River of Flowers - Te Waitohi Maumahara

Material relating to a Transitional Cities project, titled 'River of Flowers - Te Waitohi Maumahara'. The project description reads:

From 8am to 8pm on 22 February 2012, people brought flowers to drop in the river and wrote messages for a Tree of Hope.From 12.30 to 1.30pm, local community groups hosted the sites. At 12:51 two minutes' silence was held, followed by the release of red, helium-filled biodegradable balloons. The River of Flowers was an opportunity to come together as a city through a river of flowers; let go through dropping flowers into the river; hold two minutes of silence to remember those who have died, been injured, or who have lost their homes; and to write notes of hope and post them on a tree of hope. It was also an opportunity to acknowledge the importance of the river(s) in the life and heritage of the city; give a token of respect back to the river(s); show the connections between communities - particularly those most affected - and to celebrate our strength, our resilience and our support for one another.