COMMUNITY PROJECT CONCEPTS
These are provided as concepts to demonstrate the application of the “Mauri Model”, and as a creative outlet. If you have any ideas you would like to gift to the project please used the Contact Us form or our socials (links at the bottom of the page).
COMMUNITY PROJECT #418 - ZERO-WASTE MARAE INITIATIVE
Mission Statement:
To restore the sacred integrity of our marae by transitioning to zero-waste operations through composting, reusable systems, and conscious stewardship.
The Needs Assessment:
Currently, many marae are forced into a "high-entropy" waste cycle, importing plastics and disposables for large events that end up in landfills. This is a "thermodynamic leak" that costs money and creates ecological "disorder" (entropy), which is fundamentally at odds with the concept of the marae as a place of Mauri Ora.
COMMUNITY PROJECT #417 - YOUTH GOVERNANCE INCUBATOR
Mission Statement:
To cultivate the next generation of "Universal Constructors" by placing rangatahi on shadow boards of local trusts to master governance and strategy.
The Needs Assessment:
Currently, many of our regional boards suffer from a "Static Bureaucracy" trap, where aging leadership lacks a clear succession plan. This creates a disconnect where our youth feel they have no narrative of success or connection to the decision-making processes that govern their whenua.
COMMUNITY PROJECT #416 - ANCESTRAL NAVIGATION ACADEMY
Mission Statement:
To revitalise the "Voyager Mindset" by providing practical training in celestial navigation and traditional waka sailing, reconnecting our youth to the moana and the stars.
The Needs Assessment:
The "Newtonian Error" has modernised us into a "Static Society" that views the ocean as a barrier or a resource for extraction, rather than a highway of connection. Our youth suffer from a lack of "Narrative of Excellence." We need to restore the "Universal Explainer" capability that allowed our ancestors to cross the Pacific with nothing but their minds and the environment.
COMMUNITY PROJECT #414 - MAURI WATER MONITORING NETWORK
Mission Statement:
To establish a whānau-led, tech-enabled sensor network that provides real-time data on the health of our local awa, ensuring sovereign environmental protection.
The Needs Assessment:
Current water monitoring in Te Tai Tokerau is "Static" and top-down, often managed by distant agencies with infrequent sampling. This creates a "failure of explanation" where pollution and sedimentation go unchecked. We need a "Universal Explainer" capability at the stream-bank level to identify "thermodynamic leaks" in our ecosystem before they become catastrophic.
COMMUNITY PROJECT #413 - THE "FIX-IT" CAFÉ
Mission Statement:
To restore the "Universal Constructor" capability by hosting monthly community repair events where skilled elders teach locals how to repair appliances, clothes, and furniture.
The Needs Assessment:
The "Babylonian" economy is predicated on a high-entropy "Throwaway Culture." When an appliance breaks, the system encourages us to dump it and buy a new one, creating a "Leaky Bucket" for both our finances and our resources. Simultaneously, the practical "DIY" skills of our elders are being lost as they become socially isolated, while the younger generation is losing the ability to transform their material reality.
COMMUNITY PROJECT #415 - DISASTER RESILIENCE HUBS
Mission Statement:
To transform local marae into autonomous "Resilience Hubs" equipped with the energy, water, and communication infrastructure to serve as safe havens during extreme weather events.
The Needs Assessment:
Te Tai Tokerau is vulnerable to "Arterial Blockages"—when SH1 or the "Colonial Grid" fails during a storm, our communities are isolated. This is a high-entropy state of "Disorder" that leaves whānau in danger. We need "Distributed Sovereignty" that allows the region to "island" itself energetically and socially when the main systems go down.
COMMUNITY PROJECT #412 - RONGOĀ GARDENS IN SCHOOLS
Mission Statement:
To re-entangle our tamariki with the healing power of the whenua by establishing traditional medicinal (Rongoā) gardens in every Northland school as living classrooms for biology and heritage.
The Needs Assessment:
The "Newtonian Error" has separated our children from the natural world, leading to a loss of "Original Participation." Many tamariki can identify global brands but cannot identify the plants in their own backyard that can heal them. This disconnection contributes to a reliance on expensive, extractive "Babylonian" health models for simple ailments.
COMMUNITY PROJECT #411 - DIGITAL WHAKAPAPA ARCHIVE
Mission Statement:
To assert digital sovereignty over our "Digital Flesh" by establishing secure, marae-hosted servers that preserve oral histories, ancestral records, and photos for future generations.
The Needs Assessment:
Currently, much of our whānau history is stored on foreign-owned "Babylonian" servers (Facebook, Google, iCloud). This is a form of digital colonialism where our most sacred data—our whakapapa—is commodified and disconnected from the whenua. Furthermore, as our kaumātua pass away, we face a "Semantic Entropy" where oral histories are lost forever if not captured in a sovereign environment.
COMMUNITY PROJECT #410 - WHARE ORA RETROFIT SQUADS
Mission Statement:
To transform cold, damp houses into healthy homes through local, whānau-led retrofit squads, treating the home as a vital health intervention to combat preventable diseases.
The Needs Assessment:
Substandard housing in Te Tai Tokerau is a catastrophic "thermodynamic leak". Damp and poorly insulated homes are the primary cause of rheumatic fever and chronic respiratory issues among our tamariki41. The current "Static Bureaucracy" manages these deficits through hospital admissions rather than solving the root cause at the front door.
COMMUNITY PROJECT #409 - “KAI SOVEREIGN” PĀTAKA
Mission Statement:
To establish a self-sustaining network of community-managed pantries (pātaka) that eliminate hunger and ensure food sovereignty through the efficient distribution of local surplus.
The Needs Assessment:
Food insecurity is a symptom of "Babylonian" extraction, where high-quality local produce is exported while whānau are forced to buy expensive, low-nutrient imports. We currently have a "Leaky Bucket" for kai, where surplus from gardens and hunters is often wasted because there is no coordinated way to share it.
COMMUNITY PROJECT #408 - COMMUNITY SOLAR GARDEN
Mission Statement:
To decentralise energy production and provide affordable, clean power to whānau renters through shared solar infrastructure on marae land.
The Needs Assessment:
Current energy systems in Te Tai Tokerau are part of a fragile "Colonial Grid" that is linear and centralised. Many low-income whānau, particularly those who rent, are locked out of solar benefits because they do not own their roofs, leaving them vulnerable to rising costs and energy insecurity.
COMMUNITY PROJECT #407 - KAUMĀTUA DIGITAL INCLUSION NET
Mission Statement:
To eliminate digital isolation and foster intergenerational knowledge transfer by pairing tech-savvy rangatahi with kaumātua to navigate the digital world safely and confidently.
The Needs Assessment:
As the "Babylonian" system moves services—banking, health, and communication—entirely online, many of our elders are being left behind. This "Digital Enclosure" creates isolation and anxiety. At the same time, our youth possess high-fidelity digital skills but often lack a structured way to share them with their elders, missing out on vital cultural mentorship.
COMMUNITY PROJECT #406 - RIPARIAN RANGERS
Mission Statement:
To restore the Mauri of our waterways by employing a youth corps to undertake hydrological restoration and kaitiakitanga, bridging the gap between physical labour and environmental science.
The Needs Assessment:
Many of our rivers in the North are suffering from high levels of sedimentation and "thermodynamic leaks" due to historical land clearing. Simultaneously, many youth lack employment that provides both a living wage and a sense of ancestral purpose. There is a critical need for "on-the-ground" restoration that is led by those who belong to the whenua.
COMMUNITY PROJECT #405 - THE SHED CODING WĀNANGA
Mission Statement:
To activate the "Universal Constructor" capability of our rangatahi by establishing a grassroots network of garage-based coding clubs that transform digital consumers into sovereign creators.
The Needs Assessment:
Our rangatahi in Te Tai Tokerau are often caught in the "Static Society" trap, where the colonial education system fails to provide a narrative of connection or high-tech success. This project addresses the lack of accessible, culturally grounded pathways into the digital economy, preventing "brain drain" and addressing high NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) rates.
COMMUNITY PROJECT #404 - RHYTHM & RESILIENCE TAITOKERAU
Mission Statement
To establish a region-wide cultural infrastructure hub that empowers subcultures across Te Tai Tokerau by providing shared assets, compliance expertise, and wellness-focused event management to foster a deep sense of whanaungatanga and regional sovereignty.
The Needs Assessment
Te Tai Tokerau currently functions as a "Leaky Bucket," not just in terms of capital, but in human capability. We are experiencing record net migration losses, particularly among those aged 18–30, as our youth seek opportunity and engagement elsewhere. Concurrently, grassroots cultural organisers are "strangled" by the high costs of equipment—which often involves capital flight to Auckland rental firms—and the "Epistemological Violence" of complex regulatory compliance that fails to recognise indigenous or fringe cultural values.
COMMUNITY PROJECT #403 - TE MAURI RONGOĀ GLOBAL RESEARCH HUB
Mission Statement
To reclaim and operationalise indigenous medicinal wisdom through world-class, iwi-led research, ensuring the intellectual and spiritual sovereignty of our mātauranga is protected for future generations.
The Needs Assessment
For too long, Te Tai Tokerau has been a "Leaky Bucket" for both biological assets and human talent. Big pharmaceutical interests often extract the "embodied energy" of our native flora—like Kawakawa, Manuka, and Kumarahou—while the value-add and intellectual property (IP) are realised in offshore laboratories. Concurrently, our region faces a significant "Brain Drain," exporting our most energetic "Universal Constructors" (youth) because we lack high-tech, high-value industries. There is a desperate need for an entity that treats indigenous knowledge not as a relic of the past, but as high-fidelity data capable of solving modern global health crises.
COMMUNITY PROJECT #402 - KAPA HAKA AND PERFORMING ARTS COLLECTIVE
Mission Statement
To unite and empower the performing artists of Te Tai Tokerau to share indigenous stories of abundance and sovereignty while building a self-sustaining, regenerative creative economy.
The Needs Assessment
For too long, our artists in the North have been forced to operate within a "Babylonian" commercial system that treats creativity as a disposable commodity. Many of our most talented performers struggle with isolation, a lack of professional infrastructure, and financial insecurity that leads to the "Brain Drain" of our creative youth. There is a profound gap between the rich spiritual wealth of our stories and the actual economic return our people see from sharing them.
COMMUNITY PROJECT #401 - MARAE-BASED UNIVERSAL LEARNING
Mission Statement
To transform our marae into vibrant, high-tech hubs of lifelong learning that synthesise indigenous mātauranga with cutting-edge science to empower every generation for a future of regenerative abundance.
The Needs Assessment
For too long, our people have been fed a "Babylonian" education—a system designed for a colonial, industrial past that views students as "human resources" for an extractive economy. This has led to a profound epistemological misalignment in Te Tai Tokerau: our youth are often disconnected from their whenua, and our education providers frequently lack the cultural "source code" to solve local problems. We see the result in the "brain drain" of our best and brightest, leaving behind a vacuum of potential. To build Zion, we must upgrade the software of our civilisation right where our hearts are: at the marae.