Mark Bowater is an experienced and respected leader in the parks, sport and recreation industry in New Zealand with over 35 years’ experience across contracting, consulting, and central and local government. Mark is passionate about urban parks and open space, and how this contributes to liveable cities. Mark is a Certified Parks Professional – International, and is currently the Chair for World Urban Parks. He is also an Accredited Recreation Professional (ARPro), and previous Board Director and Chair for Recreation Aotearoa. Mark is currently a Spaces and Places Consultant with Sport New Zealand Ihi Aotearoa, specialising in active environments. In this presentation Mark will draw on his extensive experience in parks and open space management, more recent open space precinct planning consultancy work, and global perspectives.

Alli Coster is a Melbourne‑based landscape architect and long‑time advocate of Play Australia and active AILA member, with more than two decades in local government championing outdoor, unstructured play in nature, the joyful, messy, confidence‑building kind. Working at the intersection of informed design, good governance and community voice, she pushes for public spaces that spark curiosity and connection, where nature leads the way. Known for her blend of warmth and straight talk, and her gentle roasting of any project that reaches for carbon‑heavy solutions instead of embracing nature‑positive possibilities, Alli leads the design of parks and places where children, young people, adults and even dogs can invent their own fun. When she’s not shaping cities, she’s dissecting teen‑drama plotlines after BMX training with her daughter, (un)schooling and watching anime with her neurodivergent son, and being smothered by two affectionate Spoodles.