Te Awaroa – 1000 Rivers in a State of Ora by 2050

Te Tai Ao - Natural Environment

Across New Zealand, many rivers are unsafe parts of the ecosystem, with Kiwis seriously concerned about declining river health.

The ‘bottom line’ regulatory approach of the government's freshwater reforms requires coordinated commitment across river stakeholders. Despite the talent and commitment of existing groups, the current fragmented approaches are not achieving the scale and rapidity of change needed; it is not enough to rely on government.

Te Awaroa is a national movement of Kiwis taking action to care for their waterways, with a collective goal of achieving 1000 rivers in a state of ora by 2050. We believe that rivers will return to ora when stakeholders develop a collective sense of care, and have a suite of locally relevant practices and tools that they can and will use.

Te Awaroa has been invited to work in partnership with two communities - Ōrākei/Ōkahu and Waimatā/Taruheru/Tūranganui, to trial new or previously under-valued ways of thinking about rivers, and fostering knowledge-rich approaches to ensure that rivers, communities and businesses prosper and thrive together. We will work with local leaders, experts, businesses and community members to share skills and expertise, enhance the ora of waterways, and transfer successful tools and strategies. The intent is to realise community agency by producing local practical, enduring solutions with national and international implications and constructive impacts on national policy. Through working in two Māori driven project sites the Ngā Pae Te Awaroa project will:

Inspire New Zealanders to take care of our rivers
Create conditions for rivers to take care of themselves
Ensure that the ‘voice of the river’ is articulated and heard
Trial innovative concepts and approaches to river care, particularly bringing together mātauranga, local knowledge and science
Run collaborative learning events, with a particular focus on engaging young people and change agents
Scale up successful approaches to have national reach through Te Awaroa’s and NPM’s networks

SAVE THE DATE: INTERNATIONAL INDIGENOUS RESEARCH CONFERENCE 2020

16-20 November 2020 - Tāmaki Makaurau - Auckland, Aotearoa - New Zealand

"INDIGENOUS FUTURES"

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Te Hononga Pūkenga

Te Hononga Pūkenga - ‘the connection of experts’, was created by Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga to make Māori and Indigenous research expertise, location and contact information readily available, in response to the need for stronger engagement between Māori Researchers and Government, the wider public/private sector and to facilitate our communities to access us as Māori & Indigenous researchers. Visit site.

News & Events

Kia Tō Tipu and Kia Ārohi Kia Marama - Seed and Scope

NPM has developed and confirmed eight new seed and scope research projects that will deliver innovative, inspiring and impactful research, and initiate and lead to transformative outcomes.

Te Reo me ngā tikanga Māori

NPM Researchers Recognised by Royal Society Te Apārangi

NPM congratulates our affiliated researchers who were acknowledged by the Royal Society Te Apārangi at the RSNZ 2019 Research Honours evening held in Dunedin on Thursday 17 October.

Dr Ocean Ripeka Mercier (Ngāti Porou) was awarded the 2019 Callaghan Medal for her pioneering work to engage audiences in science and mātauranga Māori,

NPM Recieves Te Rangaunua Hiranga Māori Award

The inaugural Te Rangaunua Hiranga Māori Award, which recognises excellent, innovative co-created research conducted by Māori that has made a distinctive contribution to community wellbeing and development in Aotearoa, has been awarded to Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, New Zealand's Māori Centre of Research Excellence, by Royal Society Te Apārangi.

Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga appoints three inaugural distinguished Ruānuku

In a new initiative, Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga (NPM) New Zealand’s Māori Centre of Research Excellence is celebrating and recognising the careers of three Māori leaders and visionaries, who have a long history of bringing about major social change and impact in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Professor Rawinia Higgins, NPM Board member, says that these new Ruānuku positions formally acknowledge the generous ongoing roles these exceptional Māori leaders have agreed to provide to NPM.

NPM Co-Director Recognised in New Role

The University of Otago recently appointed seven of its leading scholars to prestigious new roles as sesquicentennial distinguished chairs, and one of these appointees was NPM's co-director Professor Jacinta Ruru.

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Te Awaroa – 1000 Rivers in a State of Ora by 2050