Te Kawenata o Rata
At a dawn ceremony in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland on Wednesday 8 February 2017, representatives of the Institute and Ngā Aho, the national network of Māori design professionals, signed Te Kawenata o Rata. This covenant formalised an ongoing relationship of co-operation and supports joint strategies and plans to be developed between the two groups.
Te Kawenata was signed by Ngā Aho Chair Desna Whaanga-Schollum and Past Chair Rau Hoskins, Ngā Aho kaumatua Dr Haare Williams, the Institute’s President Christina van Bohemen and Past President Pip Cheshire.
Te Kawenata is an agreement based on five foundational values that set out the relationship between the Institute and Ngā Aho, in the spirit of partnership under the mana of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
The foundational values are:
• respect / whakaritenga
• authority and responsibility / rangatiratanga
• knowledge and ethics / mātauranga whaihanga
• cooperation / mahi kotahitanga
• representation / kanohi kitea
An early draft of Te Kawenata was presented at a hui at Waipapa Marae in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland on 19 February 2016. At the hui, vigorous discussion was undertaken and substantial changes were made to the document.
Subsequently, smaller meetings of a working party including Pip Cheshire, Institute CE Teena Hale Pennington, Haare Williams, Rau Hoskins and others from Ngā Aho honed Te Kawenata into its present form.
In order to give meaningful effect to the document, the working party that developed the draft kawenanta agreed to the ongoing representation of Ngā Aho on the NZIA Council.
Te Kawenata was recognised and signed by members of both organisations at the Institute’s eight branches. The local signings offered an opportunity to meet on marae, discuss architecture and local issues and priorities.
Elisapeta Heta discussed Te Kawenata o Rata with Wallace Chapman on Radio New Zealand's Sunday Morning – listen here.
Te Aranga design principles
Te Aranga Māori Design Principles were developed by Māori design professionals as a response to the New Zealand Urban Design Protocol in 2005. Over time the principles have been developed and adopted by the Auckland Council with the support of Ngā Aho and promoted across council’s building projects.
The principles enable Māori values to be incorporated into the design process and support improved awareness and engagement with mana whenua on sites of cultural significance in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. Te Aranga principles, which provide a framework for all design-based projects, have since been applied by Auckland Council, mana whenua authorities and private developers.
