Anna Matheson
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drannamatheson.bsky.social
Anna Matheson
@drannamatheson.bsky.social
Associate Professor - public health, complexity, inequality, better policy, more community 🌻
Reposted by Anna Matheson
Yes, my complexity / computational folks @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social there is also a maths joke: “Calculus tells us that even as we approach infinity, we approach limits.” Standard economic models will hit their limits long before networks of people do.
My parody of the repeal of New Zealand’s pay equity legislation - Salary Sticks - is out in The Listener (print first). It was fun to write – but the point is serious.

Much economic reasoning in policy today still:
→ masks its politics
→ mocks its challengers
→ is gendered *all the way down*
November 25, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Reposted by Anna Matheson
So excited to be visiting Aotearoa New Zealand in February for the Capitol City Complex Systems Symposium 2026 (with side trips to Otago, Canterbury, and U. Auckland).

If you're in Wellington or fancy a visit, check out the program.

www.tepunahamatatini.ac.nz/conferences/...
Capital City Complex Systems Symposium 2026
The Capital City Complex Systems Symposium 2026 explores cutting-edge knowledge of complex systems & complexity & how this knowledge is used to drive system change.
www.tepunahamatatini.ac.nz
November 25, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Reposted by Anna Matheson
Registrations are now live for the Capital City Complex Systems Symposium 2026 → www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/capital-ci...

#cccss #complexsystems
Capital City Complex Systems Symposium 2026
Join us in Wellington, New Zealand this summer for a gathering of leading researchers and practitioners working on complex systems.
www.eventbrite.co.nz
November 17, 2025 at 5:13 AM
Reposted by Anna Matheson
🚨Deadline extended 🚨 Get your abstracts in for the Capital City Complex Systems Symposium 2026 by Tuesday 7 October → forms.gle/vdMooRs2srtz...

#cccss26 #complexsystems 🧪
September 28, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Reposted by Anna Matheson
Kylie Reiri is a deputy chief executive at the Social Investment Agency, where she works to improve systems to benefit our communities.

Kylie will be a keynote presenter at the Capital City Complex Systems Symposium 2026 → www.tepunahamatatini.ac.nz/symposium/

#cccss26 #complexsystems
September 8, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Reposted by Anna Matheson
Our next confirmed keynote for the Capital City Complex Systems Symposium is Diane Finegood, whose current passion is for the application of systems thinking and dialogue to address complex problems across a broad range of topics, with a particular focus on health systems and public health #cccss26
August 20, 2025 at 3:08 AM
Reposted by Anna Matheson
@hendysh.bsky.social is chief scientist and a co-founder of Toha, the founding director of Te Pūnaha Matatini & led the team that won the Prime Minister’s Science Prize for their Covid-19 response

He is a keynote speaker at the Capital City Complex Systems Symposium 2026.

#cccss26 #complexsystems
September 6, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Reposted by Anna Matheson
Our next confirmed keynote speaker for the Capital City Complex Systems Symposium 2026 is Tom Johnson.

Tom is the design lead at Whakaue Research, where he develops kaupapa Māori innovations that turn research into systems change.

#cccss26 #complexsystems
September 5, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Reposted by Anna Matheson
Our next confirmed speaker for the Capital City Complex Systems Symposium 2026 is Tanya Allport.

Tanya draws on Indigenous models of systems change to advance whānau-centred solutions for Māori health and wellbeing → www.tepunahamatatini.ac.nz/symposium/

#cccss26 #complexsystems
September 3, 2025 at 6:40 AM
Reposted by Anna Matheson
Brian Castellani mapped how disciplines, concepts and people have weaved together over time to create our understanding of complex systems.

He'll be joining us as a keynote speaker for the Capital City Complex Systems Symposium 2026 → www.tepunahamatatini.ac.nz/symposium/

#cccss26 #complexsystems
September 3, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Reposted by Anna Matheson
🚨 Call for abstracts 🚨 Capital City Complex Systems Symposium 2026. Nau mai haere mai ki tēnei hui!

You are warmly invited to the Capital City Complex Systems Symposium 2026, 24-25 February 2026 in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Submit your abstract → forms.gle/as6ArigFQW34...

#cccss26 #complexsystems 🧪
September 2, 2025 at 3:15 AM
Reposted by Anna Matheson
Want to come to New Zealand this summer? The call for abstracts for the Capital City Complex Systems Symposium 2026 is now open: forms.gle/g22s2dR85oFq... 🧪
August 29, 2025 at 3:58 AM
Reposted by Anna Matheson
I've long thought that the dominant - progressive - policy narrative, and social statistical analysis, of 'health inequalities' is wrong. This lovely little story by @drannamatheson.bsky.social helps articulate why.
Imagine you’re watching a river flow through a beautiful valley. At first glance, the river seems peaceful, carrying water gently downstream. But if you look closely, you’ll notice the current carving paths, altering landscapes, and influencing every living community it flows through 🧪🧵
June 11, 2025 at 9:44 PM
Reposted by Anna Matheson
Hey NZ science bluesky you made it happen 🧪
June 10, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Reposted by Anna Matheson
Jonathan Burgess and Anna Brown from Te Pūnaha Matatini were at #PCST2025 in Scotland recently, sharing our low-tech tools for facilitating engagement with unexpected outcomes and our new project on emergent engagement and how it contributes to better research 🧪
June 10, 2025 at 4:09 AM
Reposted by Anna Matheson
Imagine you’re watching a river flow through a beautiful valley. At first glance, the river seems peaceful, carrying water gently downstream. But if you look closely, you’ll notice the current carving paths, altering landscapes, and influencing every living community it flows through 🧪🧵
May 29, 2025 at 8:07 AM
Reposted by Anna Matheson
Governments urged to invest in keeping people out of prison, instead of criminalising poverty, homelessness and disadvantage www.croakey.org/governments-... #publichealth
Governments urged to invest in keeping people out of prison, instead of criminalising poverty, homelessness and disadvantage
www.croakey.org
May 15, 2025 at 8:21 AM
Reposted by Anna Matheson
ED wait times are not a “whole of hospital” measure. They are now a “whole of system” measure ie impacted by primary care and community access.

The system “going solid” is not about flow of patients from ED to ward. That was the early 2000s, it’s not the issue now.

newsroom.co.nz/2025/04/29/w...
April 30, 2025 at 2:42 AM
Reposted by Anna Matheson
It’s a difficult time right now in NZ and globally. Our work, and how we do it, matters.
From extreme weather to the erosion of evidence-based decision-making, global problems continue to shape our lives.

But for @cillaw.bsky.social the silver lining is that the complex systems work we do at Te Pūnaha Matatini is more relevant and important than ever → mailchi.mp/e8bb03d8f106... 🧪
TPM Newsletter #84
mailchi.mp
April 25, 2025 at 5:02 AM
Reposted by Anna Matheson
The line between applying de-ex tech to save endangered species is not straight; it's not even a line. Rather, it's a multifaceted network that must incl diverse perspectives and knowledges to address the myriad of issues it raises, esp here in Aotearoa New Zealand.

www.rnz.co.nz/national/pro...
De-extinction and the implications for conservation
This week US company Colossal Biosciences announced the birth of three genetically engineered dire wolf pups.
www.rnz.co.nz
April 11, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Reposted by Anna Matheson
Data offers a tool for communities, not a substitute for their leadership and voice. Real system change happens when we fundamentally rethink how change happens, and who leads that change in the first place → theconversation.com/yes-data-can...
Yes, data can produce better policy – but it’s no substitute for real-world experience
Data-driven policy is often held up as the gold standard. But by reducing people to measurable statistics, it can also what’s needed to drive real-world change.
theconversation.com
April 7, 2025 at 3:14 AM
Reposted by Anna Matheson
Governments like to boast that “data-driven” policies are the best way to make fair, efficient decisions. They collect statistics, set targets and adjust strategies to suit 🧪🧵
April 7, 2025 at 3:10 AM
Reposted by Anna Matheson
Data-driven policy is often held up as the gold standard. But by reducing people to measurable statistics, it can also what’s needed to drive real-world change.
Yes, data can produce better policy – but it’s no substitute for real-world experience
theconversation.com
April 3, 2025 at 10:59 PM
Reposted by Anna Matheson
Is the future in our genes? To find out, join Jack Heinemann and me for the Speaker Series at Tūranga library in Ōtautahi | Christchurch on Thu 10 Apr at 6pm 🧬@christchurchlib.bsky.social

bit.ly/3EcJuK9 1/2
Speaker Series @ Tūranga - Will changing our gene technology laws save threatened species in Aotearoa?
Gene technology is on the move with science commentators including Walter Isaacson claiming Genetic Modifications (GM) could impact our society more than social media in the future. The New Zealand go...
bit.ly
April 5, 2025 at 9:59 PM