Current projects
Tauhokohoko is a five-year, Endeavour-funded kaupapa Māori research programme that aims to transform trade policy, measurement, and facilitation through Indigenous knowledge, methods, and values. We hypothesise that mana motuhake (autonomy) enhances Indigenous trade and its huanga (beneficial) and waiora (wellbeing) effects.
Research aims:
- 1.1 - Indigenise trade policy using Indigenous world views, knowledges, and values;
- 1.2 - Measure Indigenous trade and its relationship to mana motuhake and wellbeing;
- 1.3 - Enable Indigenous trade through Indigenous entrepreneurial ecosystems.
Key people:
Hon Prof Nanaia Mahuta - Project science leader
Merepaea Manukau - Project manager
Ernestynne Walshe - Governance lead (Te Taumata)
Asoc Prof Robert Joseph - Research Lead (RA1.1)
Prof Matthew Roskruge - Research Lead (RA1.2)
Prof Jason Mika - Research Lead (RA1.3)
Prof Maui Hudson - Research lead (Vision Mātauranga and data sovereignty)
Desna Whaanga-Schollum - Science communications lead
This project is co-led between Te Kotahi Research Institute and Te Taumata.
This project aims to develop powerful, low-impact crop protection products using ulvans - immune-boosting polysaccharides from native and naturalised NZ seaweed. Alongside this scientific work, Māori-led ethical frameworks will be developed ensuring both scientific innovation, and fair culturally grounded use of marine-derived taonga. We aim to deliver a pipeline for high-tech, sustainable seaweed-based crop protection products, advancing Aotearoa New Zealand’s environmental, economic, and innovation goals. It will build domestic capacity in seaweed farming, manufacturing, and science, offering new career pathways for Māori, enhancing ecosystem resilience, and fostering climate leadership.
Key researchers:
- Prof Maui Hudson - Research Aim Lead
- Natalie Kusabs - Research Co-ordinator
- Danny Paruru - Iwi Research Fellow
- Dr Janette Hamilton-Pierce - Senior Research Fellow
- Michela Anderson - PhD Candidate
This project is funded by the MBIE Endeavour Fund and led by the Waikato Marine Field Station
This research programme will collect and analyse Indigenous yeasts to produce non-alcoholic beer and wine with desirable characteristics, and without the drawbacks of existing methodologies. Drawing inspiration from Aotearoa’s unique terroir, this project will discover and curate Indigenous wild yeast under a mātauranga Māori framework, providing the beverage industries with a high-value commercial resource to meet the world’s changing demand for beer and wine.
Key researchers:
- Prof Maui Hudson - Research aim lead
Funded by MBIE Endeavour Fund. Led by Victoria University of Wellington.
This project delivers critical insights into the cultural, social, and ethical dimensions of cellular agriculture (CellAg) in Aotearoa New Zealand, particularly in relation to Māori values and taonga species. It supports culturally grounded engagement and benefit sharing by identifying Māori perspectives on emerging biotechnologies and creating practical tools to uphold Māori data sovereignty and protect cultural intellectual property. The project informs inclusive policy design by integrating mātauranga Māori with scientific research, ensuring Māori voices shape the development and governance of FCPS technologies. It also strengthens partnerships between Māori communities, researchers, and industry, fostering co-development opportunities and enhancing social licence. By surveying community, public and stakeholder views and holding wānanga, the programme will provide guidance for ethical, sustainable, and culturally appropriate innovation in Aotearoa’s bioeconomy.
Key researchers:
- Prof Maui Hudson - Research aim lead
- Katie Lee Riddle - PhD candidate
This research is funded by the Plant and Food MBIE Endeavour Fund.
FREYJA’s purpose is to provide an account of research reciprocity in environmental DNA (eDNA) science, with a particular focus on ancient eDNA. As part of this, the project explores new pathways for access and fair benefit sharing from such research. A model of research reciprocity and a practical framework for reciprocity in ancient eDNA science will be developed, shaped by Indigenous and local participants and further tested, applied, and evaluated by scientists within the ancient eDNA research project AEGIS.
Key researchers:
- Prof Maui Hudson – Research aim lead
- Natalie Kusabs – key researcher
- Tahira Edmonds - Research assistant (Rapa Nui)
- Dr Leke Hutchins – key researcher
- Assoc Prof Maria Sapignoli – key researcher (University of Milan)
This project is by the Wellcome Trust and led by the University of Iceland.
Building on its established collaborations, Te Kotahi Research Institute has signed an MoU with Universidad Catolica del Norte (UCN) and is formalising agreements with Instituto de Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Museo (IIAM). This partnership is designed to foster Indigenous-to-Indigenous relationships between communities supporting shared aspirations and aligning with the internationalisation goals of the University of Waikato. Through faculty exchanges, joint events, and collaborative projects, these relationships will enable reciprocal knowledge sharing and research innovation.
Key researchers:
This project is funded by the University of Waikato's Strategic Research Fund (SRF).
Approximately $70 billion (Willis, 2024) is invested annually in social outcomes in Aotearoa New Zealand across government, philanthropic and iwi sectors. Across all sectors and all social issues there is no way to determine whether investment is going into the most impactful approach. While singular investments can be evaluated and most investments will require some degree of impact reporting, the fragmented and inconsistent nature of outcome data means there can be no meaningful comparison of impact. All sectors, including the Social Investment Agency, are looking for a data collection and insights solution that enables them to fully understand the impact of discrete investments as well as identify the highest possible impact investment channels.
The project will engage with Waikato-Tainui, who have just signed a kawenata with the University of Waikato, and Te Puna Ora o Mātaatua, a health and social service provider in the Eastern Bay of Plenty, to co-design social innovation initiatives.
Key researchers:
This project is funded by The University of Waikato through the Strategic Research Fund (SRF).
Past projects
MBIE has funded the Tikanga in Technology (TinT) research programme. Our programme will address the challenge of data classification, provenance, and valuation when sharing Indigenous data across systems. Drawing on Māori tikanga relating to the creation, protection, and sharing of knowledge, we will develop technologies to support wise decision-making through data governance.
Data science is creating an immersive digitally enabled society and the challenge for Indigenous communities is to thrive within this digital future. The opportunity lies both in embedding a Te Ao Māori conceptual lens into data analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and visualisation, and in using these methods to enhance Māori distinctiveness.
See more information on the Tikanga in Technology project and the Whāki Webinar Series.
This project is jointly funded by Science for Technological Innovation (SfTI) National Science Challenge and Genomics Aotearoa. It explores Māori rights and interests with respect to Māori data, genomic data and mātauranga Māori. The research considers the various national legislation and international agreements that comprise New Zealand’s Intellectual Property Rights regime (IPR). A report has recently been released by Te Kotahi Research Intitute regarding Māori IP.
Project funded by TPK to support NZ based beta testing for the Local Contexts Hub, the Development of Online Educational Resources, and Piloting Use-Cases with Iwi (Whakatōhea, Te Roroa, Ngāti Maru, Te Kāhui o Taranaki Iwi Trust). Participation in launch of Local Contexts Indigenous Communities working group.
A grant has been approved to support ENRICH to scale up the TK/BC Labels Initiative with NYU. The goals of the Planning Grant are to ensure:
- Indigenous communities have a clear understanding and culturally appropriate pathways for using the Local Contexts Hub for developing their TK Labels;
- Communities, researchers, and institutions have accessible information and instruction for using the platform for the ethical and responsible early identification of Indigenous rights and interests, creating long term capacity for engaging with Indigenous communities on collections;
- Collections managers and institutions understand and can initiate use of the platform for identifying and making findable Indigenous collections and data for Indigenous communities alongside managing ethical accessibility to their Indigenous collections
This internship project focuses on the development of a model data sovereignty agreement for tribal users of Traditional Knowledge Labels and Biocultural Labels within the Local Contexts Hub. This will involve drafting an agreement will allow outline key IDSov principles around the use of data within the Local Contexts Hub. It will explain the authorised uses of the Traditional Knowledge and Biocultural Label icons used by Iwi, making clear the rights that each Iwi retains over the unique text that accompanies their labels.
This project funded by the Digital Council looked at Māori perspectives on trust and automated decision making. The research contributed to the Digital Council's work on technological issues facing New Zealand relating to trust. This project explored the understanding of the trust Māori have in automated decision-making technologies and how this influences perceptions of the harm and benefit of technology.
Te Tuakiri o te Taonga
This Catalyst Seeding Fund project created the Aotearoa Biocultural Labels Working Group (ABLWG) and introduced the Traditional Knowledge (TK) Label project to New Zealand. One of the primary responsibilities for the ABLWG has been to test the application of the new Biocultural (BC) Labels to genetic resources and genomic data in institutions.
Biocultural Labels Initiative
This University of Waikato Strategic Investment Fund project supports the development of the Biocultural Labels Initiative which focuses on how to practically encode Indigenous provenance information and cultural responsibilities into research data, including Digital Sequence Information (DSI) for genetic resources. This initiative provides a practical application of Indigenous data sovereignty principles to issues of access and benefit-sharing for genetic resources.
Traditional Knowledge Licenses
This internship project focuses on the development of Traditional Knowledge (TK) licenses. Unlike current Creative Commons licenses, TK licenses create the possibility for collective ownership and authority. They also have capacity to incorporate cultural protocols and expectations around future use of traditional knowledge.
While the TK Labels are an innovation in the field of intellectual property law, we anticipate that the TK Licenses will extend this work to create a legally binding strategy for communities to maintain control and authority over important traditional knowledge that is shared in research and commercial contexts.
The aim of the ‘Koi te mata punenga: Informing priorities for research and capacity building’ project is to understand Iwi priorities for research and identify different pathways for research and capacity building. We will hold meetings with 3 x Iwi (Te Arawa, Ngāi Tamarāwaho and Ngāti Maniapoto) to co-design community-based processes for identifying research and capacity needs which will inform future collaboration activities. The Iwi projects online information collection and/or knowledge transfer and vary from IP in aquaculture, health research in preparation for introduction of Māori Health Authority and iwi communication and digital storage.
Delivery of Cultural Health Indicators for Lakes unfinished critical milestone from MBIE Project. Completed this critical step (CS), by aligning work undertaken by the Lake Resilience programme and its predecessor Lakes Restoration OBI (2005-2015), with the work of Te Arawa Lakes Trust (TALT). Final report to MBIE submitted in August. TKRI supporting PhD following up on this work with Nico Donovan-Pereira on Mātauranga Informed Freshwater Management in the Te Arawa rohe.
Reports
The Usefulness of Existing Aquatic Ecosystem Models
Cultural Indicators and Frameworks Report
Collaboration with Dr Mere Berryman to understand Māori views around transitions in mine closures for 3 x communities in Waihi and the South Island. Subcontract connected to a larger project led by University of Queensland which looks at Indigenous communities in Australia and Canada. Funded by OceanaGold. Joint indigenous forum hosted in November 2021 with Canada and Australia.
Other projects
Jason Mika acting on Vision Mātauranga Leadership Group (VMLG)
Indigenising the blue economy in Aotearoa project partners with Māori authorities (iwi and pan-iwi entities and Māori enterprises to explore and to support Māori who aspire to a blue economy imbued with mātauranga Māori, treaty principles, and a focus on Māori wellbeing, human potential and relational balance with Tangaroa as our tīpuna.
- Māori Marine Economy paper
- Emanating from a Māori world view and informed by traditional Māori economics, the term ‘economy of mana’ was first introduced by the late renowned Māori academic, Professor Mānuka Hēnare. Since its introduction, Māori academics have gone on to study Professor Hēnare’s theory to further advance Māori economic research and development. We have the opportunity to build an equitable, reciprocal and mana-enhancing future for all. Dr Jason Mika and Tania Pouwhare shared their whakaaro on how the social and economic sectors could create better outcomes for our most marginalized communities.
Economy of mana for Southern Initiative Series with Shane Te Pou
Imagining an Economy of Mana – Spotify Podcast
Cerasela Stancu and Jason delivered today on financing restorative marine economies, for Sustainable Seas National Science Challenge:
Financing restorative marine economies – Webinar
Interview with The Context: Asia-Pacific on indigenous blue economy
Asia-Pacific on indigenous blue economy – Article
He Oranga Whānau: mahi ngātahi whānau livelihoods within the context of work and Māori economies of wellbeing for Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga
Research to understand how wellbeing economies can contribute to flourishing whānau-hapū futures and what economic theories intersect and align with Māori approaches to wellbeing economics. Report on how iwi, hapū and hapori along with policy makers, government agencies and other organisations can better ensure whānau are not inhibited from achieving mana motuhake in a world of intensifying uncertainty.
Aims to establish leading Māori post-settlement governance entities and Māori Land Incorporations and Trusts as the national first-movers in precision and high-resolution environmental monitoring. This will provide these entities with the rapid and accurate feedback monitoring required to confidently operate their Agri food businesses within Māori values and ethics. Perhaps more importantly it positions these bodies to lead, and create, the Kaitiaki Intelligence Platforms (KIPs) needed to establish a sustainable agri-food economy built on mātauranga Māori. This project will provide these entities with an outline of the range and mix available technologies required to build KIPs, and the investment required to deploy the technologies. It is anticipated that KIPs will enable Māori Agri food enterprises to: communicate and authenticate indigenous production values to consumers - attracting premiums for product; communicate and verify indigenous production values to impact investors, while providing risk assurance to banks and green financiers; automate environmental reporting to regulators and industry assurance programmes; and provide iwi with accurate environmental monitoring information to inform iwi management plans and policies.
Maui Hudson is the VM lead for the Veracity Spearhead Project (led by Victoria) for SfTI focusing on Veracity in the context of decentralised systems. The project includes conceptual approaches to tagging Māori data using Traditional Knowledge Labels (TK Labels) in order to identify and trace traditional knowledge that can be applied to indigenous cultures across the world. The Veracity Spearhead research project will help develop the technical data science solutions to maintain transparency and veracity around Māori provenance as it moves through the data ecosystems using the TK labels and includes an Indigenous Data TK/BC labels use-case.
View the Veracity lab YouTube video.
Collaborative project with School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences to identify the specific information needs and search habits of Māori children. The project will involve observation studies of tamariki conducting internet search in three Kura Kaupapa in Hamilton. These studies will provide insights into similarities and differences in information practices of school children in Māori medium schools compared to public schools. It will also identify the characteristics of Māori information needs that must be addressed by tailored search engines with culturally specific user groups and develop the Q-Engine software necessary for internet search in Te Reo Māori environments. TKRI is part of the advisory team to the lead researcher.
The Moana Project is an MBIE-funded programme led by MetService to improve our understanding of coastal ocean circulation, connectivity and marine heatwaves to provide information that supports sustainable growth of the seafood industry (Māori, fisheries and aquaculture).
Project partners will build bridges to ensure this new knowledge informs regional marine policy and management. TKRI leads the He Papa Moana research theme which anchors the project in mātauranga Māori, facilitating exchange of oceanographic knowledge between Te Ao Māori and western science in collaboration with Whakatōhea Māori Trust Board.
This MBIE-funded project led by Plant & Food Research aims to accelerate plant breeding using gene-editing technologies. TKRI is leading the research aim developing the co-innovation interface which explores Māori perspectives on gene-editing and the potential for gene-editing tools to contribute to Māori outcomes.
The Minderoo Foundation funds the ENRICH Global Chairs Initiative which supports Indigenous and allied scholars to undertake three months of network building, outreach and ENRICH vision initiatives within their national and regional contexts. The ENRICH Global Chairs will also build infrastructure for regional hubs through engagements and topic-based workshops, talks with researchers, agencies and communities.
The ENRICH Global Chairs for 2020/2021 are Professor Maggie Walter (University of Tasmania) and Associate Professor Jane Anderson (New York University). Assistant Professor Stephanie Carroll (University of Arizona) and Associate Professor Maui Hudson (University of Waikato) are designated Global Chairs for 2021. The Minderoo Foundation funds two Global Chairs annually (2020-2024).
Consultancy Projects
Assessment of Māori engagement and research review processes.
Scoping of emerging issues arising in healthcare relating to Māori research and researchers.
Developed a Maori Ethical Framework for Te Pukenga to test in 2022. The ethical framework will provide guidance for teaching and research at the Institute in line with Te Pukenga’s Charter and stated objectives. It is an opportunity to create a framework that gently directs (most – if not all) Te Pūkenga research down the line that is of benefit to Māori and Pacific communities.
Evaluated the Breast Cancer Register’s operating standards using the Maori Data Audit Tool.
Advising the NZ Cerebral Palsy Register around Māori Data Sovereignty and applying the Māori Data Audit Tool to evaluate their operating standards.
