Two advisory groups will provide advice to the Government about what changes will improve those sectors, and critically how they can “play a greater role in lifting New Zealand’s productivity and economic growth”.
Putting a value on centuries of empirical knowledge transmitted intergenerationally by Māori is not easy. So many of the benefits are less tangible than the economic, but in the coming months it will be incumbent upon us as advocates to demonstrate the breadth of the benefits for Aotearoa.
I take heart from the fact that public consultation by the Government’s advisory groups has asked people to consider how a new science system should embrace and reflect the contributions of Māori as reflected in Te Tiriti o Waitangi (Treaty of Waitangi); and how investment into research involving the study of or application of mātauranga Māori should be managed and funded.
But it is anyone’s guess what this change will mean and what those transformed sectors will ultimately look like. Many of us who have seen the progress from drawing on generations of mātauranga Māori, alongside conventional scientific methods, will be desperately hoping that progress is not lost.
A central issue here is recognising the value of different knowledge systems, mātauranga Māori and conventional science, working side by side. It is not about displacement, or lowering standards or – as one recent article suggested – claiming some races are “better” at science, or more predisposed to it.
It is within our grasp to transform our science and university sectors into places that can tackle complex and wicked problems because they value knowledge and approaches from all parts of society. That includes indigenous knowledge and the long-term intergenerational thinking that is a hallmark of Te Ao Māori.
