The Mauri Model - a Tangata Whenua perspective on sustainability

The paper A Tangata Whenua Perspective on Sustainability using the Mauri Model: Towards decision making balance with regard to our social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being by  Te Kipa Kepa Brian Morgan (Senior Lecturer of Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of Auckland) which he presented at the International Conference on Sustainability Engineering and Science in 2004 was a really easy and enlightening read.

Every time I come across the Maori story of creation or their concepts of Mauri (the core essence and life force of all things) and Whanaugatanga (belonging to the land) I feel like it makes sense to me.  As I read this paper I thought it wouldn't be too hard to reframe some of the content to help get more people on board with the concepts.  In the introduction he speaks of the nonsensical decisions sometimes made still with regards to the Resource Management Act 1991.  It made me think back to when I was growing up in Whangamata, for many years witnessing snippets of the do-we-get-a-marina debate.  I often heard the negative comments from certain parts of the community of how Maori stand in the way of progress.  I remember doing a social-studies project on the topic sometime in my very early teens; I already had a great appreciation for nature but felt inadequately aware of the social and economic potential of the project, so I had difficulty forming a conclusion.  Today, the marina is up and running and I have been too out of the loop to hear whether the pros and cons eventuated - but I hear the surf bar is still going strong (one of the biggest fears the townspeople had).

The purpose of the paper is to introduce the concept of the Mauri model, which is based on four circles that represent the interdependence of economics (Mauri of whanau) on society (Mauri of community) on culture (Mauri of hapu) on the integrity of the ecosystem (Mauri of the environment).  So this thinking is totally the same as the strong sustainability models encountered in earlier blog posts.  The idea put forth is to use this model, along with ratings, to be able to make good decisions in regards to resource-use.  The conclusions are blunt to point out that economic well-being has recently been our most important criteria and that our appreciation of the importance of the social, cultural and environmental well-being needs to grow even further.

Think about it, it is now 10 years since this paper was presented! With minor tweaks it would be just as relevant to whip it out at any next conference!