Nāu te rourou nāku te rourou ka ora ai te iwi
With your food basket and my food basket the people will thrive
Working with iwi and hapū is some of the most important work we do. Sometimes this means capacity-building; sometimes it means listening; sometimes it means advocacy or holding space within a process; and sometimes it means empowering Māori to make decisions.
We seek to listen and learn from iwi, hapū, mana whenua and Māori about what you want for whānau, hapū and iwi, and work alongside you to find practical ways of achieving these aspirations according to their tikanga and kawa. This mahi includes visioning, housing strategy and delivery, but more importantly is holistic in nature, and aims to build Māori wellbeing, as well as local and community wealth.
As tangata Tiriti, we aim to take a bicultural approach to project delivery, and advocate for the role of iwi, hapū and Māori entities within projects
This means:
From the very start, our approach is to work with whānau, hapū and iwi organisations, marae and post-settlement governance entities [as relevant to the rohe and scope of work] to understand if and how you want to be involved in a project. This might require a series of wānanga or hui, to develop a good relationship.
A kawenata or relationship agreement may also be required to be transparent and define the terms and purpose of this partnership.
In some instances these already exist as a foundation to engage with appropriate representatives in relation to your project
We can help to develop tailored, holistic housing strategies that consider the full spectrum of housing needs and delivery options as well as ways more can be achieved through partnerships.
We can help to create bespoke tools to help with decision-making and prioritization of development opportunities aligned to tikanga, values or aspirations for urban development.
We’re so appreciative of our clients who enable us to do the work we do.