Full project

Wānanga are iwi located and managed events whose purpose is to share knowledge, create knowledge and to foster community identity, cohesion and wellbeing. Wānanga are conducted regularly by every iwi community in the country and are highly valued by those communities. Wānanga are critical events in the development of iwi/Māori communities and are perhaps only eclipsed by tangihanga as the pre-eminent event of our communities.

This research project looks at what the basic conditions are that would need to be in place in order for whanau/hapu and iwi communities to be ready to engage with Extractive Industry (EI); enter joint ventures with EI; or undertake their own EI projects? It will also investigate what the extractive industries perceptions are of international indigenous rights and business and human rights, as well as how recent developments in international law relating to indigenous rights and corporate accountability could promote Māori economic development through EI?

Despite the proliferation of equity and diversity plans and policies that have been established in universities across New Zealand over the past 25 years, Māori academic staff make up only a very small proportion of the nation’s academic workforce (6%) and the proportion of Pacific academic staff is even smaller (2%).

This project investigates the wellbeing (economic indicators) of Māori households whānau of a specific iwi using New Zealand Census data from 1991–2006. This project aims to provide greater sovereignty to iwi by providing an evidence base for their decision-making through analysis of this data.

Metabolic health issues such as Type 2 diabetes and obesity are increasingly prevalent in our community, in keeping with worldwide trends. There is now a considerable amount of evidence that events during pregnancy and early childhood influence the risk of metabolic disease in later life by affecting glucose and fat metabolism and possibly appetite regulation. To try to prevent later metabolic disease, we therefore need to look at practical ways to intervene in early life to decrease these risks.