A ‘te ao Māori’ disaster risk reduction framework

Abstract

An ongoing change in legislation means decision-makers in Aotearoa New Zealand need to incorporate ‘mātauranga’ (Māori knowledge/knowledge system) in central and local government legislation and strategy. This paper develops a ‘te ao Māori’ (Māori worldview) disaster risk reduction (DRR) framework for non-Māori decision-makers to guide them through this process. This ‘interface framework’ will function as a Rosetta Stone between the ‘two worlds’. It intends to help central and local officials trained in Western knowledge-based disciplines by translating standard DRR concepts into a te ao Māori DRR framework. It draws on previous work examining Māori DRR thinking to create a novel framework that can help these stakeholders when they are converting higher-level theoretical insights from mātauranga Māori into more practical ‘on the ground’ applications. This type of interface is essential: while Indigenous knowledge's utility is increasingly recognised nationally and internationally, a gap remains between this acknowledgement and its practical and applied integration into emergency management legislation and strategy.