Economic Development

Exploring horticultural futures in Wairoa, this project identified saffron, feijoa, and gevuina as promising crops to protect whenua from erosion and support sustainable Māori land use.

This project investigated how Māori values underpinning the Māori economy can be theorised and applied to enhance community wellbeing. By stocktaking existing literature and engaging across sectors, the researchers built a Māori-led theory of value grounded in tikanga and Indigenous epistemologies.

In this platform research, our focus makes the distinction between ‘kai’ as a culturally defined Māori notion and western interpretations of ‘food’.

This project brought together a multidisciplinary Māori research team to identify tikanga-based strategies for climate change adaptation and mitigation.
It consolidated Indigenous knowledge, promoted Māori-led solutions, and developed pathways for enhanced community wellbeing in the face of climate challenges.

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?

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.