Watch: Active Land Talk – Weaving Mātauranga Māori with resilience planning for a stronger Aotearoa New Zealand

Te Toi Whakaruruhau o Aotearoa is a research centre hosted at Massey University that is centred within te ao Māori and dedicated to addressing Māori disaster risk reduction aspirations, in partnership with iwi, hapū, and whānau, as well as national and regional authorities.

The centre works with iwi whānuiand partners with New Zealand’s emergency management infrastructure, to increase Māori disaster research capability through developing the next generation of Māori researchers as well as the disaster risk and resilience research capacities of communities and practitioners.

Here, three renowned speakers from the centre share their mātauranga and perspectives on taking a te ao Māori approach to resilience planning that responds to needs identified by communities and in accordance with kaupapa Māori.

Speakers

Distinguished Professor Christine Kenney (Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Toarangatira, Ngāi Tahu) is Co-director of Research for the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and the inaugural Professor of Disaster Risk Reduction at Massey University. Christine has a dual background in sociology and public health, which has informed her global disaster risk reduction research and policy work with the United Nations on climate change, health emergencies, terrorism, risk, and resilience. Christine is equally committed to supporting the aspirations and wellbeing of tangata whenua and is the current Kaiwhakahaere Matua (Director) of Te Toi Whakaruruhau o Aotearoa, New Zealand’s Māori disaster research centre.

Professor Jon Procter (Muaūpoko, Ngāi Tahu) is a volcanologist and Chair of Natural Hazards at Massey University. He has contributed to developing research that focuses on volcanic hazard simulation and working with communities to increase resilience to natural and environmental hazards. Jon manages the Volcanic Risk Solutions (VRS) research group and has contributed nationally to developing new research directions in volcanology. Being one of only a handful of Māori professorial scientists, Jon feels he has a duty to contribute to Māori development and methods to contribute to indigenous knowledge. His greatest contribution in this respect has been the development of a new area of research on indigenous knowledge, volcanic hazards and building resilience in indigenous knowledge using GIS and remotely sensed technologies.

Dr Suzanne Phibbs (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Waitaha) is a Māori health sociologist and senior lecturer in public health in the School of Health Sciences at Massey University. Suzanne has published extensively in the field of disasters and is an expert on Sociological and Kaupapa Māori research methodologies, Māori community resilience, disaster risk reduction, response and recovery. As a highly experienced journal reviewer and editor, she is committed to ensuring attention is paid to Māori voices and aspirations and is dedicated to developing the next generation of Māori leaders, academics and researchers.

The Active Land talk series highlights the diverse range of cutting-edge research into natural hazards happening in Wellington. This series is hosted by Te Papa in partnership with the Natural Hazard Commission (NHC) Toka Tū Ake. NHC Toka Tū Ake helps build New Zealand’s resilience to natural hazards through investment into research, modelling, advocacy and public education programmes. NHC Toka Tū Ake is a Te Papa partner and has generously supported Te Papa exhibitions and education programmes for more than 25 years.