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New projects to unlock Māori knowledge innovation potential
New research projects to unlock innovation potential in Māori knowledge
The Science for Technological Innovation National Science Challenge will fund two new Vision Mātauranga research projects that will seek to unlock the science and innovation potential of Māori knowledge, resources and people for the benefit of all New Zealanders.
Challenge Director Margaret Hyland says each are promising projects with wide scope that could lead to significant, enduring and far reaching benefits for Māori and non-Māori.
“Developing a new, low-cost way to monitor fresh water quality and better digital management of indigenous knowledge are very different projects that both have potential to provide economic and cultural benefits for communities across Aotearoa and the world.”
Together the projects will receive $170,000 in 2016 and a maximum of $510,000 over up to three years. They are two of ten projects that will receive total funding of $826,000 in 2016. They involve cutting-edge science and bring new people and new ideas into the Challenge.
A key aspect of the Challenge is its Vision Mātauranga research theme, which integrates western science and mātauranga Māori (knowledge) to explore new and exciting opportunities to build a vibrant and prosperous technology-driven New Zealand economy.
Submitted by the University of Waikato, Te Tāhū o te Pātaka Whakairinga Kōrero: Next Generation Indigenous Knowledge, is a platform for digitally managing and distributing Indigenous Knowledge (IK) within and across each of the National Science Challenges.
The Nitrate Sensor Arrays project is a collaboration between Horahora Marae (mana whenua and kaitiaki of the Waikato River at Rangiriri), the University of Auckland and Digital Sensing Ltd. It will support the development of a low-cost, and fit-for-purpose sensor network that provides continuous, real-time monitoring of the quality of freshwater supply, with an initial emphasis on nitrate levels in the Waikato River.
“One of our goals is to integrate Vision Mātauranga across the Challenge. It is encouraging to see that three of the other funded seed projects align with Vision Mātauranga objectives. This means half of all 2016 Seed Projects have a Vision Mātauranga component,” she says.
One of 11 mission-led National Science Challenges targeting specific goals that have significant, enduring benefits for New Zealand, the Challenge has a mission to enhance New Zealand’s capacity to use physical sciences and engineering for economic growth. Hosted by Callaghan Innovation, it involves more than 50 researchers from all New Zealand universities, three crown research institutes and one independent research organisation.
| Organisation | Name | Description |
Digital Sensing Limited | Nitrate Sensor Arrays |
Toku awa koiora me ngona pikonga he kura tangihia o te matamuri’ > The river of life, each curve more beautiful than the last - Kingi Tawhiao The lamentation of Kingi Tawhiao retells his adoration of the Waikato River and the significance of the river as a taonga for all generations. The Waikato-Tainui environmental plan aspires to ‘have waters that are drinkable, swimmable, and fishable with the water quality at least at the level it was when Kingi Tawhiao composed his maimai aroha’. To achieve the objectives of the plan, Waikato-Tainui aim to ‘establish the current health of the Waikato River using Mātauranga Māori and the latest available scientific methods’. The need for monitoring and restoration of New Zealand’s waterways is well recognised and requires immediate attention. This bid presents a collaboration between Horahora Marae (mana whenua and kaitiaki of the Waikato River at Rangiriri), The University of Auckland and Digital Sensing Ltd, to support the development of a low-cost fit-for-purpose sensor network that provides continuous real-time monitoring of the quality of freshwater supply, with an initial emphasis on nitrate levels in the Waikato River. Key to the success of this project will be the on-going interaction between researchers and Māori, drawing knowledge from western science and Te Ao Māori, in the development and deployment of devices that will not only benefit Waikato-Tainui, but also have the potential for implementation in waterways across wider New Zealand and abroad. |
| University of
Waikato | Te Tāhū o te Pātaka Whakairinga Kōrero: Next Generation Indigenous Knowledge | This
proposal addresses the pressing need to formulate a
framework for Next Generation Indigenous Data and Knowledge
Management (IKM) in eResearch. Informed by a needs analysis
and a multi-method approach, incorporating kaupapa Māori
protocols, iterative design processes and participatory
design, the researchers propose to develop, in consultation
with Vision Mātauranga (VM) teams, a platform for digitally
managing and distributing Indigenous Knowledge (IK) within
and across each of the National Science Challenges (NSC).
The novelty of the approach stems from the utilisation of
spatial hypermedia to provide fine-grained representation
of, and access to, IK in a digital domain. Requirements for the IK management software will be driven by hui with VM teams to build a conceptual framework. The aims of this project are: (i) The development of a framework for
digital IKM; Three key research questions are: (i) What are the of
concerns of VM leaders/teams regarding the permissions,
rights, and interests of Māori researchers, Iwi, and other
stakeholders involved in the collation and distribution of
IK derived from the NSC? |
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