They are created through good stewardship, informed decision-making and collaboration between communities, organisations and governments.
My work helps strengthen decision-making at every geographical scale—from neighbourhoods through to nations—using two complementary applications of the Public Value Decision-Making System.
The ACoRN Model strengthens stewardship, resilience and community intelligence in suburbs and neighbourhoods.
Better Decisions, Better Outcomes (BDBO) strengthens the Think stage of governance, strategy and investment in districts, regions, cities and nations.
Together they help create stronger financial value, greater public value and better long-term outcomes.
Two Complementary Applications
Application one: Suburbs
The ACoRN Model
Thriving communities are built on connected people, capable local organisations, effective collaboration and communities that actively contribute to the decisions that affect their future.
The ACoRN Model (Aotearoa Community Resilience Network) was developed after applying the Better Decisions, Better Outcomes (BDBO) framework with local leaders to identify the best public value option to measurably improve economic, environmental, social, cultural, governance and disaster resilience.
The result was a Community and Disaster Resilience Model that brings together local organisations, volunteers, residents and city networks to build stronger, more connected and more resilient neighbourhoods.
The Model is to be piloted in Newlands. Working alongside residents, community organisations, schools, churches, businesses, city networks and partner organisations, the pilot is building community capability, strengthening community and disaster resilience, generating annual community intelligence and enabling the community to speak with one voice into decisions that affect its future. The pilot provides a practical demonstration of how coordinated community stewardship can improve both local decision-making and public value.
Current application: Newlands, Paparangi and Woodridge
In July 2026, the Newlands Resilience Group and ACoRN published an open proposal for an 18-month community-led pilot to strengthen community connection, disaster preparedness and residents’ participation in decisions that affect their future. The proposal brings together seven years of community evidence, a practical implementation and co-investment proposition, and a preliminary public value analysis of the proposed Petone to Grenada Link Road.
Application two: Districts, Regions, Cities and Nations
Better Decisions, Better Outcomes (BDBO)
Districts, regions, cities and nations face increasingly complex decisions about infrastructure, economic development, housing, climate adaptation, environmental stewardship and public investment.
The Better Decisions, Better Outcomes (BDBO) framework strengthens the Think stage of governance, strategy and investment before detailed planning begins.
Rather than replacing existing planning, business case or investment processes, BDBO improves the quality of thinking that informs them.
As illustrated below, BDBO provides a structured five-stage framework that helps decision-makers move from understanding complex challenges to identifying the right priorities before planning begins.
Better Thinking Before Better Planning
Applied during the Think stage of the Public Value Decision-Making System, BDBO helps leaders identify the right problems, opportunities, outcomes, public value and therefore the right things to plan.
The framework strengthens decision-making before organisations invest significant time and resources in developing strategies, business cases, investment proposals and implementation plans.
By improving thinking at the beginning of the decision-making lifecycle, BDBO helps the best public value way forward to measurably improve economic, environment, social, cultural, governance and disaster resilience, with the enabling hard infrastructure.
A practical response: the BDBO Place-based Portfolio Business Case
The BDBO Portfolio Business Case provides a practical response to the gaps identified in the current state of decision-making. The evidence shows persistent weaknesses in strategic alignment, long-term planning, investment prioritisation, business-case quality, capability, accountability and the connection between public spending and measurable outcomes.
It helps public leaders move beyond fragmented, project-by-project decisions by bringing outcomes, evidence, community and local intelligence, strategic choices, investment priorities and measurable public value together into one coherent portfolio.
It supports more joined-up, transparent and accountable decision-making across organisations and levels of government before individual programmes, projects and business cases are developed. The city-wide portfolio business-case capability is explored further in An Integrated Public Value Decision-Making System for Wellington here.
