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Compared with other countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) New Zealand's engagement with regional and local development has been a rather modest undertaking reflected more in political pronouncement than in significant intervention and policy support on the scale which characterised post-war Britain and the European Union over recent decades (see Barca, McCann, & Rodgriguez-Pose, [1]; Pike, Rodriguez-Pose, & Tomaney, [10]; McNeill, [5]). The papers which follow in this special issue provide insight into the post-1980s experience of local and regional development in New Zealand (NZ), paying particular attention to the regions that is, the smaller towns, rural areas and administrative regions which make up non-metropolitan NZ. [Extracted from the article]

COVID‐19 brought public health challenges to the public transport system throughout the world. As a result, a range of response measures were implemented to ensure the safety of passengers while maintaining a functioning system. This paper explores the responses of public transport agencies in New Zealand's metropolitan cities (Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington) to the COVID‐19 pandemic by examining their physical and communication measures. We analysed public transport agencies' websites to understand the response measures implemented, including the accessibility of COVID‐19‐related information, and the communication of information via websites and social media platforms. The results show that 13 service responses were implemented across the three public transport agencies, with Auckland implementing the most measures. Seven infrastructural responses were implemented, with Christchurch implementing all seven. Wellington was found to be the public transport agency that used social media the most during the pandemic. The website accessibility findings suggest that the more accessible a public transport agency's website was, the less information was present. The research concludes that all three public transport agencies in New Zealand performed reasonably well and were able to maintain a safe and responsive public transport system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Weeds are known as 'plants out of place', but how do we come to understand what belongs in place and what does not? Organisms that thrive beyond boundaries of control threaten life that is 'in place', or nature. As a threat to life and nature, weeds are transformed into objects of hate and elimination. Exploring the collective hate of weeds helps to untangle the affective dimensions of colonisation. Using the story of the blackberry in Dunedin, both through its settler history and contemporary relationship with urban foragers, this paper describes how weeds have become powerful affective objects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A second phase of New Zealand engagement with the International Geographical Union spans from 1956 to 1974. The nature of this engagement which culminated in the hosting of a Regional Conference in New Zealand in 1974 is the subject of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a prequel to the centenary of the International Geographical Union in 2022, this paper discusses connections between New Zealand and the International Geographical Congresses as a site of knowledge creation from the 1870s up to the mid‐20th century. New Zealand featured initially as an example in the work of others at early International Geographical Union Congresses. There was fleeting New Zealand attendance before the country was represented by proxy as part of the British Empire delegation prior to the first direct university geographer attendance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significant percentage of the smaller urban centres around the world are losing people which raises questions regarding the appropriate responses to this challenge. Responses from the state have generally been muted, and as a result, concepts of new localism and new regionalism are useful for understanding the role played by place‐based leadership and partnerships between local businesses, community groups and individuals. Key within this space is the role of endogenous responses anchored on local social capital and resilience. This paper overviews key themes in the literature before examining statistical evidence of small town growth, stabilisation or decline in New Zealand. This leads into an examination of how three small towns in the country are responding to demographic and economic change. The cases illustrate the importance of local‐led responses to the debilitating effects of change and the degree to which place based development can be critical in the context of coping with change in small towns. The paper further argues that "right‐sizing" to a new economic and demographic reality may be the appropriate focus of local attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biogeographers use the language of islands to theorise insular communities, extending the term beyond coastal environments to include so-called 'mainland' islands. This paper suggests a similar approach is needed within cultural geography to account for places that are connected to archipelagos despite being unenclosed by water. The paper begins with a critique of materialist definitions of islands and the methodological assumptions underpinning them. It then speculates on an alternative theory of islands, which views them as autonomous objects and dynamic systems for reordering times and spaces within and beyond their watery margins. Auckland's Waitākere Ranges are considered as an example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the relationship between temporary migration and regional development in the context of the Covid‐19 global pandemic. Focusing specifically on Invercargill and Queenstown in Aotearoa New Zealand, I outline how temporary migration has become central to population growth and economic prosperity and how this relationship has been disrupted by the onset of border controls in response to Covid‐19. The paper outlines how the pandemic has revealed several challenges associated with temporary migration, including mismatches between the national management of migration and the local impacts, the availability of suitable data to understand migration, and the path dependency associated with population growth reliant on temporary migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Professor Kenneth Cumberland's presidential address at the first New Zealand geography conference in 1955 considered the achievements, aims and objectives of the discipline, which he positioned as a chorological science. This view of geography posed difficulties for the scope of historical geography, one of Cumberland's main areas of research. He addressed this problem in a second conference presentation, which has remained unpublished. This unpublished hitherto "lost manuscript" has been located and is examined with an eye to Cumberland's role as a disciplinary gatekeeper and boundary rider of New Zealand geography in the 1950s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper outlines the results of mixed‐methods research on Māori and cycling. Our findings suggest that Māori cycle at similar rates to Pākehā (NZ European); however conditions may differ, possibly indicating higher levels of "necessity cycling" amongst Māori. Māori experience similar barriers to cycling, including a lack of suitable cycling infrastructure, but these occur against a backdrop of stark social, economic and transport‐related inequities. Particular barriers for Māori may include inflexible work conditions, concerns about neighbourhood safety, inadequate provision for social cycling, and lack of access to places of importance to Māori. We identify potential solutions, including more whānau‐friendly and culturally safe cycling infrastructure, and cycling programmes designed around Māori commitments to whanaungatanga and kaitiakitanga. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cycling priorities and experiences of low‐income communities have traditionally received less research attention. This paper explores community perceptions of new cycling infrastructure within the Te Ara Mua – Future Streets project in the low‐cycling, low‐income, predominantly Pacific neighbourhood of Māngere Central, Auckland. Themes from seven key informant interviews and three focus groups included: local cycling norms; socio‐economic barriers; appreciation of the new community walking and cycling trail; desire for connectivity beyond the neighbourhood; concerns about on‐road bike lanes; support for local cycling champions; and tensions between views of the project as "experimentation" versus "investment." We explore the implications of these findings for cycling promotion in Aotearoa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The grassland revolution is a national story but the intensification of New Zealand pastoral agriculture was made possible by many changes in farm practice, and application varied within New Zealand. This paper identifies aggregation issues in the narrative and explores their implications for any reassessment of the revolution. Data from six counties are analysed to illustrate some of the varied experiences across New Zealand farm districts. The paper redirects attention to local- and farm-scale studies as a way to investigate the significance of the diverse drivers of pastoral productivity, their timing and effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Act 2013 (HASHAA) was passed under urgency to deal with housing affordability and land supply challenges across New Zealand. Representing a particular response at a particular point in time, the HASHAA was introduced under urgency and included provisions that allowed the Crown to override (housing) decisions of local authorities. Using post‐political theory in the analysis of evidence collected from transcripts from New Zealand Parliamentary Debates (Hansard), this paper exposes how processes and provisions of the HASHAA were an erosion of democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing migration regulation affects long‐term resident non‐citizen populations. Using New Zealanders living in Australia as an example, this paper explores the effect increasing migration regulation has had on this population and their ability to obtain Australian citizenship. Results from an online survey found that although 44.7% of respondents want to become a citizen, the eligibility requirements, cost and the application process were the main barriers to them doing so. Leaving them unable to secure their legal status in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examined the relationship between rurality and unintentional non‐fatal hospitalisations for falls and motorised vehicle transport injuries and their geographic patterns in New Zealand. Data were constructed from Statistics New Zealand's Integrated Data Infrastructure. Logistic regression revealed that the odds of hospitalisations from falls were lower in more rural areas, but motor vehicle injuries were higher. The odds of injured people being discharged from a ward increased with rurality for both injury types. This study discovered geographical disparities in the two injury types. The findings of this study direct attention to underlying contextual factors that require targeted prevention strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the emergence of an administrative apparatus designed to filter, and in some cases, exclude certain classes of international traveller at the New Zealand border following the end of World War One (WWI). Drawing on Walters’ (2004) ideas of ‘geostrategies’, and specifically focusing on the abolishment of permits for movement across the Tasman Sea, the Undesirable Immigrants Exclusion Act 1919 and the Immigration Restriction Amendment Act 1920, the paper argues that this apparatus was characterized by shifting calculations of risk that shaped international mobility through New Zealand in profoundly uneven ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remote rural areas have encountered significant change and the need for renegotiation of economic and social priorities in the late 20th and early 21st century. In our broader research, we ask how have such communities been responding to this change? What role have different organisations and agencies played? And, how have they acted on the aspirations of marginalised communities? In this paper we examine these issues through a case study of Westland District on the west coast of Aotearoa New Zealand's South Island. We probe the general shift towards prioritising tourism in the District, and highlight particular experiences in regard to Indigenous endeavour in tourism. We find that those engaged in leading local development and tourism have not collaborated strategically across the sector and have not established meaningful partnerships with the community that recognise both economic and socio‐cultural aspirations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The New Zealand government approach to regional development and the economy more broadly has oscillated from the 1970s economic growth and investment focus to 1980s neoliberal neglect, followed by the more recent rediscovery of the regions' importance in national economies, all with tenuous outcomes. This paper explores the changing scope of regional development initiatives by successive New Zealand governments over the last 60 years to show a pattern of opportunism and neglect that suggests regional development is more aligned to electoral priorities than regional success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional development has evolved in response to shifting local and global priorities. These shifts have transformed both the way we think about regions, their role and how that shapes the outcomes and benefits that might occur from engaging in regional development. Key debates centre around the ability (or desirability) of regional development interventions to unsettle path dependence and "lock‐in" created by past approaches and to create opportunities for alternative development futures and to provide choices between sectoral‐based investments to support economic activity in contrast to a more place‐based approach to regional development. This paper overviews the dynamic nature of regional development to offer reasons for its recent resurgence by highlighting the key debates about the purpose and function of regions and what regional development can or should do. We then discuss the New Zealand context specifically and use the first year of Provincial Growth Fund investments to reflect on how the processes, objectives and goals reflect particular interpretations of the meaning and purpose of regional development. We conclude that a strong adherence to a growth imperative has the potential to reinforce path dependencies at the expense of alternative development pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anzac Day in New Zealand has been traditionally framed within a nationalist discourse, in which the events of the day have provided the medium for the remembrance of a singular national event. Moving beyond this interpretative tradition the paper examines Anzac Day as a moment in the exercise of an ongoing governmental power concerned with issues of contemporary conduct. Focusing on interwar Auckland the paper traces the assemblage of time, space and rhetoric, which enabled the production of a commemorative, governmental landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper identifies and explains the pattern of memorialization in New Zealand for English nurse Edith Cavell, arguing that while the influences of empire and colonial mimicry provided a strong overarching framework, local context and parochial expressions were also strong at the colonial edge. In 1915 Cavell was executed by the occupying German forces in Belgium for her resistance work. The general transnational pattern of remembrance that resulted from the huge reaction to her death is explained. The paper then turns to the New Zealand memorialization of Cavell. With reference to monuments for other medical women, and addressing where Cavell does not appear in the landscape, the last section contextualizes Cavell's New Zealand memorialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper acknowledges Dame Evelyn Stokes’ introduction of postcolonial critical analysis of Māori/Pākehā relationships before postcolonialism was established as a field of theoretical enquiry. The paper reviews research I have done on some of the issues faced by the Mashantucket Pequots in the wider context of the contribution Dame Evelyn Stokes was making to similar debates in New Zealand. She emphasized that Māori research and knowledge provide a different world view and that this world view needs to be taken into account in any geographical study of New Zealand. Only in this way will it be possible to avoid the continued marginalization of Māoris from nation building in their own country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BSTRACT This paper examines the recent policy announced by the Minister of Social Development that identifies a series of 'Limited Employment Areas' within which access to the unemployment benefit would be restricted. Drawing on Deleuze's ideas of striation and modulation the paper explores the intersection of governance, space, and risk that seems to be combined in the policy. The paper concludes by reflecting on the deployment of risk based on ontological claims about the spatiality of unemployment. In seeking to shape the decisions of benefit seekers, there seems to be an emerging mosaic of welfare provision as a direct consequence of governmental intent, rather than as a failure of governmental ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main components of most economic development ( ED) strategies are very similar. The visions and aspirational goals also sound alike for most communities. Most communities have also had a series of ED strategies that, over time, were often never implemented because of poor stakeholder buy-in. This paper considers the importance of community support for an ED strategy and compares the engagement processes of the Auckland Council and the Hawke's Bay in developing their respective regional economic development strategies. In the Hawke's Bay situation, the process is more important than the actual strategy document. This paper argues that garnering stakeholder buy-in is the most critical component of the strategy development process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ben Garnier was appointed to teach geography at the University of Otago in 1945. The circumstances by which Garnier accepted the appointment and his role as a teacher, researcher and officer of the New Zealand Geographical Society until his departure in 1951 are examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider the implications of assemblage as an analytical framework in the context of regional economic planning, drawing on Deleuze and Guattari's concept of territoriality to examine the efforts to create temporal stability in the emergent regional economy. We focus on the reterritorialisation of Central Otago through the district council's destination management project centred on the collective branding of the region as ' A World of Difference'. The implementation of this programme contends with the diverse, incongruent boundaries of emergent tourism activities. The paper, thus, addresses the potential for state initiatives to manage uncertain and ephemeral assemblages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forestry is interestingly situated within British imperial networks of the 19th and early 20th centuries whereby India was arguably the main node. Drawing on Lambert and Lester's concept of 'imperial careering' as a way of exploring imperial networks, this paper further extends its application to foresters as a group of middle-level technical experts as well as carrying it into the 20th century when the British Empire was by some measures at its zenith. The forestry careers of Owen Jones and Hugh Corbin, principally in Australia and New Zealand, are used to illustrate the discussion which concludes with some more general observations about imperial careerists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper employs interview narratives alongside participant-led photography and caption writing to examine the different daily geographies of 15 HIV-positive gay men in Auckland, New Zealand. Difference for these men is rooted in both their HIV status and their sexuality, and this difference has implications for their engagement with the world at a range of spatial and temporal scales. Giving voice to such experiences begins to answer calls for geographers to consider more deeply the connections between health, sexuality and place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research initiated in 1909 by G. Leslie Adkin (1888–1964) suggested Park Valley in the Tararua Range was glaciated during the Late Quaternary, based on the ‘U-shaped’ cross-profiles in the uppermost parts of several valleys. Findings were published, but were not met with universal acceptance. Adkin's work remained the only glacial research undertaken on the North Island's axial ranges until the latter part of the 20th century. Adkin holds a special position in New Zealand, because although he worked full-time as a farmer he published nearly 40 articles in scientific journals on topics as varied as Māori archaeology and geomorphology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the impediments to optimizing the economic and environmental performance of agriculture in the North Island hill country. The work draws on a range of data sources including consolidated statistical data obtained from The New Zealand Meat and Wool Board's Economic Service (NZMWB) for all North Island hill and hard country farms for the period 1976–77 to 1996–97 and interviews in June and July 1999 with 35 farm households throughout the North Island. Despite generally low levels of profitability, there is considerable evidence that New Zealand farmers have engaged in moves to sustainability to a significant extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a research on mobilities and transformation in New Zealand. It highlights the major role of geographers in the research through application of holistic ways of geographies and mobile system. Also emphasized is the impact of mobility of academic projects to the networks and regions in the country.

There has been a significant growth in childcare in New Zealand (NZ) since 2006. Shaped by debates around the marketisation of childcare, this paper will make some key observations about the NZ childcare market. I will argue that the landscape of childcare has changed in favour of a burgeoning private sector and consider the recent impetus for corporatisation. Finally, I will examine the discourse of parental 'choice' which pervades policy discussions around ECE in New Zealand and how this plays out in the face of an expanding private for-profit sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the islands of New Zealand based on biographical, political and economic importance. Topics discussed include the impact of the islands on the country's art, the extended sovereign and economic power brought by the islands into New Zealand's vastness, and studies over the so-called "islandness" of the islands of New Zealand. Also mentioned are metaphors that make more accessible elements of the archipelago including as a sanctuary and tourist destinations.

The article explores the history of feminist geographical scholarship in New Zealand, which has been promoted by the Women and Gender Geographies Research Network (WGGRN) since 2013. Topics discussed include events organized and services offered by WGGRN to its members, the state of women geographers in New Zealand prior to the consolidation, and issues tackled at the "Gender, Sex, Space and Place: Gendered Geographical Knowledge" specialist session.

We take a broad approach to thinking geographically, but a narrower view on the point at which thinking geographically is critically evaluated and assessed in our education system. The Scholarship Assessment Specification attracted our interest. The Scholarship is offered as the capstone assessment of a 3‐year Geography programme in New Zealand secondary education. We describe the institutions, actors and formats of Geography Scholarship. Our purpose is to promote thinking and scholarship as an integral part of the intellectual development of Geographers in contemporary education and beyond. Our concluding comments outline some of the options we think are available to Scholarship candidates and geography teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of the current review of New Zealand's National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA), the paper reflects on the nature and relevance of geography in education, life and work. The context of school geography programmes is critically examined, and a checklist of points for further consideration and action is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

John Turnbull Thomson is more known in New Zealand for his work as Chief Surveyor of Otago Province (1856-1876) and first Surveyor General of New Zealand (1877-1879). He was also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society of London from 1848 until his death in 1884. Thomson was an important and early self-declared 'does' of geographer in New Zealand, prior to the establishment of university geography in 1937. Thomson's contribution included survey and mapping but he also gave public lectures on geography and contributed to debates about glaciation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the creation of two new geographical boundary files, known respectively as lower zones and upper zones, for investigating social phenomena and visualising disparities in health outcomes in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. We test the effectiveness of contemporary automated zone design tools before applying an interactive approach which integrated computational power with expert local knowledge and visual interpretation to develop meaningful zones. We demonstrate that an interactive approach addresses multiple zone design criteria (e.g. respecting physical barriers, compactness and homogeneity) more effectively than is possible with an automated approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The New Zealand Curriculum (NZC), Realigned Geography Achievement Standards and Social Science Teaching and Learning Guidelines-Geography combined are playing a key role in transforming senior school geography into a subject suited for 21st century learners. While they provide geography teachers with the permissiveness to plan coherent school-based geography programmes that are relevant and responsive to students' needs, the implementation process can prove challenging. Adjusting to the increased trust and responsibility assigned to teachers, as they undertake the role of curriculum makers, is a key focus of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research described in this paper sought to review the public health issues arising from the presence of feral deer, goats and pigs in New Zealand. Key findings were that while recreational hunting of these animals is likely to provide physical and mental health benefits, and contribute to food security, likely health-related harms from these animals include (i) injury risks from the associated firearms used in hunting; (ii) as reservoirs for zoonotic diseases; (iii) reduced mental health benefits of wilderness experience and natural ecosystems; and (iv) likely contribution to flooding risk via forest damage. Further research could better quantify these issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New Zealand's best‐known record of surface air temperature is the partially homogenised seven‐station series of the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research. The homogeneity analysis used in constructing this series depends on the completeness of the site histories and issues arise if relevant information is missing. Recent developments in the online availability of searchable historical records provide an opportunity to supplement early metadata. This potential is explored here using Albert Park (Auckland) as a case study. A wealth of relevant historical information about Albert Park was found in online archives, especially related to a major episode of site disturbance, evolving site environment and instrumentation changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This short paper aims to discuss the role and the importance of the Census in New Zealand. It also discusses some of the multitude of uses of Census data in various contexts to help us understand the demographic and socio-economic landscape of New Zealand. Debates internationally on the nature, scale and frequency of a national Census, or even whether a Census is necessary at all, mean that we cannot take this valuable resource for granted. With this in mind, we as geographers have a wealth of data to explore and analyse that we should take full advantage of. What gets counted counts! [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Alternative' food initiatives ( AFIs) are often interpreted as political movements, constructed as defiant alternatives to industrial agri-food relations, and represented by a performance of singular alterity. This understanding of alternative collapses into a mere politics of identity, criticised in the literature for its oversimplification. In this paper, we utilise an established methodological framework that retains AFI diversity, to create a novel typology of AFIs by diverse and embodied practice rather than animating political project. In doing so, we point to the political potential for AFIs to 'do' food otherwise and make different worlds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A review of social research on rural New Zealand undertaken as part of the National Science Challenge (NSC 11) "Building Better Homes, Towns and Cities" allows a fresh look at rural development within the context of New Zealand's colonial history. The research suggests that government development programmes and legislation privileged those responsible for producing the bulk of New Zealand's export income. Cultural attitudes, structural inequalities and a failure to understand how the character of, and social relations in, rural areas have changed has impeded particularly Māori economic growth, the participation of women, and non‐farm sectors of rural society, to the detriment of all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author discusses New Zealand's island geographies as presented in the "Aotearoa's Archipelago: Reimagining New Zealand's Island Geographies" issue. Topics discussed include the value of Aotearoa/New Zealand as a something complex in the way that it is far-from-straightforward and multifaceted, the importance of New Zealand as a reality that forms the modes of being, becoming, existing and relating, and the epistemological concern over the archipelago.

This paper explores the concept of 'geographical imaginaries' in New Zealand geography. It reflects on the genealogy of the concept and on the work it might perform in the world. At a time when the purpose and contribution of geography in schools is under question and the discipline is under severe strain at universities, we ask whether the idea of 'geographical imaginaries' offers a conceptual platform for demonstrating the potential for geography to offer meaning in the complex world of 21st-century New Zealand and whether it will help teachers to foster geographic thought in classrooms. In short, we argue for the merits of working with the idea of geographical imaginaries in classrooms and for utilising it to interrogate accounts of the geographical gaze and its values. This, we argue, offers opportunities to catalyse geographical thought, highlight the potential of thinking geographically, and open up a thinking space in which geography teachers can examine their pedagogy and enhance the purpose of their work. This would provide a platform for building a more imaginative and more politically and culturally relevant geography at school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Rugby World Cup, held in New Zealand in 2011, was a showcase for a rapidly globalising sport involving competition between twenty national teams, comprising over 600 players. This paper analyses the geography of the players' team affiliations and reveals patterns of labour mobility that disrupt and render complex concepts and definitions of 'national' identity. We see that the dominance of professional rugby, particularly by European clubs, is concentrating player resources and revenue generation in ways that suggest an evolving core-periphery relationship. We suggest that the players themselves exercise agency by finding, manipulating and exploiting cracks and opportunities in the complex regulatory framework of the sport. We build a case for a research agenda that maps out these geographies of rugby and traces their implications for understandings of identity and the political economy of globalising sport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers issues of authenticity as they apply to the evolution of farmers' markets in New Zealand. Following a discussion of the nature of authenticity and its deployment by farmers' market organisations in several jurisdictions, a two-part case study is presented. An analysis of the strategies adopted by Farmers' Markets New Zealand to 'protect its brand' nationally and an examination of the disputation of authenticity in the Marlborough Farmers' Market reveals the potential of the 'authenticity project' to be a lightning rod for heightened tension and the fracturing of the relationship between competing interests in New Zealand farmers' markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]