Pae Auaha

Project lead: Professor Waikaremoana Waitoki (Ngāti Hako, Ngāti Māhanga), The University of Waikato | Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato

The ACT Party introduced the Treaty Principles Bill in 2024, proclaiming to protect everyone’s equal rights before the law. The Bill has sparked immense debates over the Crown’s attempt to rewrite the articles of te Tiriti o Waitangi and undermine Māori tino rangatiratanga.

Project lead: Professor Tom Roa (Ngāti Maniapoto, Waikato, Ngāti Apakura), The University of Waikato | Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato

This project will document Māori-led responses to climate change through a Te Ao Māori (Māori worldview) lens, focusing on the connection between Māori communities and their ancestral whenua (land).

Through wānanga (digital storytelling workshops) and interviews, the research will explore how Māori of the Waikato-King Country region have addressed in the past and are addressing today the effects of climate change through their deep understandings of traditional knowledge and innovative Māori solutions.

Project lead: Dr Te Wai Barbarich-Unasa Ngāti Paoa, Waikato, Ngāti Maniapoto AUT University | Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau

Type 2 diabetes continues to be a major health challenge for Māori, who are more than twice as likely to be diagnosed and face more severe and life-threatening complications than non-Māori (Holder-Pearson & Chase, 2022).

Despite decades of intervention, mainstream services have largely failed to improve outcomes for Māori—highlighting the need for culturally grounded, whānau-centred solutions that better reflect Māori realities and aspirations (Tane et al., 2021).

Kimi Ora is a kaupapa Māori diabetes lifestyle programme delivered by Te Kōhao Health in Kirikiriroa. Since 2018, it has supported over 400 participants through a holistic, clinically informed model that centres kaupapa Māori and whānau wellbeing (Masters-Awatere et al., 2021).

Project lead: Dr Mahonri Owen (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Tūwharetoa), The University of Waikato | Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato

Additive manufacturing technology (3D printing) can be used to accelerate the design/development process, reduce material waste, minimise cost and create personalised solutions for challenges faced in industry. 3D printing is often used in conjunction with other technology to leverage its advantages toward the improvement of human life.

Project lead: Mr Kāhui Iles (Ngāti Porou), Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi

This project explores future sustainable economic developments in Te Tairāwhiti, specifically within Te Rohe Pōtae o Ngāti Porou. Historically dominated by farming, the region now faces environmental challenges such as climate change, erosion, and biodiversity loss.

Project lead: Dr Karen Wright Kāi Tahu The University of Auckland | Waipapa Taumata Rau (Host)

Māori in Aotearoa experience large and persistent differences in health outcomes compared to non-Māori in nearly all health conditions. While causation of these unfair and unjust differences is understandably complex, differential access to health care services and differences in the quality of care received are contributing factors.