He Pou Hiringa, Grounding Science and Technology in Te Ao Māori Edited by Katharina Ruckstuhl, Merata Kawharu and Maria Amoamo (eds)

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'The creation of new science requires moving beyond simply understanding one another's perspectives. We need to find transformative spaces for knowledge exchange and progress.'

Māori have a long history of innovation based on mātauranga and tikanga – the knowledge and values passed down from ancestors. Yet Western science has routinely failed to acknowledge the contribution of Indigenous peoples and their vital worldviews.

Drawing on the experiences of researchers and scientists from diverse backgrounds, this book raises two important questions. What contribution can mātauranga make to addressing grand challenges facing New Zealand and the world? And in turn, how can Western science and technology contribute to the wellbeing of Māori people and lands?

Dr Katharina Ruckstuhl (Ngāi Tahu, Rangitāne) is an Associate Dean Māori at the Otago Business School, University of Otago, Dunedin. Her role in the Business School focuses on strategic empowerment of Māori students and staff with a particular focus on Māori entrepreneurship. She has strong connections to her tribal group of Ngāi Tahu. Dr Ruckstuhl co-leads the Building New Zealand’s Innovation social science research of the National Science Challenge, Science for Technological Innovation. She is also the Vision Mātauranga (Māori knowledge) leader, a theme that crosses all of the Challenge’s research activities. She has published in the areas of: Māori language; resource extraction in Māori territories; Māori entrepreneurship in SMEs; Indigenous science and technology and Indigenous knowledge.

Merata Kawharu (Ngāti Whātua, Ngāpuhi) is an academic, researcher and writer who is currently Research Professor at the Centre for Sustainability, University of Otago, Dunedin. After completing a doctorate in anthropology at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, she has taught at Auckland and Otago universities, and published widely in the areas of indigenous leadership and resource management. Merata Kawharu has been a consultant to the UN and UNESCO and is a member of the New Zealand Geographic Board. Her books include Whariki, with Paul Tapsell, Whenua: Managing our Resources, Tahuhu Kōrero: The Sayings of Taitokerau and Maranga Mai! Te Reo and Marae in Crisis? In 2012 she was made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for services to Māori education.

Maria Amoamo (Whakatōhea) is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Business at Otago University. Her research specialisation area is cultural and indigenous tourism with publications exploring themes of social capital, sovereignty and self-determination, resilience and sustainable livelihoods. Since 2016 she has contributed to the Vision Mātauranga research theme of the National Science Challenge ‘Building New Zealand’s Innovation Capacity’ drawing on organisational management theory to examine elements of Māori social and economic development with the intention of understanding the modes of economy and innovation capability within which Māori enterprise operate.

BWB Texts are short books on big subjects by great New Zealand writers. Spanning contemporary issues, history and memoir, new BWB Texts are released regularly, and the series now amounts to well over fifty works.