So University of Otago researchers are taking charge in the face of adversity and are studying how mana whenua and local authorities are stepping up to help their communities.
Centre for Sustainability researcher Prof Janet Stephenson said some of these initiatives included Ngai Tahu developing a climate strategy; councils allocating funding for new infrastructure and removal of old coastal landfills; planting of native species for climate mitigation and environment restoration; developing community gardens and orchards for food security; and the Dunedin City Council’s community engagement on the St Clair to St Kilda coastal plan.
In order to better understand what is happening on the ground and how it could help guide other groups, Prof Stephenson is co-leading a two-year project funded by the Deep South National Science Challenge, to track the innovations of three mana whenua organisations and seven local authorities in three regions.
"We will follow our research partners’ initiatives over the two years, listening to their perspectives on what works and what doesn’t, and why.
"Each community will have unique approaches, but we are likely to also find many similarities," Prof Stephenson said.
Project co-lead and Centre for Sustainability researcher Prof Merata Kawharu said one aim was to produce a toolbox of effective governance and management approaches to share with other groups and councils.
Alongside this, the researchers would also support rangatahi to work with their iwi on adaptation strategies.
They would provide opportunities for research partners to learn from each other, and for others to learn from their experiences.
"What we learn from these innovations by mana whenua and councils will also be fed through to government agencies developing national policies and legislation," Prof Kawharu said.
Prof Stephenson said the research was important because the impacts of climate change were happening sooner than was anticipated and were creating unprecedented challenges — from loss of infrastructure to weather bombs affecting food production and coastal erosion.
"We are entering a new era of decision-making under uncertainty.
"There is going to be no more normal when it comes to sea level rise, weather events, floods, and droughts.
"Mana whenua and local authorities need to adapt both internally and externally," she said.
