Ka mua, ka muri: Connecting tangata to whenua through housing

This research project forms part of a longer-term initiative to establish a vibrant p? at M?ori Land Block Te Kaha No 2C2 (known as Te Kinakina). Te Kinakina comprises 61 acres of M?ori freehold land situated on the Eastern Bay of Plenty coastline, within the tribal rohe of Te Ehutu/Te Wh?nau-?-Apanui. The aims of this project are twofold: to undertake a comprehensive site analysis and wh?nau housing design proposal for Te Kinakina and to document and evaluate the co-creation processes between wh?nau, researchers, practitioners and other actors involved in housing systems. This project builds on research previously undertaken as part of the ?Poipoia te k?kano, kia pu?wai? research programme, a kaupapa M?ori response with M?ori researchers undertaking ?local? community-up research with and for M?ori. Funded through the Building Better Homes Towns and Cities National Science Challenge, this first stage followed the wetlands restoration project and its role in housing the non-human descendants of our environmental atua. The funding applied for here would allow the expansion of the research to explore the aspirations of wh?nau to be housed on the land. The project also builds on, and draws from, James Berghan’s PhD in terms of the social and collective elements of k?inga design, applied in a rural context.