DesignwithNature

WildLab is a group of designers and researchers committed to growing a world where people and nature thrive together.

We collaborate with community groups, iwi, farmers, business, and government agencies. Together, we create regenerative landscapes, strategies, experiences, and communication tools that connect them and their partners with te taiao and nature.

Connect with what we do . . .

Our Projects

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Punakaiki Coastal Restoration Project
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A former mining and farmland site now transforms into thriving native rainforest, nurtured by volunteers and an on‑site nursery. It offers hands‑on experiences—seed‑raising, planting, monitoring, citizen science—while restoring the unique habitat where the Tāiko (Westland petrel) breeds. Over 200,000 eco‑sourced plants have been established.
Franklin-North Waikato Tracks and Trails Strategy
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The Franklin–North Waikato Tracks and Trails Strategy sets out a vision for how trails can connect communities with the Waikato River and its surrounding landscapes. By building on existing opportunities and aligning with local aspirations, the strategy provides a pathway to grow active, healthy, and connected communities.
Arthur’s Pass National Park Visitor Engagement Strategy
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A strategic insight plan identifies key moments along the Arthur’s Pass route—like the highway, village hub, and visitor centre—where visitors can be warmly welcomed into conservation through tailored information delivery. It maps out how to spark first-time engagements across the entire experience.
Antarctica New Zealand’s Scott Base Waste Reduction
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This review identified ways to reduce environmental impact at Scott Base—including comparing air- vs sea-freight emissions, cutting food waste to 20%, improving storage and stock control, optimizing recycling systems, and ensuring unnecessary items are returned efficiently to New Zealand.

Field Notes

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Wildness: planting new natures in Aotearoa, New Zealand
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This article rethinks wildness—not as something untouched or lost, but as something new, messy, and shaped by us. It’s useful because it gives designers ways to work with real, changing landscapes instead of trying to recreate the past. It encourages using what’s already there—native and exotic plants, people and animals—and trying out creative, practical ideas. Rather than aiming to fix nature, the article asks how we might live better with it. The article shows ways design can help grow new relationships between people and place, offering fresh ways to care for land, support life, and imagine more hopeful futures.
New Zealand’s ‘Arc of Influence’: The ‘Clean, Blue, Green’ Country
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New Zealand is often imagined as a handful of islands in the Pacific—but its territory is now mostly ocean. This study explores how mapping can reshape our sense of national identity, proposing a shift from “clean green” to a more expansive “clean, blue, green” vision grounded in conservation and connection.
New Land
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This exploratory map invites us to see Aotearoa’s public conservation lands—covering a third of the country—not as fixed or finished, but as places full of fresh potential. Re-imagined as a newly discovered archipelago, it prompts us to ask how we might live differently within these lands. Could they foster new forms of innovation, economy, and culture grounded in restoration, care, and a deep engagement with nature?
Behind the Image
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This column, some years back for Wilderness Magazine, takes a look at our love of pristine wilderness photos—those calendar shots with no people, no huts, no mess. But behind every image is someone swatting sandflies, hauling gear, and eating tuna from a foil pouch. Maybe it’s time we showed that too

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Southern Faces
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Southern Faces, the third-ever climbing guidebook for Otepoti Dunedin-arriving after a 25-year wait since the last guidebook. This beautifully designed book by Riley Smith celebrates the last five decades of local climbing and the immense growth of the scene since the previous guide, Dunedin Rock (2000). The 250-page guide provides essential safety insights, historical context, and highlights the unique climbing culture of Dunedin. From beginner-friendly climbs to the region's most intimidating routes, Southern Faces is a must-have for everyone keen to explore what the south has to offer. It's packed with photos, including great shots from the days of lycra through to some of the latest efforts at Lover's Leap. $8.50 shipping across Aotearoa.
$ 50.00 NZD
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WildLab @ 2020-2025