Our Golden Foot Walking Awards celebrate and recognise New Zealand achievements for walkers by acknowledging innovative new facilities, highlighting national best practice and rewarding ongoing commitment to walking.
The awards are open to all - private companies and public organisations, not-for-profit groups, community organisations and individuals. We encourage you to submit a nomination.
2024
Nominations are now open for the 2024 Golden Foot Walking Awards. Closing date is Monday 17 June 2024.
2022
Read about the winners of the 2022 Golden Foot Walking Awards.
2020
The WSP Golden Foot Awards 2020 formal ceremony was held by video conference June 9, 2020 at 7:30 pm.
The WINNER of the category is marked.
Project | Category | Description. |
Andrews Ave Hutt City
| Event | Massey student’s Urban Camouflage, a Social Intervention through Design course have been working out of a pop-up space called The Living Lab for the last three weeks. Andrews Avenue located in the south end of the central city is currently a blank canvas- their task was to use an urban camouflage approach to make it more people friendly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCghaipbTNo&feature=youtu.be
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AT Walk Challenge
| Event | The Auckland Walk Challenge is a month-long, fun, team walking Challenge run by Auckland Transport’s Sustainable Mobility team. Through tailored communications, incentives, prompts, nudges, social norming and other behaviour change techniques, this annual Challenge aims to encourage mode-shift whereby participants adopt longer-term changes by choosing to replace car-trips with walking.
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Be Counted at PN City He Ara Kotahi Bridge WINNER
| Walking and Public transport initiative. | The CITX-3D is patented camera with the capacity to count and classify pedestrians, bicycles and vehicles in the busiest of urban areas. In December 2019 Palmerston North was the first New Zealand Council to install a combined pedestrian and bike counter and display on He Ara Kotahi Bridge. |
Bear Hunt during Lockdown WINNER | Event | NZ Bear Hunt started as a little idea, turned into a nationwide movement, remaining local and community-oriented. The concept is to put teddy bears or toys in a window facing the street and to pin your bear to an on-line map. Walkers explore their neighbourhood, tracking down households taking part. |
Brightwater Consultation WINNER | School projects | Brightwater in Tasman is a peri-urban town of some 1,500 residents and is surrounded by rural landscape and horticulture. The challenge with this project was to successfully consult, connect and engage with this community. We needed a way in to the heart of this community, to understand it and activate robust discussion |
Chris Teo-Sherrell WINNER | Walking Champion | The combined attack on footpaths of unregulated e-scooters and a proposed rule change to allow cyclists, e-bikes and e-scooters everywhere galvanised Chris to lead a coalition of fourteen organisations to show the detriment to vulnerable walkers to officials, Ministers and MPs, media and the public, raising public awareness. |
Diabetes New Zealand Fitbit MoveMeant challenge
| Event | The Diabetes New Zealand Fitbit MoveMeant challenge was designed to raise awareness of the importance of exercise in the prevention and management of diabetes. Beginning in 2015 Fitbit and Diabetes New Zealand collaborated to create an event that is fun, engaging, challenging, rewarding and for some life changing. |
GFWA SPA The Tāmaki Loop
| Walking and Public transport initiative. | The Tāmaki Loop is an innovative placemaking proposition that underpins the Tāmaki Precinct Masterplan – a long-term vision for regeneration in Tāmaki. The concept would see multiple destinations across the Tāmaki area (including schools, parks, treasured mana whenua sites, etc) all interwoven through a new, safe and attractive walking route. |
He Ara Kotahi Bridge and Pathway PN City
| Walking and Public transport initiative. | Palmerston North City Council in partnership with local Iwi Rangitāne, Massey University, NZ Defence Force, New Zealand Transport Agency and other key stakeholders created an iconic sustainable transport network, which is an exemplar to the rest of New Zealand. He Ara Kotahi consist of approximately 14 kms of pathways, 5 bridges (including the new iconic He Ara Kotahi bridge, 194m long) and 145m of board walk at a cost of approximately $16.8 million dollars. The bridge and pathway truly ‘brings the people together’ providing a safe, direct and beautiful walking and cycling connection from the city side to Massey University Campus (18,000 students & staff) and Linton Army camp (2,100 staff). Since the bridge and pathway opened in June 2019 it has had almost 500,000 user groups across it, with an average daily usage of between 1500-2000 users. |
High Street Trial Ak Design office WINNER | Facilities or place-making | As part of the overarching Access for Everyone project, the High Street Trial aimed to allocate more space to pedestrians and other users, by replacing on-street parking with temporary kerb/footpath extensions, to effectively double the width of this street’s narrow footpaths |
Here Comes the Sun Pt Chev Play Street
| School projects | “Here comes the sun” was a community lead Play Street event held on Te Rā Road, Point Chevalier, Auckland on 1 November 2019. A Play Street creates play spaces by temporarily closing streets so the space can be used by the community for play activities and interaction |
Innovating Streets for People Funding
| Walking and Public transport initiative. | The Innovating Streets for People pilot fund is designed to help councils create more people-friendly spaces in our towns and cities. Tactical urbanism can be used to make quick progress by testing and piloting projects to demonstrate value to the community. 90% funding assistance rate and capability building support are available. |
Mark Weatherall,
| Walking Champion | Mark has been CEO of Te Araroa Trust for two years. He is an excellent advocate for the trail, a clear communicator with walkers and stakeholders and is highly safety-conscious. His live FB chats, preparation of financial reports and pleasant manner mean he has achieved a huge amount. |
Roger Boulter Book: Planning for Walking and Cycling in New Zealand WINNER | Research | Roger is an international authority on planning for walking and cycling. He has led national strategy development in New Zealand and previously in the UK. He has collated New Zealand history in considerable detail and breadth. The book is current; including the Accessible Streets rules package and Innovating Streets Fund. |
Transportation Group Christchurch Open Play Street
| Event | The Open Play Street event was held on Colombo Street in the heart of Christchurch’s central city to showcase a form of tactical urbanism and to promote placemaking, play and active transport. The event was supported by a range of groups who created play zones and activities for the community.
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Wahine Walking
| Event | Suffrage Day is a celebration of women’s right to VOTE. Despite this right, women have lower socio-economic status, especially non-Pakeha and non-binary people. Women walk more yet fear more for their safety. This inclusive free event showcased the often unknown history of women in the capital with an after-work walk. |
2018
The presentation for the Golden Foot Walking Awards 2018 was on June 26, 2018. Our key sponsor from the last awards was again our sponsor - thank you WSP Opus
The award ceremony was in the Grand Hall, Parliament. It was an opportunity for finalists and winners to showcase their projects. The awards ceremony was hosted and attended by Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter.
Finalists 2018
Whananaki footbridge, Whangarei District Council details here
Rangitoto Summit Walk Sport Auckland, Department of Conservation, details here
Walking Radical Wellington, Dr Dougal McNeill, Samantha Murphy details here
Paul Pope, Otago Peninsula Community
The Power to Walk, The Duncan Foundation details here
Claire Dixon, Auckland Transport
Movin' March Greater, Wellington Regional Council
Winners 2018
Winner:Community Led Project
Gruffalo Explorer - Christchurch Walking Festival
Christchurch City Council, St Margarets, Canterbury Playcentre Association, Canterbury Plunket
Winner:School Travel
Henry Hill School Travel unplan
Principal Jason Williams and Henry Hill School
Winner:Connecting communities
Hemo Gorge intersection
Fred Shilton WSP OPUS and New Zealand Transport Agency
Winner:Walking School Bus
Fernridge School Walking School Bus
Janine Devenport and Fernridge School
Winner:Walking Champions
Walking Samoans
Ane Bonifacio Radio Samoa, Pacific Heartbeat, Heart Foundation
Winner:Understanding Walking
Business Case for Walking
Darren Davis - Auckland Council
2016
The 2016 Golden Foot Awards were presented at the 2WALKandCYCLE Conference in Auckland July 2016.
The 2016 Golden Foot Awards were supported by OPUS.
| Name of Organisation | Name of Project |
Winner | Hamilton City Council | Accessible Kerb Upgrade Programme |
Winner | Sculpture Trust Wellington | Park(ing) Day |
Winner | Mainstreet Tauranga | Wharf Street Shared Space Project |
Finalist | Abley Transportation Consultants Ltd | Australasian Pedestrian Facility Selection Tool |
Finalist | Community and Public Health, Aranui Primary School, Chisnallwood Intermediate School, St James School , Wainoni School and the All Right? Campaign. | AWA Trails Walking Map |
Finalist | Devonport Peninsula Trust | Devonport Community Treasure Hunt |
Finalist | New Plymouth District Council- Let’s Go Project | Let’s Go Scooter Sessions |
Finalist | Te Araroa Trust (CEO) | Paekakariki Escarpment Track |
Finalist | Castor Bay Ratepayers and Residents Association | Wairau-Estuary Bridge |
Finalist | Christchurch City Council | Walk or Wheel Safely to School Day 2016 |
Finalist | Rosamund Averton and Edward Sarfas | Walking Champions Extraordinaire |
Finalist | Make Collective: Clare Jones | Walking Poster Generator |
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2014
The four Walking Award Category Winners were:
- “Best New Zealand Joint Walking and Cycling Project” Uni of Otago, Adolescent Mobility Health Consortium for symposia on youth and tranport.
- “Best New Zealand Walking Facility” (enabling walking) New Plymouth DC with Let's Go Streets Project
- “Best New Zealand Walking Promotion” (educating about walking) New Plymouth DC with Let's Go School Travel Planning
- “Best New Zealand Walking Project” (encouraging walking) Christchurch CC & Recreation and Sport Unit with The Breeze
2012
The Awards Ceremony was held on 23 February 2012 in Hastings at the 2WalkandCycle Conference.
2010
Read about the 2010 Awards.
2009
Read about the inaugural 2009 National Walking Awards.