Learning from Mātauranga Māori
University of Waikato researchers are stepping beyond monocultural approaches to explore innovative solutions informed by mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge systems and values).
A multitude of cross-disciplinary outputs are shaping sustainable approaches to wellbeing, technology, environmental responsibility and democratic governance.
When research is relational and grounded in mātauranga Māori, it leads to more inclusive systems that recognise the complex diversity of all people. Māori-centred approaches do more than address inequality; they deepen democracy, strengthen environmental care, and offer practical, culturally grounded pathways toward a more just and sustainable future. Our work offers a clear message: lasting solutions emerge when Māori knowledge, voices and values are placed at the centre. Drawing on holistic approaches from te ao Māori (the Māori world) and concepts of koha (reciprocity), manaakitanga (respect, care and generosity) and mauri (a binding central life-force), our researchers are reshaping healthcare to better serve diverse communities. We seek to challenge inequitable health outcomes and a ‘one size fits all’ approach across different contexts such as disability and aged care, and extractive models for research and care.
Through research that is relational with tāngata kāpō Māori (Indigenous blind and low-vision persons), we highlight how ethically- and disability-led approaches that put people front and centre are helping to improve participation and more equitable outcomes.
These practices address systems designed without disability-centred knowledge and demonstrate how inclusive responsiveness can improve mental health outcomes, while reducing structural barriers and inequities faced by Māori with disabilities. Our work further outlines an ethical and reciprocal approach to information sharing with research participants who have shared time, knowledge and personal lived experience.
In New Zealand and the world, populations are ageing. Informal family caregivers are playing an increasingly important role in caring for older adults at home. Our researchers have revealed the structural gaps in informal caregiving systems. Instead of focusing on a single ‘primary caregiver’, our work recognises care as a collective system grounded in aroha (love), whanaungatanga (relationships), and whakapapa (familial connections).
We identify collective care systems as a strength, albeit one that can mask inequities, and show that there is a need for better coordination, clearer knowledge sharing, greater recognition of caregivers’ wellbeing and culturally grounded support structures. Supporting these collective systems will improve health and wellbeing outcomes for our elderly and reduce hidden pressures on caregivers.
Our engineering researchers are using tikanga (method, conventions and protocol) to guide prosthetic design and use. Advancing prosthetic technologies can restore movement and independence, but many people reject the function-restoring devices because they do not align with their identity and broader spiritual and social selves.
We are using ‘biosignals’ – measurements of biological activity – a key interface between the human body and computer systems, to improve prosthetic technologies. By embedding Māori perspectives that emphasise a holistic view of health that encompasses physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, family and social wellbeing, we are reframing biosignals, not as data to extract, but as a taonga (treasure) essential to spiritual and physical wellbeing. The approach has the potential to increase acceptance of prosthetics and improve the wellbeing of many amputees.
2025 Highlights
We’re producing innovative solutions to today’s interconnected challenges – climate change, sustainability, inequality and the pressures on democratic systems. By drawing on Māori worldviews and Indigenous knowledge, our research shows positive pathways forward for New Zealand and the world.
Prioritising Māori perspectives
By centring Māori voices and knowledge, we are addressing environmental wellbeing and the unequal health impacts of climate change, while strengthening our collective capacity to respond. With funding from the Deep South: Te Kōmata o Te Tonga National Science Challenge, we examined the growing intersection between climate change and health governance, with a particular focus on the inequitable impacts experienced by and forecast for Māori. We present a framework informed by te ao Māori to raise conscientised decoloniality and deliberative democracy when considering issues such as climate change. Our researchers argue that deliberative democracy, grounded in te ao Māori and supported by genuine allyship, leads to more effective, legitimate and equitable climate action.
We also explored how national identity and collective memory shape environmental stewardship. By embedding values such as whakapapa and kaitiakitanga (guardianship) into public narratives – including through museums and cultural institutions – we reframe land and ecosystems not as resources to exploit, but as relationships to protect.
Māori approaches to housing
Our research into sustainable housing development recognises mātauranga Māori as a powerful foundation to align economic activity with environmental care and community wellbeing.
Working with Māori organisations, we have shown how Māori ways of organising and managing support the construction process. The inclusion of kaitiakitanga (relational responsibility) and spiritual connection creates environmentally sustainable housing that supports the spiritual wellbeing of the inhabitants.
Indigenous knowledge and governance
We are contributing to more equitable and environmentally sustainable systems by centring Māori knowledge, histories and values. Our research shows how anti-Māori narratives undermine fair, evidence-based decision-making and reinforce inequality.
Complementary research draws on Māori oral traditions, whakapapa and radiocarbon dating to deepen understanding of biocultural landscapes and long-term environmental change. By valuing Indigenous ways of knowing and local knowledge, we support more inclusive governance, strengthen relationships with land and water, and help build systems that address inequality while protecting ecosystems for future generations.
Citations
August, L. R. J., Owen, M. W., Head, M. A., Hoskens, M. C. J., König, J. L., Keegan, T., & Singh, A. P. (2024). Tikanga and technology: Investigating the Māori perspective of biosignal acquisition within prosthetics. In Proceedings of the 36th Australasian Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (OzCHI ’24). Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3726986.3727043
Hellmann, O. (2025). Constructing eco‐responsible national identities through collective memory: Settler and Māori histories of environmental change in Aotearoa New Zealand. Nations and Nationalism. https://doi.org/10.1111/nana.13121
Lee Smith, D., Oetzel, J. G., Simpson, M. L., Nock, S., Wilson, Y., & Reddy, R. (2025). Māori management ontology: Organising nature focused housing enterprise with spirit. Journal of Management, Spirituality & Religion, 22(5), 543–556. https://doi.org/10.51327/UUYJ5661
Masters-Awatere, B., Graham, R., & Cowan, C. (2025). The gifts of kāpō: Systemic failures that impact the lives of kāpō who are Māori. New Zealand Journal of Psychology, 54(3), 37–49. https://doi.org/10.63146/001c.143402
Masters-Awatere, B., Howard, D., & Awatere, S. (2025). Deliberative democracy and te ao Māori in the pursuit of climate change governance. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 12, Article 1498. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05729-4
McIvor, I. H., Hogg, A., Roa, T., Waitoki, W., Boswijk, G., Gumbley, W., Anderson, A., & McBride, R. (2025). Genealogies and oral histories as chronological networks: Interfacing whakapapa (Māori genealogies) with Gregorian calendar year archaeological radiocarbon dates. Archaeometry, 67. https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.13074
Simpson, M. L., McAllum, K., Fox, S., Unson, C., Hancock, T. O., & Carlson, A. (2024). Love, support and structural holes: Māori whānau carer experiences in collective family care systems. Ageing & Society, 45(9). https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X24000448
Tan, K., Waitoki, W., Scarf, D., & Phillips, J. B. (2025). Problematic reasoning under the guise of anti-Māori talk: A case study of the Three Waters tweets. Howard Journal of Communications. https://doi.org/10.1080/10646175.2025.2506565
Wehi, P. M., Cox, M. P., Whaanga, H., & Roa, T. (2024). Plant biocultural landscapes in Māori oral tradition. Journal of Ethnobiology, 45(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/02780771241303902