Projects

“We want our children to go out from school confident of who they are, where they come from and who they represent.” “It’s important the stories people tell about themselves,” Hāromi Williams says. At her office at Tāneatua near the Urewera, where she is Executive Manager of the Tūhoe Education Authority (TEA), she explains it’s a lesson she first learned forcibly when teaching adult migrant students in Sydney’s western suburbs learning English as a second language.

This internship examined publicly available sources to build a research report on Te Atiawa knowledge, perspectives, and values, aiming to develop a research model grounded in Te Atiawa mātauranga.
The project informed the first phase of a Master’s thesis supporting Te Atiawa and their hapū to strengthen connections with their Tupuna Mounga, Taranaki.

“Teachers enter the profession because they want to make a difference. This approach helps them do that.” MORE THAN 30 years ago when Russell Bishop first started teaching at Mana College in Porirua, he was struck by a single question: Why did so many Māori students start out well but still fail as they went through school?

Project purpose: This research project aims to promote and deepen New Zealand’s understanding of Māori and their culture by ensuring that the stories and voices of Māori affected by the Canterbury earthquakes are heard, respected, valued and incorporated into relevant learning and planning environments.

Project purpose: Hapai Te Hauora Tapui Ltd was set up in 1996 with a specific focus on Māori Public Health. The shareholder organisations are: Te Runanga o Ngāti Whatua, Raukura Hauora O Tainui and Waipareira Trust.

Project purpose: Parents of young children, as the intimate stewards of a new generation, carry the weight of societal expectation upon their often youthful shoulders.

Project purpose: Mate Māori - Kōrero Kaumātua is a project within Te Puawaitanga o Ngā Tapuwai Kia Ora Tonu - Life and Living in Advanced Age: a Cohort Study in New Zealand (The LILAC Study NZ). The purpose of Mate Māori - Kōrero Kaumātua is to document the knowledge of Mate Māori held by the oldest old Māori (aged 80-90 years).

This research explores how rangatahi Māori are navigating a world of deep uncertainty. Amidst climate change, poverty, injustice and cultural upheaval, this project centres Māori youth as powerful future-makers. Led by Professor Joanna Kidman, the study invites rangatahi to imagine, design, and plan thriving futures for their whānau, hapū and iwi—grounded in ancestral strength and collective vision.

Project Purpose: The Ōkahu Bay Restoration Project is being undertaken by Ngāti Whātua ki Ōrākei and is an all-encompassing restoration project. Ngāti Whātua ki Ōrākei are working with The University of Auckland, Auckland City and NIWA. The first phase is determining baseline and historical conditions of Ōkahu Bay and compiling the information into a GIS database.

Project purpose: To facilitate the publication of map layers that students 2009-11 have contributed to the TKAM Atlas, and secondly to organise and analyse student feedback data related to their Atlas work, for publication in a journal article.

The intern Wiremu Smith will detail recreational fishing hotspots within Tauranga Harbour, especially shellfish and identify species found at each location.

Project purpose: To determine what factors affect the usage of computers in te reo Māori by students in the schooling sector?

Project purpose: Assist indigenous resistance to petrochemical exploitation of Papatūānuku

The programme of work to be carried out: Investigation and identification of fracking impact upon ecosystem and indigenous perspective of impact upon mauri of identified indicators using the Mauri Model decision making framework.

“….a very positive experience. We were able to preserve our mātauranga and build up our capacity in field work survey and monitoring methods along with gaining a new knowledge about our manu in the process.” Toko Renata, Chairperson of the Ruamaahua Islands Trust

“The gathering was a landmark event as the first of its kind in the South Island and it showed the great increase of Māori researchers and the breadth of areas they were involved in.”

-Dr Rāwiri Taonui, Head of Māori and Indigenous Studies at the University of Canterbury

Twenty years ago there where only a handful of Māori researchers with PhDs in New Zealand. But you only needed to visit the Ngā Kete a Rēhua Inaugural Māori Research Symposium held at the University of Canterbury in September to see how much has changed.

Tāmaki Herenga Waka is the over-arching theme for a series of activities aimed at building a positive Māori consciousness and a more dynamic and connected community in Auckland City.

This Kaupapa Māori research centred Māori worldviews, values, and lived experiences. It drew on legal analysis and case study work to investigate how tikanga Māori is reshaping law and dispute resolution in Aotearoa’s climate-conscious future.

The significance of this research project lies in its contribution to deeper understand what role Māori SMEs have as critical constituents of the Māori Economy. Recent years have seen attention paid to the merit of the Māori economy, based on the potential of an economy worth an estimated $42.6bn in 2013 (Nana, Khan, & Schulze, 2015).