Lessons from Māori voices in NZ's science sector

The Rauika Māngai ‘assembly of representatives’ from the 11 National Science Challenges and Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga are Māori scientists, research leaders, and programme managers at the national forefront of Vision Mātauranga implementation.

“Good seeds grow best in fertile ground,” says Dr Jessica Hutchings, Kaiarahi of Ko ngā wā kāinga hei whakamāhora (Building Better Homes, Towns and Cities) National Science Challenge, Chair of Rauika Māngai, and member of the MBIE Science Board. “For science initiatives where Māori knowledge, people, and resources can thrive, the power structures and organisations that host and nourish these initiatives must be arable, not horrible. It is vital that decision-makers and the wider academic community allow Mātauranga Māori the opportunity to evolve so that we can deliver science and research that provides the solutions to these wicked problems.”

A Guide to Vision Mātauranga – Lessons from Māori Voices in the New Zealand Science Sector is a comprehensive review of the application of Vision Mātauranga (VM) over the past decade and provides a guide for the effective power-sharing, resourcing, and impact-orientation of scientific endeavours.

All 11 National Science Challenges (NSCs) and Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga (a Centre of Research Excellence hosted at the University of Auckland) have teamed up to contribute to the future-focussed Guide to Vision Mātauranga for the science sector. Vision Mātauranga is the Māori research policy to unlock the innovation potential of Māori knowledge, resources, and people in New Zealand’s science system, first implemented into Vote Research, Science and Technology in July 2005.

The success of Ko ngā wā kāinga hei whakamāhora National Science Challenge’s Māori research programmes shows that taking a Mātauranga Māori approach creates catalysts for positive change, especially in the face of complex issues, such as how to deliver safe and affordable housing for generations in New Zealand.

“In Ko ngā wā kāinga hei whakamāhora, our Kāinga Tahi, Kāinga Rua (KTKR) Māori research programme has discovered so many successful ways Mātauranga Māori can deliver built environments that support truly diverse communities and that will help Aotearoa transition in a post-Covid world,” says Gena Moses-Te Kani, Co-Chair of Ko ngā wā kāinga hei whakamāhora’s Governance Group.

“In the first five years of our research, we have investigated a wide range of Māori housing opportunities – from the benefits of whanau-led papakāinga in the Far North; how taking a manaakitanga and whanaungatanga approach can support homeless whānau in Auckland to transition into safe housing; to the benefits of co-housing, and how to implement inter-generational financial support systems that help whānau, hapū, and iwi realise their aspirations for rangatiratanga within the housing system.”

Read the VM Guide

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