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Author: Nick Allison

In 2014 Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga (NPM) commissioned a report from the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) to assess the economic, social and other impacts of the Māori Centre of Research Excellence.

A summary of key findings from this research impact evaluation were:

Astronomy is the study of the objects in the sky (stars, planets, moons, galaxies, comets etc). Traditionally Māori held great knowledge of astronomy and their studies of the night sky played an important role in everyday life. Much of this knowledge remains recorded in te reo Māori and sits within karakia, waiata, whakataukī, and within place names. This project explores the language of Māori astronomy to understand how important it was to our ancestors. It will also help to revive the language of Māori astronomy exploring how this knowledge can be used in a modern world.

Taunakitia Te Marae aims to research the key contributors of success that will enable marae to be centres of excellence for hapū development. It will explore with whānau, hapū and iwi the characteristics that enable or inhibit the success of marae as centres of excellence; and undertake case studies of successful models for marae that enhance hapū development. Through the research, Taunakitia Te Marae will identify critical determinants of marae wellbeing and construct a marae wellbeing framework to be available for use by marae, hapū and iwi within Te Arawa.

Dr Marion Johnson is the Principal Investigator of Te Rongoā Pastures: Healthy Animals, Resilient Farms.

Practitioner wisdom is an undervalued source of knowledge, particularly that of practitioners working successfully with Māori in uniquely Māori ways. In the field of psychology, there are some who have successfully married clinical psychology and mātauranga Māori to realise successful outcomes for those Māori clients they serve. In this study, we will work with these practitioners to learn from their wisdom and to inform the training of clinical psychologists across the seven professional training programmes in New Zealand.

This project investigates the wellbeing (economic indicators) of Māori households whānau of a specific iwi using New Zealand Census data from 1991–2006. This project aims to provide greater sovereignty to iwi by providing an evidence base for their decision-making through analysis of this data.