University of Otago, Wellington (Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka)

Te Rōpū Rangahau Hauora a Eru Pōmare (University of Otago) serves as the coordinating partner for the SPIRIT work in Aotearoa New Zealand and works to improve Māori health outcomes and eliminate inequalities through rigorous research grounded in Kaupapa Māori principles and Treaty of Waitangi rights. Their comprehensive approach spans community development, policy advocacy, research dissemination, and building the Māori health research workforce

For the Aotearoa partners, recognising the importance of tākaro and this unique opportunity to help ‘Re-build’ a World of Tākaro is our collective focus. How we are each exploring and expressing this objective is being driven by our own strengths along with the strengths and needs of mokopuna Māori and their whānau, the communities that we each work alongside and the natural environments that we live within.

For us the SPIRIT programme creates space to (re)build worlds and divergent futures that honour indigenous children – our most precious taonga (treasure) – and their families. Tākaro (play) is a vehicle for the transmission of indigenous knowledge. It creates space for creativity and connections to grow, for hope and wonder to flourish and love to expand. The SPIRIT programme positions tākaro as the necessary medicine for the wellbeing and transformation of indigenous children’s futures.