It had taken about a year of planning to bring all 12 of the zoo's conservation partners together for the event, which will be held over Wednesday and Thursday next week.
The groups are 21st Century Tiger (UK), Golden Lion Tamarin Association (Brazil), Cheetah Outreach (South Africa), Fauna and Flora International (Vietnam), Free The Bears (Asia), Proyecto Titi (Colombia), Red Panda Network (Nepal), TRAFFIC (Southeast Asia), Kea Conservation Trust, the Jane Goodall Institute, and Save the Tasmanian Devil Program.
"We all care about animals, we all care about the planet . . . we need to understand the barriers, we need to understand how we can help," Fifield said.
She was passionate about showing the average person how they could commit to small actions that could make a huge difference to the environment.
"These people that are coming are at the coalface of it, but really everyone can do something.
"The thing is, we have to be the voice for the animals. The animals are just trying to be who they are. They're trying to be a cheetah, or a lemur, or a red panda. If people have created the problem, people can also find a solution, I'm a big believer in that.
"Yes, some of the problems are big, like climate change, so let's break it down into smaller things everyone can do."
I can't think of a zoo anywhere in the world that has done something like this with their conservation partners.
Small changes in lifestyle could include recycling, buying Forest Stewardship Council rated timber, or not buying products with palm oil in them.
"Even just doing one small thing and everybody adding their bits to it has a huge amount of potential for change. Just making a call to think about what they buy, the exponential growth of that is huge in terms of protecting the planet.
"Yes, some people are going to be going out into the wilds of Madagascar, but not everybody can do that."
Fifield said it was important not to "preach" to people, but instead to show them how they could feel good about themselves by making certain choices.
"I like to call them serotonin hits . . . we want people walking around with a whole lot of serotonin in their bodies."
People will get the chance on Saturday next week to meet and listen to the representatives from the 12 conservation groups who will be giving talks and running animal encounters at the zoo.
"We expect all of Wellington here on Saturday," she said.
Fifield said they were expecting about 400 people to show up at each day of the symposium.
The aim of the event was to encourage debate on how best to sustain conservation for the future, and how to engage people.
"I can't think of a zoo anywhere in the world that has done something like this with their conservation partners."
Two conservation efforts particularly close to Fifield's heart included protecting gibbons, which many people did not know were critically endangered, and the Free the Bears operation.
A sun bear rescued through the organisation lives at Wellington zoo with his daughter, who was born on Fifield's first day working there, 11 years ago.
The zoo actively supports conservation efforts and gives staff the opportunity to head overseas and work with conservation groups.
One staff member is currently in Nepal working with red pandas. Other staff had previously gone to Vietnam and Madagascar on conservation work.
Tickets are still available for the symposium and can be found through the Wellington Zoo website.
