Why Arts and Culture Are Essential Infrastructure for Social Cohesion in New Zealand
By Vic Crockford
Published: 4 December, 2025
Arts and culture are not luxuries - they're critical social infrastructure. As misinformation erodes trust and polarisation deepens, New Zealand's creative sector offers proven pathways to wellbeing, inclusion, and community resilience. For communications professionals, understanding this connection is essential to building narratives that truly resonate.
My husband's old family home in New Zealand is set to feature as a den of iniquity on a forthcoming Kiwi TV show.
Apart from finding it hilarious to think of his childhood bedroom serving as an epicentre of illicit activity, there will be fake detectives tramping around the property while my brother-in-law - an actual officer of the law - watches on from next door.
Being on the periphery of such a creative endeavour has got me thinking about the effort that goes into the craft of telling a story on screen.
Find the location and build a set.
Ensure the actors feel natural in the space and with each other.
Refine the script - maybe ad lib if needed.
Keep an eye out for plot holes (and in this case, potholes).
Edit, edit, and edit.
It is a hive of activity that is generating real economic impact across Aotearoa. The value of New Zealand's cultural export is high, as is the short-term gain for the many people employed in our screen industry. It is hard work that takes focus, energy, and flair.
And yet, we are still so often stuck in a mindset of the arts and culture as nice-to-haves or elitist. The screen sector may not be subject to this in the same way, because it is easier to ascribe economic value, but it is part of a wider conversation about the arts and culture in New Zealand that frames the sector as a 'tack on'.
Much like communications is a soft target for those seeking to point out wasteful spending in the public sector, the arts seem like an easy "non-essential" for those concerned about Council spending across New Zealand. This perception has been taken to its extreme in the school curriculum this year, with the removal of Art History as a standalone subject in New Zealand secondary schools.
Why Do Arts and Culture Matter for Social Cohesion in New Zealand?
While in some ways, this view is understandable when the quantification of value relates to an improved footpath or an upgrade to a hospital. These are essential community lifelines and are deserving of the label "critical".
However, while these assets connect us physically, arts and culture have a critical role in connecting us socially - a function that's becoming more vital as New Zealand grapples with increasing social fragmentation.
As communications professionals working across Aotearoa, we see the erosion of social cohesion in our information environment every day. Misinformation has been classified as a strategic risk by organisations such as the World Economic Forum.
The Forum noted in its Global Risk Report for 2025 that misinformation and disinformation remain top short-term risks for the second consecutive year, underlining their persistent threat to societal cohesion and governance by eroding trust and exacerbating divisions within and between nations.
How Arts Engagement Strengthens Community Wellbeing
In a time of such seismic shifts, the arts serve as an antidote to the forces tearing holes in the social fabric. A 2022 research report from the University of Queensland and the University of Auckland found that there is a strong connection between wellbeing and social inclusion created through arts engagement, due to the bonding and bridging effect of the arts as people create a shared sense of community and identity.
What Does the Data Show About Creative Spaces in New Zealand?
More recently, a 2025 report into the value of Creative Spaces by Arts Access Aotearoa showed that the highest percentage of participants attending creative spaces in New Zealand have a learning disability (22%), followed by people with mental distress (17%), vulnerable youth (15%), people experiencing poverty (12%) and isolation (11%).
In this way, the arts are serving as a social service across communities throughout Aotearoa, supporting those who may struggle to find connection elsewhere. Creative spaces function as essential infrastructure for our most vulnerable populations.
The Call to Action for Communications Professionals in New Zealand
As strategic communications and government relations experts focused on sectors like energy, infrastructure, and housing in New Zealand, why should we care about arts and culture funding?
Without Creativity, There Is No Communications
We care because without creativity, there is no communications. Without cultural context, we cannot reach people in Aotearoa with narratives and messages that resonate across diverse communities.
To reach people - to resonate with them - is part science and part art, and it is our responsibility as communications professionals to understand and respond to the impacts of misinformation and disinformation and help strengthen social resilience in New Zealand.
The Arts Bring New Zealanders Together (When There Are Lots of Things Pulling Us Apart)
We care because the arts bring us together when so much else is pulling us apart. In an era of algorithmic echo chambers and declining trust in institutions, shared cultural experiences create the common ground necessary for democratic discourse and social progress.
What Can We Do? Practical Steps for Communications Professionals
Build relationships with the creative sector: Build relationships with New Zealand's creative sector to understand how artistic narratives can enhance your communications strategy.
Challenge the "nice-to-have" narrative: When arts and culture funding comes under scrutiny in public discourse, speak up with evidence about their measurable social impact.
Support cross-sector collaboration: Connect your clients with creative practitioners to explore how arts-based approaches can strengthen community engagement.
Invest in cultural competency: Develop your team's understanding of how Māori and Pacific cultural practice create pathways to authentic engagement in Aotearoa.
As communications professionals, we have the expertise and the platform to help shift the conversation. It’s a privilege – we should use it.
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