Society Council paper September 2003

Initiatives in relation to Māori

The Royal Society has recently taken stock of its responsiveness to Māori, and, in September 2003, prepared inventories of current Society activity of immediate relevance to Māori and of RSNZ activity in Māori education.

The Marsden Fund

The Marsden Fund has had an ongoing programme to promote the Fund amongst Māori researchers and Māori organisations. This programme has several elements.

Information: Discussions have been held with the Assistant Dean (Māori) of the Faculty of Science at the University of Auckland, with the Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Māori) at Victoria University, with the executive of Te Tapuae o Rehua Limited (a partnership of some South Island universities, other tertiary education institutions and Ngai Tahu), with a representative from Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu, with Te Runanga o Nga Maata Waka and Te Runanga o Mangamaunu, and with individual Māori researchers. Information about the Fund has also been supplied to the Te Puni Kokiri newsletter. The Marsden Fund has been represented at wananga and hui.

Publicity: Research of specific interest to Māori has been publicised in written media, on National radio and in the Marsden Fund newsletter.

Responsiveness: This year, the Marsden Fund has introduced a Māori responsiveness section into its proposal forms. This has a number of purposes. It indicates that engagement with Māori is an objective for the Marsden Fund. It indicates to research organisations that they should be setting up consultative mechanisms, if these do not exist already. It highlights the need to develop Māori research capacity. And it ensures that the researchers take steps to ensure that there are no barriers to their research.

Monitoring: The participation of Māori researchers and topics of specific interest to Māori have been monitored.

Measure	1999- 2000	2000- 2001	2001- 2002	2002- 2003	2003- 2004
Percentage of Māori Principal and Associate Investigators on preliminary proposals in the year’s funding round	-	2.1%	2.2%	3.0%	2.8%
Percentage of Māori Principal and Associate Investigators on full proposals in the year’s funding round	-	1.5%	3.1%	3.5%	3.9%
Percentage of Māori Principal and Associate Investigators on contracts awarded in the year’s funding round	1.6%	0.9%	4.0%	1.6%	-
Percentage of contracts awarded in the year’s funding round with Māori Principal or Associate Investigators	4.1%	1.4%	7.3%	3.5%	-
Percentage of contracts awarded in the year’s funding round of specific interest to Māori*	4.0%	2.7%	3.7%	1.2%	-

*Projects of specific interest to Māori include studies of the following:

Early settlement in New Zealand
Transformations in Northern Māori Society, c1200-1850 AD
Food sources and agricultural practices in prehistoric Māori settlements
Management and care of taonga held in museums
Māori use of wetlands
Social, cultural, political, and practical aspects of Ta Moko
Social history and content analysis of the Māori language newspapers, 1840-1950s
Languages of South Auckland
Theory and practice of Māori representation
Rangitiratanga and the Crown

Education: Marsden staff have undertaken Te Reo and Treaty courses.

Centres of Research Excellence

“Demonstrated experience and reputation in assessing excellence in Māori research” was one of the criteria in selecting members of the CoRE Fund Committee, the decision making body for the Centres of Research Excellence (CoRE) Fund, administered by the Royal Society. The nine-strong Committee included Sir Paul Reeves (Chair), Associate Professor Pare A Keiha, and Ms Aroha Te Pareake Mead. One of the seven Centres of Research Excellence selected was Nga Pae o te Maramatanga.

James Cook Research Fellowships

The guidelines for the 2003 James Cook Research Fellowships include responsiveness to Māori. In addition, engagement of Māori is being monitored.

Science Promotion Fund

The Science and Technology Promotion Fund has been made available by the Government to support activities that make people enthusiastic about science, mathematics, social sciences and technology and excite a desire to find out or experience more.

For the 2001/02 round of the Promotion Fund, applications specific relevance to Māori were actively encouraged, resulting in 3 such projects being supported (and being allocated 21% of the funds). Overall, the fund has supported a number of initiatives with a Māori focus, as listed below.

He matauranga putaio, he ahunga whakamua (Māori language science calendar)

- production of a calendar which promotes understanding of scientific phenomena within Māori language households.

Māori and science initiative - field trips

- field trips to encourage Māori teenagers to further pursue science studies and careers.

Aotearoa: A Journey of Discovery

- a bilingual (Māori and English) board game that provides knowledge, information and understanding of science, technology, mathematical and social science phenomena in a contemporary and historical New Zealand context.

E ruia mai nga kakano o putaiao me hangarau – Planting the Seeds of Science and Technology

- a series of science and technology awareness camps (hui and wananga) designed specifically for Māori based in the greater Dunedin area.

Porirua Secondary Schools Mentoring Initiative

- mentoring scheme for Māori and Pacific Island secondary schoolscience and technology students in the Porirua area.

Science Role Model/Matariki Calendar

- a calendar/monthly planner with each of the twelve calendar pages displaying a large colour photograph of a scientist at work, chosen to emphasise youthful role models and a multicultural heritage.

Taking it to the Streets

- science and technology graduates as street theatre performers, based in South Auckland venues such as marae, shopping malls, and libraries.

Tui Tme

- an interactive CD-ROM on adaptations of various native bird species, an interactive activity about a day in the life of a tui, and stories about the tui from kuia, scientists and kids, in Te Reo Māori and English.

General Royal Society activities

Hui

In 2002, the Chief Executive and senior staff members represented the Royal Society at four hui-a-rohe, Supporting Matauranga Māori and Innovation through Research, Science and Technology, organised by MoRST and held in mid-2002. These hui followed a single hui the previous year and provided the Society with the opportunity to publicise its programmes. More importantly, it exposed the Society to Māori and iwi perspectives. Following on from these hui, the Society had a representative on the MoRST Working Party to consider issues which arose from them.

Science meets Parliament

In 2003, the Royal Society (along with the Association of Crown Research Institutes) initiated a series of evening talks for parliamentarians. Of the first series of eight talks, two were specifically related to Māori.

Education

All educational programmes (CREST, BP Challenge, science and technology fairs) for schools are constantly promoted to/for Māori and Pasifika students and kura kaupapa.
The Teacher Fellowship scheme allows teachers to tap into Māori knowledge and to become involved in activity relating to Māori. It has also allowed teachers to carry out work related to students of Pasifika and other ethnic backgrounds.
National Waterways Project (NWP) materials are increasingly available in te reo Māori, reflect aspects of Māori science and encourage young people to become kaitiakitanga of waterways. Articles on Māori science and attitudes to water in newsletters. Some background material on Māori perspective on water on website. A NWP hui is planned for kura kaupapa on the northern East Coast. Plan to collect stories of water/Māori science(with DoC possibly).
Māori pupils (and those of other ethnicity) apply for, and are selected for, international science and technology events managed by RSNZ; most recently, a pupil from Turakina Girls' HS was selected for Harry Messell's Science School, Australia.
The Enterprise Culture and Skills Activities Fund (ECSA) is supporting three projects for Māori: Rangatahi Business Programme, The Wahia Ngarua Project, An Income of Their Own.
The CREST, BP Challenge, Waterways and science and technology fairs programmes are open to and include Māori students. Student work in te reo Māori is occasionally presented at science and technology fairs. Students from Turakina Girls High School have been awarded Team Bronze and Silver CREST awards.
Education staff also advise and assist individuals and groups producing resources to assist/ensure resources reflect Tangata Whenua attitudes, values and knowledge e.g. advice to Capital City Science Educators (CCSE), writers briefs for Alpha publications such as Unravelling the links, NWP, Science fair judges briefings. etc. We have also advised Huia Publications on scientific content of te reo Māori resources produced by them.