About this research
Project lead: Professor Tom Roa (Ngāti Maniapoto, Waikato, Ngāti Apakura), The University of Waikato | Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato
This project will document Māori-led responses to climate change through a Te Ao Māori (Māori worldview) lens, focusing on the connection between Māori communities and their ancestral whenua (land).
Through wānanga (digital storytelling workshops) and interviews, the research will explore how Māori of the Waikato-King Country region have addressed in the past and are addressing today the effects of climate change through their deep understandings of traditional knowledge and innovative Māori solutions.
The project is led by Professor Tom Roa, a respected academic and cultural leader, who will oversee the facilitation of wānanga across the Waikato-King Country. The core of the project includes the digital documentation of stories, where participants will share their ancestral connections to the land; their knowledge and experiences related to environmental degradation, and their sustainable practices.
These stories will then be presented at the International Digital Storytelling Conference in Brazil, either online or in person, amplifying Māori perspectives on climate action, as well as Māori approaches and solutions.The project will also feature significant karakia (incantations) and waiata (songs) composed by Professor Tom Roa, which connects significant sites in Waikato to tūpuna (ancestors) and their uri (descendants). The karakia and waiata will play a pivotal role in exploring the connection between cultural heritage, land, and climate resilience.
Project lead: Professor Tom Roa (Ngāti Maniapoto, Waikato, Ngāti Apakura), The University of Waikato | Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato
This project will document Māori-led responses to climate change through a Te Ao Māori (Māori worldview) lens, focusing on the connection between Māori communities and their ancestral whenua (land).
Through wānanga (digital storytelling workshops) and interviews, the research will explore how Māori of the Waikato-King Country region have addressed in the past and are addressing today the effects of climate change through their deep understandings of traditional knowledge and innovative Māori solutions.
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Tom Roa
Waikato-Ngāti Maniapoto
Tom Roa is a senior lecturer at Waikato University. He is the principal investigator on the project Exploring a Māori…
Tom Roa
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Associate Professor Donna Cormack
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Donna has been involved in work on the collection and classification of ethnicity data in New Zealand, particularly as it relates to measuring and monitoring disparities. Most recently, Donna has been focused on work examining disparities in cancer outcomes and access to cancer services for Māori. She is involved in the Differential Colon Cancer Survival by Ethnicity in New Zealand project as well as Unequal Treatment: The Role of Health Services with Te Rōpū Rangahau Hauora a Eru Pōmare. -
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Associate Professor Ricci Harris
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Dr Ricci Harris (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāi Tahu) is a public health physician and Research Associate Professor at Te Rōpū Rangahau Hauora a Eru Pōmare. She has research expertise in Māori health, epidemiology (including quantitative aspects of Kaupapa Māori research) and the investigation and elimination of ethnic health inequities in New Zealand. This has included research into the classification of ethnicity, ethnic disparities in health status and receipt of health services, and the impact of social determinants (e.g. SES and racism) on Māori health and inequities. Her current… -
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Hana Burgess
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