What makes a good neighbour?

Neighbours Aotearoa is setting out to encourage people to take the small step of getting to know a neighbour better, as it calls on Kiwis to be part of a public conversation around the nature of neighbours.

The annual Neighbours Aotearoa awareness campaign is taking a different approach this year, focusing on a conversation about what being a good neighbour means to people.

Neighbours Aotearoa community weaver for Dunedin and Invercargill Rebecca Harris said the organisation was striving to understand how different people viewed neighbourliness and the role of Neighbours Aotearoa within that.

‘‘Each year in March we encourage everybody to do something small — or large — that helps them to get to know a neighbour that bit better,’’ Ms Harris said.

‘‘This year, we are expanding on that to take a look at the different kinds of neighbours there are out there and how that affects the day-to-day lives of people in the community.’’

The Neighbours Aotearoa 2026 public conversation asked people to reflect on questions such as ‘‘what does the concept of neighbour mean to you?’’ and ‘‘where do your ideas of neighbourliness come from?’’.

‘‘It is important to acknowledge that pretty much everyone has neighbours, and not everyone gets on with their neighbours.’’

This may be partly due to the widely differing opinions in the community about what constituted a good neighbour.

‘‘The people who have taken part in our public conversation so far have come up with an extraordinary range of ideas around neighbourliness, which is fascinating,’’ Ms Harris said.

‘‘It is great to get that feedback, because we don’t want to just be operating on assumptions.’’

Ms Harris said she and her fellow Neighbours Aotearoa community weavers spent a lot of time getting out and about into neighbourhoods and at large-scale community events, such as the recent South Dunedin Street Festival, to speak with people with the aim of starting conversations.

Neighbours Aotearoa (formerly Neighbours Day Aotearoa) is a community development initiative dedicated to growing, connecting and strengthening neighbourhoods across the country. It is a place-based and local approach — neighbours linking up in their local communities.

From humble beginnings in 2009, Neighbours Aotearoa has evolved from a single day into a 10-day event, then a month-long celebration, and now a year-round movement.

People can join the public conversation through the Neighbours Aotearoa website — neighboursaotearoa.nz — and can also follow the organisation on Facebook and Instagram.