The Think & Drink

Dr Anne Bardsley is Director of Complex Conversations Lab - Waipapa Taumata Rau at the University of Auckland. She has a background in science and expertise in evidence synthesis and brokerage for robust policymaking, particularly around environmental and public health risks. Since 2019 Anne has been involved in researching, designing and facilitating citizens’ assemblies and online engagements in Aotearoa New Zealand. Her most recent work explores how using the tools of Deliberative Democracy can help improve collective decision-making to enhance societal resilience and wellbeing.

Anne was recognised in the 2020 New Year Honours as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her contributions to science and the State.

ABSTRACT: Democracy Beyond Elections: Trusting Citizens with Big Decisions - Every three years, New Zealanders are asked to make important choices at the ballot box. But what happens in between elections? Over the past six years, researchers from the Complex Conversations Lab at the University of Auckland have worked with councils and communities across Aotearoa to test a simple idea: What happens when ordinary people are given time, information and the opportunity to deliberate on complex issues? From Auckland’s future water supply to transport policy and post-cyclone land use in Tairāwhiti, citizens’ assemblies have brought together diverse groups of New Zealanders to tackle difficult questions. The results challenge many assumptions about public opinion, political polarisation and what citizens are capable of when trusted with real decisions. Join us for a conversation about deliberative democracy, civic lotteries, and why the wisdom we need may already be sitting in the room.

Dr Karen E Waldie is a Professor in the School of Psychology and with the Centre for Brain Research at the University of Auckland. Her research focuses on the neural, environmental and genetic bases of neurodevelopmental disorders and the many factors that shape how we think, learn and experience the world. Karen was at the forefront of emerging neuroimaging techniques in Australasia in the early 2000s, combining these with neuropsychological testing to better understand child development. Born in British Columbia, Canada, Karen received her MSc and PhD from the University of Calgary - the same place she met her Kiwi husband.

ABSTRACT: We all have one, but you’ve got to admit, Brains Are Weird! - Professor Karen Waldie takes us on a journey into the wonderfully weird world of the human brain. Why do we think, learn and behave so differently? How much of who we are is down to our genes, and how much is shaped by the world around us and our experience of it. And what do we actually know about neurodiversity and some of the conditions making headlines? Along the way, Karen will bust a few long-held myths and share some of what science is discovering about our brains. Come curious and leave your assumptions at the door.