In this platform research, our focus makes the distinction between ‘kai’ as a culturally defined Māori notion and western interpretations of ‘food’. “He moumou kai, he moumou tāngata” describes a state where our existence and futures as healthy Māori people (Mauri Ora: Human Flourishing) are put at risk because our kai sources (Te Tai Ao: The Natural Environment), including access to kai, growing kai, preparing kai, the lore/law pertaining to kai, and control of kai systems (Whai Rawa: Māori Economies) is diminishing.  Without kai or wai the people will perish! 

The overarching research platform questions include:

What current methods do Māori (particularly those on low incomes and/or living in conditions of poverty) use to manage money?

What financial products and services are likely to be effective for Māori and how might these be successfully implemented?

What support can Māori organisations (including iwi) and the government provide to increase whānau financial literacy and savings?

Poverty within Māori communities is perpetuated by low incomes, poor financial literacy and a lack of whānau role models who encourage saving. For change to occur, financial education, collaborative community efforts and radical behavioural shifts are required.

This proposed research will undertake a co-generative process with our community and collaborating researchers to scope and develop specific research questions that would form the basis of individual applications to three funding bodies. However, our meetings to date have broader research questions that have been discussed so far include:

To scope traditional and contemporary understandings of ‘whānau consent’ in regards to genetic, tissue and organ testing, collection, donation and banking.

To understand how whānau go about gaining ‘whānau consent’ and what processes may support these conversations.

To scope ways in which we can present information about what helps and hinders whānau discussion about consent in an interactive format for whānau to view, supporting them through an informed consent process for genetic-related testing, treatment and/or research.

How can the synthesis of kaitiakitanga and green polymer science enhance and protect the mauri of water in Aotearoa?

How can innovative polymer technologies protect and improve the mauri, wairua and kaitiakitanga of water in rural Māori communities?

This project will conduct research into the impacts from septic tank seepage. This problem is both out-of-sight and out-of-mind but has a major impact in rural and coastal locations where traditionally, Māori have located their mahinga kai, sourced kai moana and accessed fresh water.

This project explores the role that enterprise plays in indigenous self-determination. In New Zealand, we have chosen to examine Māori business networks (MBNs), which we argue are a manifestation of this struggle, but suffer from the absence of a sustainable business model. Our research question is, 'what is the role of Māori business networks in Māori self-determination and sustainable economic development'?

How can 21st century Māori self-determination and self-governance jurisdiction aspirations best be supported in law to assist with meeting strategic Māori community economic objectives of wealth and well-being?

What legal solutions and models can better support multi-dimensional and intergenerational wealth and wellbeing for whānau, hapū and iwi as envisaged in the Treaty of Waitangi and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples?

What is the cost of Māori health inequities in Aotearoa?              

In New Zealand, the most compelling and consistent health inequalities occur between Māori and non-Māori.  Although the cost of reducing inequalities is perceived as high, a recent study for Māori children showed that the economic cost of “doing nothing” is significant for New Zealand society highlighting the fact that such inequalities are preventable, unnecessary and a breach of human rights.

What can be learnt and applied now from traditional knowledge and adaptation to future environmental and resource issues?

This project seeks to understand how quickly early Māori society changed from its initial wasteful use of environmental resources soon after the Polynesian migrations, to then live within its ecological means in the face of resource decline pressures. These pressures were largely caused by ongoing extinctions and depletion, compounded by adverse climate change during the period 1350-1900.