If you want to see something exist, you don’t wait around for someone else to do it. You just do it yourself.
That’s pretty much why aimee whitcroft is starting CGCtech (Clean / Green / Climate Tech), a new meetup happening here in Ōtautahi Christchurch. As far as we can tell, it’s actually the first dedicated meetup of its kind in the country.
The idea is simple: bridge a pretty obvious gap in our local scene and get the right people talking to each other.
Breaking Down the Silos
Canterbury has no shortage of smart people doing great work in climate science, environmentalism, sustainability, and tech. The problem is that they rarely all end up in the same room. You have techies over here, academics over there, and grassroots community groups somewhere else entirely.
“There’s no event which brings everyone together to link up,” aimee says. “The environmentalists and technologists, academics and community and industry, and anyone keen on learning more or contributing. This is the start of just that: a group of people all working to improve matters for planet and people.”
aimee has a bit of history with this sort of thing. Way back in 2011, she started the first Southern Hemisphere chapter of Nerd Nite in Wellington, running 34 events over six years. She was also a co-organiser for Aotearoa’s first digital twins summit. She’s really wanted to see a dedicated CGC tech space here in Christchurch for years, so she decided to clear some calendar space and build it.
The Big Picture
While the environmental focus is the main driver, the economic potential of clean tech is massive. aimee points to recent data from the UK as a pretty solid blueprint of what happens when you take this stuff seriously.
Over there, the net-zero sector is growing three times faster than the rest of their economy, employing nearly a million people in green jobs that pay significantly higher than the national average. As the UK Chancellor put it, net zero isn’t a tradeoff for growth, it’s the industrial opportunity of the century.*
Canterbury is in a great position to grab a slice of that opportunity, but we have to collaborate to make it happen.
Come Have a Yarn
The very first CGCtech meetup is happening on Tuesday, 23 June, from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM at Scoundrel on St Asaph Street.
Future meetups will probably have a mix of guest speakers, project presentations, and workshops. But for this first one, it’s just a relaxed, informal kōrero.
“We want to hear from those who come along about what they’re doing, what they’d like to see, and how we can build this,” aimee says.
One important detail: the meetup has a strict “This is not about GenAI” rule. Given the massive carbon, energy, water and other environmental footprints associated with large generative AI models, this space is for technologies that don’t come with that kind of baggage.
Whether you’re a developer, a researcher, a passionate environmentalist, or just someone curious about how tech can help the planet, you’re welcome to head along and meet some good people.
The Details:
- What: The First CGCtech Meetup
- When: Tuesday, 23 June, 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
- Where: Scoundrel, 375 St Asaph Street, Christchurch
- Tickets: Free, but you need to grab a spot on Humanitix.
