunedin for three days outside the main-centre circuit, channelling delegate nights into local hotels and an evening function at the Otago Museum. For a smaller host city, a mid-scale academic conference of this kind delivers meaningful shoulder-season activity and reinforces Dunedin's positioning as a heritage, education and UNESCO City of Literature destination for the MICE sector.
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