Whāia ngā pae o te māramatanga: our horizons of pursuit

Abstract

Kei te tipu haere te whakaaro i Aotearoa Niu Tīreni he tino iho tonu tō te huitahi ki te Māori me te whakarangatira i a ia puta noa i te ahunga o te pūtaiao me te rangahau kia whakaraetia ai ngā taunahua ā-motu, kia pūrangiaho ai hoki te whakaaro ki ngā āhuatanga motuhake ka taea anahe e te mātauranga Māori te takoha atu ki te puna auaha me te waihanga mōhiohioranga. (Ministry of Education 2013a). E riro mai ai ngā hua o te huri haerehanga o ō te motu rohenga tangata, e tū ai hoki te Tiriti o Waitangi hei poutokomanawa i te hapori whānui, me tino karanga te Māori kia whaiwāhi mai ia ki ngā rangahau me ngā whakataunga puta noa i ngā akoranga me ngā ahunga katoa. Ka whakaarohia e tēnei tuhinga, pēhea tonu nei ngā takohanga a Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga (NPM) ki te whakaraetia o ngā taunahua me te whakawhanakehia o ngā āheinga kei waengarahi i te mātauranga Māori me te pūtaiao. E kitea nei e te tuhinga nei, he pai ā NPM takohanga, ā, nā aua takohanga e huri pai nei ngā momo rangahau i Aotearoa Niu Tīreni, otirā i te ao whānui. In Aotearoa New Zealand there is a growing recognition that Māori engagement and leadership across the science and research sector is essential for addressing national challenges and realising the distinctive contribution of mātauranga Māori to innovation and knowledge creation (Ministry of Education 2013a). To reap the benefits of the nation’s changing demographics and to centre Te Tiriti o Waitangi in society, it is critical that Māori are engaged in research and decision making in all disciplines and in all sectors. This article considers how Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga (NPM), New Zealand’s Māori Centre of Research Excellence, is contributing towards addressing and developing challenges and opportunities at the interface between mātauranga Māori and science. The article traces the contribution of NPM as a positive transformative contributor to research in Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally.