Skip to main content
Rangahau · Matakitenga project

Maiea Te Mauri; Taiea Te Taiao: Connecting Indigenous Knowledge, Climate Change and Kōrero Tuku Iho for a Sustainable Future.

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.

Ētahi atu · Other projects

Doctoral thesis

22PHD08Kawa Whakaruruhau: Culturally-safe spaces for Māori nurse practice development
Whare wānanga · Host Auckland University of Technology
Matakitenga · Framework
Wā rangahau · Timeline Commenced 2022 · Completed 2025

PhD Candidate: Jennifer Tokomauri McGregor (Ngati Raukawa (Waikato)) Primary Supervisor(s): Dr. Alayne Mikahere-Hall Background: Despite being a long-term government priority, the inequity of Māori nurses in the health workforce is long-standing, suggesting that that recruitment and retention of Māori into the nursing workforce is problematic. Māori nurses…

View project

Research Programme

21-24RP02Research to Interrupt Racism and (In)equity (RIRI)
Kaiārahi · Project lead Associate Professor Donna Cormack
Whare wānanga · Host Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland
Matakitenga · Framework
Wā rangahau · Timeline Commenced 2022 · Completed 2025

This research programme dives beneath the surface to expose how efforts to address racism in Aotearoa can be symbolic, sidelining Māori worldviews and limiting true transformation. Led through a kaupapa Māori lens, this programme challenges narrow, imported definitions of racism and equity, and confronts how dominant systems create and maintain Māori…

View project

Internship project

22-23INT03Developing a Bibliography of Politics Research by Kairangahau Māori
Whare wānanga · Host Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland
Matakitenga · Framework
Wā rangahau · Timeline Commenced 2022 · Completed 2023

This internship compiled a bibliography of politics research by kairangahau Māori, supporting more inclusive and responsive political studies in Aotearoa. Guided by a multidisciplinary rōpū, interns built research skills and helped shape future pathways for Māori in politics and policy.

View project