Wai Ora Kāinga Ora

How can intergenerational kāinga-based solutions, with a focus on water regeneration, contribute to thriving kāinga and support the transition to a climate resilient Aotearoa?

Community-led kāinga solutions for water, ecosystems, and climate resilience.

#WaiOra

About this project

Wai Ora, Kāinga Ora aims to regenerate local waters and ecosystems through intergenerational, kāinga based wai solutions. Kāinga, including marae and culturally significant sites, are traditionally located by waterways and, therefore, are especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The growing impacts of anthropogenic climate change on our communities intensify the urgency to address these water issues.

This Māori-led research programme, hosted by Pūrangakura, an independent Kaupapa Māori Research Centre, will co-create much needed collaborative initiatives with local Māori communities to address local climate impacts and provide place-based solutions to contribute towards a low emissions and climate resilient economy. The research programme brings together a large multi-disciplinary team with diverse expertise across mātauranga Māori, science, public policy, engineering, economics, architecture and more, to co-design kāinga based initiatives grounded in Te Ao Māori. The research will deploy a kaupapa Māori and community based participatory research approach, working with eight Māori communities to co-design community-led responses targeting climate impacts on waters and ecosystems essential to kāinga wellbeing through centering mātauranga Māori and place-based kōrero tuku iho.

This timely research programme aligns with calls for Māori-led solutions alongside government commitments to address climate change impacts under Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Through intergenerational knowledge sharing, transmission and kāinga-led climate action, Wai Ora, Kāinga Ora aims to deliver impactful change for at-risk communities and precious taonga tuku iho.

Principal Investigators

Project Managers

Kāinga Partners

Kāinga-Based Researchers

Research Team

Associate Advisors

Te Ātiawa, Waikato, Taranaki

Professor Leonie Pihama

Professor Leonie Pihama is Professor of Māori and Indigenous Research and is working as Research Director at Tū Tamawahine o Taranaki and is Director of Māori and Indigenous Analysis Ltd, a Kaupapa Māori research company. Leonie is a leading kaupapa Māori educator and researcher. She was a recipient of the Hohua Tūtengaehe Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship (Health Research Council) and the inaugural Ngā Pae o Te Maramatanga Senior Māori Fulbright Scholarship at the University of Washington.
In 2015, Leonie was awarded the ‘Te Tohu Pae Tawhiti Award’ (NZARE) for excellence in Māori Educatonal Research and the ‘Te Tohu Rapuora Award (Health Research Council) to recognise significant contributon to Māori health excellence and leadership with the whānau at Te Kotahi Research Institute. Leonie has directed a number of Research Institutes including The International Research Institute for Māori and Indigenous Education (IRI, University of Auckland) and Te Matapunenga o Te Kotahi (Te Kotahi Research Institute, University of Waikato).

She served on the Māori Health Committee for the Health Research council and on a number of key boards including Māori Television, Te Mangai Pāho,and Ngā Pae o te Maramatanga. Leonie recently completed two Health Research Council projects, ‘He Oranga Ngakau: Māori Approaches to Trauma Informed Care’ and ‘Honour Project Aotearoa’, She was MBIE He Punaha Hihiko: Vision Matauranga Capability Fund Placement recipient for two years with Tū Tama Wahine o Taranaki supporting the publication of ‘He Punaha Hohourongo: Taranaki Violence Prevention Strategy’. She is a Principal Investigator (PI) on the following projects: ‘Titiro whakamuri, kōkiri whakamua’ exploring land based healing practices for wāhine in Taranaki as a part of the Tangata Whenua Tangata Ora HRC Māori Health Programme led by Whaariki Research Centre; a co-PI with Professor Linda Tuhwai Smith on ‘He Waka Eke Noa: Māori cultural frameworks for violence prevention and intervention’. She has recently been granted an MBIE Endeavour for the project ‘Kaupapa Māori: Creating An Indigenous Model for System Change in Aotearoa” jointly with Professors Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Graham Hingangaroa Smith and Jenny Lee-Morgan and Dr Matt Roskrudge. She has also just been awarded a Marsden Fund grant for the project ‘He Kare-a-roto: Māori understandings and expression of emotions’ with Professors Jenny Lee-Morgan and Rangi Matamua. Leonie was recently made a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand.