Our Research

NPM research solves real world challenges facing Māori. We do so in Māori-determined and inspired ways engendering sustainable relationships that grow the mana (respect and regard) and mauri (life essence) of the world we inhabit.

The excellence and expertise of the Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga researcher network is organised by four Te Ao Māori knowledge and excellence clusters or Pae. Pae are where our researchers rise with Te Ao Māori knowledge, tools and expertise to build a secure and prosperous future for Māori and Aotearoa New Zealand. Pae are purposefully expansive and inclusive, supporting transdisciplinary teams and approaches. Our 2021-2024 programme of work will look to the far future to assure flourishing Māori futures for generations to come. With Māori intended as the primary beneficiaries of our research, our programme will reinforce the firmly established foundations of mātauranga Māori through sound research attuned to the lived experience of Māori.

Four Pātai or critical systems-oriented questions generate transformative interventions and policy advice for stakeholders and next users. All of our research will contribute mātauranga-informed theories, models and evidenced solutions in response to our Pātai. Our Pātai serve to integrate and energise our programme and Pae to synthesize our research for next stage impact and outcomes.

  • Full project

    Project commenced:

    The overarching research questions for this NPM Platform Project are:

  • Full project Kia Ārohi Kia Mārama - Scoping Excellence

    Project commenced:

    What are the mental health needs for rangatahi, what services are available to them, what are the gaps in rangatahi primary mental health care, and what are the potential innovations/strategies that would fill these gaps?

    The overall aim of this project has been to improve primary mental healthcare for rangatahi and to achieve this the researchers are engaging with rangatahi health and mental health consumers, key informants, stakeholders, and the wider community to gain insight into their experiences, perspectives and expert knowledge and identify the gaps, needs and solutions relating to rangatahi mental health.

  • Kia Ārohi Kia Mārama - Scoping Excellence

    Project commenced:

    The need for this project arises from a previous study conducted by MidCentral District Health Board (MDHB), which identified the following questions as essential:

    1.              What are the experiences of long-term conditions for tangata Māori?

    2.              What are the main support systems utilised by tangata Māori in the 'self-management' of their long-term conditions?

  • Full project

    Project commenced:

    The overarching research questions for this platform are:

  • Full project Kia Ārohi Kia Mārama - Scoping Excellence

    Project commenced:

    What current methods do Māori 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 many 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.

  • Full project Kia Ārohi Kia Mārama - Scoping Excellence

    Project commenced:

    What are the bases for Māori enterprise collaboration? How do Māori activate Indigenous entrepreneurial capabilities for collaboration and what forms do Māori enterprise collaborations take?

    By exploring Māori enterprise collaboration as a fundamental but challenging strategy for Māori economic development, this project identifies principles and models which can inform Māori and non-Māori about enterprise collaboration. It does this by using mātauranga Māori, kaupapa Māori, tikanga Māori and te reo Māori, as well as considerations of non-Māori principles, practices and technologies for enterprise collaboration.

  • Full project Kia Ārohi Kia Mārama - Scoping Excellence

    Project commenced:

    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:

  • Kia Tō Kia Tipu - Seeding Excellence

    Project commenced:

    What are the implications of reclaiming and reviving the mātauranga associated with nga atua Māori and how does it contribute to reimagining the role of atua Māori in the modern world?

    How and why are atua Māori, and associated mātauranga, being referenced in different fields today? For example: Sport, recreation, and nutrition; Health and environmental sciences.

    What are recent examples of the application of mātauranga associated with atua Māori in teaching and research? For example: Te Panekiretanga o Te Reo; Dr Rangi Matamua's research in Māori Astronomy.

  • Full project Kia Tō Kia Tipu - Seeding Excellence

    Project commenced:

    What are the knowledge gaps pertaining to the impact of incarceration on whānau health and wellbeing, what is the nature and scope of current initiatives for whānau who have a family member incarcerated, and what are the barriers and challenges for whānau utilising current initiatives for these whānau members?

  • Full project

    Project commenced:

    What does tikanga Māori mean in today’s context; how is tikanga Māori understood and practiced within iwi, hapū, whānau, marae and more broadly in our everyday practices and national institutions; and how can key Māori principles and practices such as wānanga, kaitiakitanga, hakairo Māori, and wairua Māori more holistically drive research, professional and daily practice?

  • Full project Kia Ārohi Kia Mārama - Scoping Excellence

    Project commenced:

    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.

  • Kia Tō Kia Tipu - Seeding Excellence

    Project commenced:

    How can a mātauranga Māori based Heke Ngaru contribute to flourishing whānau?

    Māori continue to experience health inequalities in terms of the social determinants of health. Indeed, rangatahi Māori are a demographic who face significant challenges in life compared to non-Māori. However, the evidence suggests that a strong Māori cultural sense of self/identity and connectedness to Te Ao Māori can buffer Māori against the stressors of life. In this regard, this project will connect rangatahi to their Māori cultural sense of self as a pathway to flourishing.

  • Full project Kia Ārohi Kia Mārama - Scoping Excellence

    Project commenced:

    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.

  • Full project

    Project commenced:

    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?

  • Full project Kia Tō Kia Tipu - Seeding Excellence

    Project commenced:

    What values do Māori use to shape their views around the use of bio-control agents to control both exotic and Indigenous species and to values, and how to they assign risk posed by the introduction of a bio-control agent and when is it deemed unacceptable?

  • Kia Tō Kia Tipu - Seeding Excellence

    Project commenced:

    What are the cultural, ethical, research, legal and scientific (CERLS) issues that are inherent in research on rongoā Māori plants and healing?

    Debate about the misappropriation of information and knowledge in research means that greater care and attention is needed regarding Māori input and participation into research. This is even more important in the area of Rongoā Māori where matters such as inappropriate usage, intellectual property rights and commercialisation of information are of significant concern.

  • Internship project

    Project commenced:

    This summer internship project will identify occasions where haka, waiata and other oral art forms were commonly used as a form of expression, the frequency in which these occasions occurred and the purpose of these expressions for each situation. Each of these occasions employed a particular style of oral art form. In addition to collating information of the occasions in which they were used, this project will also identify the type of expression, its form and linguistic features, the style of its performance, the social dynamics of engagement, as well as highlighting any tribal distinctiveness, where applicable.

  • Internship project

    Project commenced:

    Pregnancy is well known as consisting of 3 gestational periods; however very little research has been conducted that explores the postpartum, 4th trimester. The 4th trimester refers to the 3 month period post-birth, and may extend up to a year depending on social, physical and emotional issues related to birthing and motherhood. The 4th trimester is crucial for the psycho-social development of babies as they adjust to their new life outside the womb.

  • Internship project

    Project commenced:

    The purpose of this summer internship project is to explore the potential to develop hauora and pūtaiao solutions for Te Toki Voyaging trust in their kaupapa of kaitiakitanga and mauri ora of the marine environment through traditional navigation and sailing.

    The project involves wānanga with Te Toki Voyaging Trust, sailing and supporting ngā kaupapa waka.

  • Internship project

    Project commenced:

    The purpose of this summer internship project is to conduct an extensive search and review of literature relating to the constructs ‘wairua’ and ‘mauri’.

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