Innovate Napier - Distinguished Professor Emeritus Paul Spoonley FRSNZ

Join us for breakfast and hear from Distinguished Professor Emeritus Paul Spoonley FRSNZ ONZM on Who Will Live, Work & Spend in Hawke’s Bay’s Future and what will our region look like in the decades ahead?

Paul Spoonley is one of New Zealand’s leading sociologists and demographers, an Emeritus Professor at Massey University, and a highly respected commentator on the major social, demographic, and economic shifts shaping New Zealand’s future.

His work focuses on population change, ageing demographics, workforce shortages, migration and immigration trends, ethnic diversity and social cohesion, urbanisation, and the future of our regions and cities. Paul is particularly renowned for translating complex demographic data into practical insights, helping businesses, communities, and policymakers understand who will live, work, spend, and invest in New Zealand in the years ahead—and what these changes mean for economic growth, housing, labour markets, and public policy.

Paul served as Pro Vice-Chancellor of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Massey University until 2019. Since then, he has continued to contribute at the highest levels, serving as an Advisor to the Commissioner of Police from 2022–2025 and as Co-Director of He Whenua Taurikura, New Zealand’s National Centre for Countering Violent Extremism, from 2023–2024.

His distinguished career includes appointments as a Fulbright Senior Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, a Visiting Researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity in Germany, and a Fellow and Board Member of the Auckland Museum.

In recognition of his contribution to New Zealand society, Paul was awarded the Royal Society of New Zealand's Science and Technology Medal in 2009 for advancing cross-cultural understanding. In 2025, he was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) for services to sociology.

Paul is currently a Senior Fellow with Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures, led by Sir Peter Gluckman, where he is working on a major research programme examining population change and social cohesion.

An accomplished author and editor, Paul has published 29 books, including The New New Zealand, Facing Demographic Disruption, and Rebooting the Regions.

Closer to home, Paul was inducted into the Hastings Boys' High School Wall of Fame in 2025 and owns an orchard on the outskirts of Havelock North—giving him a personal connection to the future of Hawke’s Bay and the communities he studies.

Join us as Paul explores one of the most important questions facing our region:
Who will live, work, and spend in Hawke’s Bay’s future—and what do we need to do today to prepare for tomorrow?

Ticket Price $34 pp+ booking fees, Tables of 10 - $340 per table plus booking fees