Speakers included global players like Guardian columnist and environmental activist George Monbiot and Ken Webster (former head of innovation at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation in the UK). They rubbed shoulders with Kiwi innovators like Scott Maud (CFO at Halter), Irina Miller (CEO at Daisy Lab) and Sarah McHardy (GM – Customer at Lodestone Energy).
The main event featured start-ups pitching for prize money generously donated by NZI. Mushroom Material won the day with its polystyrene alternative made from mycelium and agricultural waste. And the pinnacle of the festival was the Sustainable Business Awards gala celebration, where BioLumic, Adele Rose (3R Group) and Slash for Cash were announced as the 2025 winners, alongside a host of commendations.
The central themes were innovation, celebration and hope.
Here are some of the key themes that emerged:
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We need both technology and system change.
Technology alone won't save us. George Monbiot emphasised that while we urgently need technological innovation, we also need the political, social, cultural and economic change that allows those technologies to replace existing systems. The real challenge isn't adopting new technology – it's retiring the old. Powerful incumbent industries make phasing out outdated technologies difficult. For example, it's not enough to buy an electric vehicle as a second car; we need to retire the petrol car entirely.
Ken Webster reinforced this with a call to think in terms of shifts, not tweaks. Stop focusing on incremental improvements and embrace radical ideas.
2. Change the system, not just individual behaviour
Speakers highlighted that sustainable change requires systemic shifts, rather than relying on individual action alone.
Mat Maroni (Merz Institute) noted that human behaviour is not driven by conscious thinking. We need to create conditions where adaptive behaviours occur naturally. There's a significant gap between intentions and actions – and how we frame things matters.
Nada Piatek (Again Again) said behaviour change is ‘gnarly’ and stressed that unless your product solves a customer problem, even great marketing won't sell it. The key is creating environments where change is easy. She pointed to festivals that switched to reusable containers: 70-80% of people say it enhanced their experience, yet far fewer would opt for reusables when it's left to individual choice. Make the change happen at a systems level and people will embrace it.
Michal Garvey (Foodprint) added that the degree of change needs to match each person's level of motivation, which varies between individuals and organisations. Building consistent habits is essential.
3. Get the fundamentals right for growth
Scott Maud (Halter) shared practical insights from his company's journey to becoming a genuine unicorn. He had three observations to unlock finance: get your unit economics right, develop a compelling story for investors and always be ready – understand your metrics and avoid being forced into decisions at the wrong time.
For long-term sustainable growth in New Zealand, he identified three essential ingredients: capital, talent and pace. We live or die by our ability to move quickly.
Sarah McHardy (Lodestone Energy) shared a story of courage, learning and experimentation. As the first to transition marginal farmland to productive solar farms with integrated agriculture, Lodestone had no one to follow. The company built a small core team of experts, constantly tried new technology, wasn’t afraid of failure and found partners aligned with its vision. Her advice is that when times are tough, keep your purpose front of mind.
4. Think differently about New Zealand's future
Irina Miller (Daisy Lab) challenged us to reframe how we see New Zealand's strengths. She said we should think of ourselves as a protein country, not just a dairy country. With expertise in extracting proteins from liquids, there's huge opportunity in precision fermentation – replacing the cow with yeast and fermentation.5. Two essential qualities for change
George Monbiot identified two essentials for change: persistence and resilience. As he put it, you have to keep picking yourself up and going at it again and again.
Next Fest showed that the way forward requires both vision and action, both technological innovation and systemic transformation. Change is possible when we collaborate with persistence, resilience and a clear sense of purpose.