Families are the corner stone of society, their futures are critical to us all. Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga (NPM) is honoured to have published two prestigious publications providing perspectives, insights and research to ensure the health and wellbeing of families in future. Contributing to the 20th Anniversary celebrations of the International Year of the Family (IYF) is a major UN landmark publication, Family Futures, and a research report from NPM’s research Te Puāwaitanga o Ngā Whānau: Six Markers of Flourishing Whānau Report.
Family Futures is a fully illustrated book with over eighty authors and from forty one organisations relating their efforts in the following areas:
• Confronting family poverty
• Ensuring work-family balance
• Advancing social integration and intergenerational solidarity
Their commentaries draw upon experiences from around the world reflecting the importance of strengthening the role of the family in the present and into the future. NPM was invited to participate and its researchers, Sir Mason Durie and Associate Professor Tracey McIntosh both contributed to the volume by drawing on their ongoing work in the area. Principal investigator Sir Mason Durie for NPM, addresses the design and development of Whānau Ora as it “not only included the resolution of a critical event for one or more members of the family, but also building strengths for the whānau as a whole,” in his chapter entitled Whānau Ora: strengthening Māori families in Aotearoa, New Zealand.
NPM Director Tracey McIntosh and co-chair of the Expert Advisory Group on Solutions to Child Poverty contributes with her piece on Māori whānau well-being: addressing child and family poverty. She notes that “Whanau poverty is a serious challenge but it is not beyond our capabilities. Poverty is not a natural condition, it is a social condition. With consciousness, appropriate resourcing and will, including political will, we can make positive social change that will enable Māori whānau and other families to flourish in New Zealand.”
Family Futures Amplifies and contributes to the international dialogue created by the 20th Anniversary of the International Year of the Family in 2014.
To view the digital version of Family Future please visit NPM’s website http://www.maramatanga.ac.nz/publication/family-futures
The second publication, Te Puāwaitanga o Ngā Whānau: Six Markers of Flourishing Whānau Report, created from a research collaboration between Te Wānanga o Raukawa, Massey University and NPM, was launched in March.
The research projects team is led by Sir Mason Durie and involves Associate Professor Te Kani Kingi, Professor Chris Cunningham, Professor Cindy Kiro, Dr Lis Ellison-Loschmann and Associate Professor Barry Borman and Dr Meihana Durie.
This report defines and identifies the features of ‘flourishing’ and the relevance of flourishing to whānau. It has set out to explore the concept of flourishing whānau and the types of factors which promote whānau growth and development and the implications of this in national and global settings. Associate Professor Te Kani Kingi says “the report, while exploring flourishing whānau and whānau development, places emphasis on the identification of cultural variables and those which are especially important to Māori whānau.”
“NPM see whānau and family as the cornerstone of a healthy and functioning society, economy and culture. For historical and contemporary reasons, barriers to the health and wellbeing of Māori people have inhibited their full potential to participate and create new opportunities for themselves and their communities. We are pleased to contribute these publications to development of families’ prosperity and wellbeing” says Tracey McIntosh, Director, NPM.
To view and download Te Puāwaitanga o Ngā Whānau: Six Markers of Flourishing Whānau Report please visit NPM’s website at http://www.maramatanga.ac.nz/project/fostering-te-pā-harakekeadvancing-healthy-and -prosperous-families-mana
Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga(NPM) is a Centre of Research Excellence consisting of 16 participating research entities and hosted by the University of Auckland. NPM conducts research of relevance to Māori communities and is an important vehicle by which New Zealand continues to be a key player in global indigenous research and affairs. Its research is underpinned by the vision to realise the creative potential of Māori communities and to bring about positive change and transformation in the nation and wider world. Visit www.maramatanga.ac.nz
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