Speaker events and Diplomatic Dialogues

WILP speaker events are your chance to learn from, and engage with political, social, cultural and business leaders from all over the world.

The events can be public lectures, debates, workshops and panel discussions. As a WILP participant, you are required to attend at least five speaker events as part of the programme. Some speaker events are held online.

Speakers represent various partner organisations, and our Diplomatic Dialogue Series benefits from input by representatives from diplomatic missions in Wellington.

Here are some examples of past speaker events:

  • Asia After Five: Experiencing Culture and Creating Careers (Asia New Zealand Foundation)
  • Careers Without Borders (NZIIA)
  • Sustainable Storytelling: Social enterprise and preservation of indigenous cultures
  • Stories of Climate Mobility in the Pacific with the Centre for Asia Pacific Refugee Studies
  • Is Peace Achievable in Yemen? With the NZIIA
  • 'The Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) at 50: Aging Gracefully or Mid-Life Crisis?' (Centre for Strategic Studies)
  • Norwegian Foreign Policy in a Time of Transition with the Embassy of Norway
  • Careers in International Development with Victoria Development Society
  • Hong Kong, Reimagined: Q&A with student directors from the Academy of Film
  • When Disaster Strikes: Human Responses to Wildfires and Evacuation
  • The Greatest Economic Achievement on Earth? Ending Poverty in the Asia-Pacific with Dr. Allan Bollard
  • Navigating Taiwan-New Zealand Relations, COVID, Economy and Beyond (NZIIA)
  • Unrestrained Refrains: Race and Subjectivity in Contemporary US Black Poetics
  • Navigating education borders: refugee-background students in Southern Aotearoa
  • Future of Work for Women: The ‘Motherhood Penalty’ and The Gender Pay Gap
  • Indonesia's Priorities in the Pacific Region (Embassy of Indonesia)
  • Mainland Southeast Asia: power, protest and participation (Centre for Strategic Studies)
  • The Opportunities for Indigenous Fashion Post-Pandemic
  • Climate Change Disruption in a Digital Age
  • New Zealand & China: A Snapshot of Bilateral Activities
  • Unwrapped: The Good, Bad and Ugly Side of Plastic
  • United States Foreign Policy in the Next Administration: Implications for New Zealand
  • Are the Belt and Road Initiative and the Free and Open Indo Pacific Compatible?
  • Te Tiriti o Waitangi and equity in architecture
  • Cuba's Foreign Policy Priorities in the New World (Embassy of Cuba) 
    Partnership with the United Nations for SDGs achievements (H.E Jesus Domingo, Philippines Ambassador to New Zealand)

Diplomatic Dialogues

WILP's Diplomatic Dialogue series within the WILP offers a unique opportunity for students to interact directly with representatives of embassies and high commissions. Diplomats discuss key foreign policy and domestic issues their country, and its place in the world arena, especially its relationship with New Zealand and the wider Pacific. They also touch on life as a diplomat and their own personal leadership journeys.

Previous Diplomatic Dialogue presenters have included Ambassadors of France, India, the European Union, Mexico, Spain, the USA, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Timor Leste and Chile, as well as the High Commissioners of Samoa, Singapore and South Africa - to name a few!

Diplomatic Dialogues usually count as elective seminars for WILP.