Drainage letter: There was a regrettable error made in the processing of the mailing list. If you received mail from Waikato Regional Council to your address but in another person’s name, please dispose of it. The information will be resupplied.

Close alert

Waikato Region Trends and Opportunities

TR 2025/31
  1. Services »
  2. Publications »
  3. TR202531

This discussion document explores global, national and regional trends across political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal (PESTEL) themes, to help inform the strategic direction for Waikato Regional Council.

This document updates and builds on previous PESTEL trends published by the council in 2019 and 2022 and includes an additional section focusing on te ao Māori.

In this report, we explore each of the following:

  • Forces of change that are shaping events, and social and economic development patterns.
  • Political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal trends globally, in New Zealand and the Waikato region, accompanied by an exploration of trends for te ao Māori.
  • Opportunities for the region that were highlighted through the engagement process.
  • Scenarios for the Waikato region in 2075.

This trends document has taken a more generative approach compared to earlier reports, incorporating the perspectives of community and business leaders, stakeholders and subject matter experts across a wider range of disciplines. This is supplemented by a wide-ranging horizon scan of published documents and data to explore trends across all seven areas.

Read or download the discussion document