Vision Mātauranga in a post-SfTI world
26 March 2024 | Read time: 4 minutes
Vision Mātauranga is a New Zealand government science policy framework. It aims to unlock the science and innovation potential of three dimensions of Māori capacity: knowledge, people and resources, for the benefit of all New Zealanders. It’s also woven through everything we do here at SfTI, and sits at the foundation of our overall goal – to unite mātauranga Māori and western science to explore new and exciting opportunities to build a vibrant and prosperous technology-driven economy. But with all eleven of the National Science Challenges coming to a close later this year, researchers are considering what comes next for Vision Mātauranga.
At the SfTI All of Researchers’ Workshop in November, we hosted a discussion panel on that topic, featuring three exceptional Māori researchers and policy experts:
- Dr Pauline Harris, Associate Professor, Te Putahi-a-Toi at Massey University. SfTI Theme
Leader, Vision Mātauranga. Rongomaiwahine, Ngāti Rakaipaka and Ngāti Kahungunu ki
Wairoa - Prof Hēmi Whaanga, Head of School, Te Pua Wānanga ki te Ao at University of Waikato.
Project Lead for the SfTI Ātea Spearhead. Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Mamoe,
Waitaha - Dr Nancy Garrity, General Manager Māori Partnerships. Manaaki Whenua. Kaihautū of SfTI’s
Kāhui Māori. Ngāti Makirangi, Ngāti Pāoa, Ngāti Hine
The discussion was full of valuable insights and thought-provoking questions, and it laid out the scale of challenge ahead.
The first question Pauline posed was on the impact that SfTI has had on the Māori research landscape. Hēmi said, “Before this, I’d never been part of a research programme that looked at the social aspect of what we are doing. But here, they’re encouraging us not to silo ourselves within our own disciplines. Working across disciplines has been encouraged and actually fostered in this programme. It's changed all the ways that we want to conduct our research and the way that we do
our research.”
“Before this, I’d never been part of a research programme that looked at the social aspect of what we are doing. But here, they’re encouraging us not to silo ourselves within our own disciplines. Working across disciplines has been encouraged and actually fostered in this programme. It's changed all the ways that we want to conduct our research and the way that we do our research.”
Nancy commented on the noticeable increase of Māori researchers present, the skills and drive of the next generation coming through, and care and effort that non-Māori researchers now put into building partnerships with tangata whenua.
When discussing the issues and opportunities that lie ahead, Nancy said, “I think the key issue that comes to mind post-SfTI is momentum. That, without the platform that we have here, the onus is on us to continue the good work that we've started. That's front of mind a concern and a real fear for me – if we are not building momentum and we're not continuing on the journey, then we're only going backwards.”
Pauline echoed these sentiments, saying, “It is a real concern for us as Māori researchers. One of the key issues is the maintaining of relationships. How do you nurture and keep that relationship going, especially when you don't have funding? It's about an ongoing commitment from you – we all maintain our relationships with our colleagues; we just make it work. And then also the politics of things – we've had this opportunity to have VM focused projects that are resourced properly. We don't want to go backwards to that realm when we would do everything for free.”
You can watch the panel session here: