Building and maintaining relationships
Creating supportive structures
Environmental guardianship
Cultural integrity and truth
By Deon Swiggs
Integrating Mātauranga Māori with Western Knowledge Systems
for Sustainable Agricultural Resilience
Keywords: Mātauranga Māori, Indigenous Knowledge, Disaster Resilience, Agricultural Business, Knowledge Integration, Sustainability, Collaborative Frameworks
Geographic Focus: Canterbury, Aotearoa New Zealand
Publication Year: 2025
Setting the context for indigenous-guided resilience
Agricultural resilience in Canterbury • The role of Mātauranga Māori • Research objectives and significance
Theoretical frameworks • Indigenous research paradigms • Business continuity and disaster resilience
Constructivist grounded theory • Ethical considerations • Data collection and analysis
Core components • Implementation strategies • Case studies and validation
Seven emergent themes • Practical applications • Addressing barriers and tensions
Business applications • Policy implications • Community benefits
Future research directions • Scaling the framework • Global applications
Glossary of Māori terms • Interview protocols • Participant profiles
Over 200 academic and practitioner sources
Key terms and concepts for easy reference
In an era of increasing environmental uncertainty and climate change impacts, the agricultural sector faces unprecedented challenges. Traditional Western approaches to disaster resilience, while valuable, often fall short of providing the holistic, community-centered solutions needed for long-term sustainability. This book presents a groundbreaking framework that bridges indigenous wisdom with contemporary business practices, offering a path toward more resilient and sustainable agricultural communities.
The integration of Mātauranga Māori with Western knowledge systems represents not just an academic exercise, but a necessary evolution in how we approach complex challenges facing our communities and environment.
The WEKA Framework—representing Whanaungatanga (relationships), Enabling (structural support), Kaitiakitanga (guardianship), and Authenticity (cultural integrity)—emerges from extensive research with Māori knowledge holders, farmers, practitioners, and policy experts in Canterbury, New Zealand. This framework offers a practical, ethical, and effective approach to integrating indigenous knowledge with business resilience strategies.
This book is written for multiple audiences: agricultural practitioners seeking innovative resilience strategies, policymakers working to create more inclusive and effective disaster management frameworks, indigenous communities advocating for the recognition and application of traditional knowledge, and researchers interested in decolonizing methodologies and knowledge integration approaches.
The research presented here challenges conventional neoliberal resilience frameworks by recentering indigenous voices and advocating for mokopuna-centric (future generations) indicators. It demonstrates how success can be redefined through cultural and environmental outcomes rather than purely economic metrics.
As we face an uncertain future marked by climate change, social inequity, and environmental degradation, the wisdom contained in this framework offers hope and practical solutions. The WEKA Framework represents a new paradigm—one that honors the past while building toward a more sustainable and equitable future.
Canterbury represents the heartland of New Zealand's agricultural economy, contributing significantly to the nation's primary sector output. The region's fertile plains, shaped by centuries of natural processes, support diverse farming operations from dairy and sheep farming to arable crops and horticulture. However, this agricultural prosperity exists within a context of increasing environmental volatility and climate uncertainty.
The region has experienced significant natural disasters in recent decades, including the Canterbury earthquake sequence (2010-2012), severe droughts, floods, and other climate-related events. These challenges have highlighted the limitations of traditional disaster management approaches and the need for more comprehensive, culturally informed resilience strategies.
Mātauranga Māori, the knowledge system of the indigenous Māori people of Aotearoa New Zealand, encompasses thousands of years of accumulated wisdom about living sustainably with the land. This knowledge system includes sophisticated understanding of:
Traditional environmental monitoring systems using natural indicators to predict weather patterns, soil conditions, and optimal planting times.
Regenerative land management techniques that maintain soil health, biodiversity, and ecosystem balance over generations.
Comprehensive understanding of natural hazards and community-based approaches to disaster preparedness and response.
Social systems that prioritize collective well-being, mutual support, and intergenerational responsibility.
Mātauranga Māori is not merely historical knowledge—it is a living, evolving system that continues to offer valuable insights for contemporary challenges, particularly in the context of environmental sustainability and community resilience.
To develop and validate a framework for integrating Mātauranga Māori with Western disaster resilience and business practices in Canterbury's agricultural sector, creating pathways for more effective, culturally grounded, and sustainable approaches to disaster risk reduction.
Primary Question:
How can Mātauranga Māori be integrated with Western disaster resilience practices to enhance agricultural business continuity in Canterbury?
Supporting Questions:
Recognition and application of traditional knowledge systems, economic opportunities, and cultural revitalization through practical implementation of Mātauranga Māori in contemporary contexts.
Enhanced resilience strategies, improved risk management capabilities, sustainable practices that support long-term viability, and access to innovative approaches to environmental challenges.
Evidence-based frameworks for inclusive policy development, models for meaningful indigenous consultation, and pathways for creating more equitable and effective disaster management systems.
Transferable principles for integrating indigenous knowledge with modern business practices in other regions and contexts, contributing to global discussions on decolonizing development approaches.
This research recognizes the sensitive nature of indigenous knowledge and the importance of conducting research that is respectful, beneficial, and aligned with Māori values and aspirations. The study adopts Kaupapa Māori research principles, ensuring that:
Māori self-determination and control over knowledge sharing
Respect for cultural treasures and intellectual property
Culturally appropriate learning and knowledge transmission
The researcher acknowledges their position as a non-Māori researcher and the importance of conducting research that serves the interests of Māori communities while maintaining academic rigor and contributing to broader knowledge systems.
The integration of indigenous and Western knowledge systems requires a robust theoretical framework that acknowledges the fundamental differences between these approaches while identifying opportunities for meaningful synthesis. This chapter explores the key theoretical foundations that underpin the WEKA Framework.
Traditional knowledge management theory focuses on the creation, sharing, and application of knowledge within organizations. The SECI model (Socialization, Externalization, Combination, Internalization) provides insights into how tacit knowledge can be converted to explicit knowledge and vice versa.
However, this model requires adaptation to respect indigenous knowledge protocols and ensure that sacred or sensitive knowledge is appropriately protected.
Social capital theory emphasizes the importance of relationships, networks, and trust in facilitating knowledge transfer and collaboration. The three dimensions of social capital—structural, relational, and cognitive—provide a framework for understanding how knowledge integration can be facilitated.
This is particularly relevant for Māori knowledge systems, which are inherently relational and community-based.
Critical theory provides a lens for examining power structures and challenging dominant paradigms. In the context of knowledge integration, it highlights the importance of decolonizing research methodologies and ensuring that indigenous voices are not marginalized or appropriated.
This theoretical approach is essential for creating equitable partnerships between indigenous and non-indigenous stakeholders.
Systems theory provides a framework for understanding complex interactions and feedback loops within social-ecological systems. This approach is particularly relevant for agricultural contexts, where environmental, social, and economic factors are interconnected.
Both Māori and Western knowledge systems recognize the importance of holistic approaches to understanding complex systems.
Indigenous research paradigms challenge Western-centric approaches to knowledge creation and validation. These paradigms emphasize relationality, reciprocity, and responsibility as core principles for ethical research practice.
Acknowledges relationships and connections between all elements of research
Ensures research is conducted in culturally appropriate ways
Incorporates traditional sayings and wisdom to guide research practice
Removes barriers and creates safe spaces for knowledge sharing
Maintains cultural protocols and respects traditional boundaries
Builds and maintains relationships throughout the research process
Traditional disaster resilience frameworks have evolved from reactive response models to proactive, adaptive approaches that emphasize prevention, preparedness, and long-term recovery. However, these frameworks often lack cultural grounding and community-centered perspectives.
Indigenous-informed disaster resilience approaches recognize that effective disaster management requires deep understanding of local ecosystems, social systems, and cultural values. These approaches emphasize long-term sustainability over short-term recovery.
Despite the potential benefits of integrating indigenous and Western knowledge systems, significant barriers exist that prevent effective collaboration and knowledge sharing. Understanding these barriers is essential for developing strategies to overcome them.
Existing institutional frameworks often lack mechanisms for incorporating indigenous knowledge or perspectives into decision-making processes.
Current legal systems may not recognize or protect indigenous intellectual property rights or provide adequate consultation mechanisms.
Limited resources are available for projects that integrate indigenous knowledge, and funding criteria may not recognize the value of such approaches.
Lack of understanding about indigenous knowledge systems and their protocols can lead to inappropriate or harmful approaches to knowledge sharing.
Past experiences of exploitation and appropriation create mistrust and reluctance to share traditional knowledge with non-indigenous researchers or organizations.
Different communication styles, languages, and conceptual frameworks can create barriers to effective knowledge exchange and collaboration.
This research employs Constructivist Grounded Theory (CGT) as its primary methodological approach. CGT is particularly well-suited to this study as it emphasizes the co-construction of knowledge between researchers and participants, aligns with indigenous research principles, and allows for the emergence of culturally grounded theoretical frameworks.
Theory emerges from data rather than being imposed from existing frameworks
Continuous comparison of data, codes, and emerging categories throughout the research process
Awareness of theoretical possibilities while remaining open to new insights from data
Continuous analytical writing to capture thoughts, insights, and theoretical development
Strategic selection of participants and data sources to develop emerging theoretical categories
Conscious examination of researcher assumptions and their impact on the research process
The constructivist approach recognizes that reality is co-constructed through social interaction and that multiple perspectives can coexist. This aligns well with both Māori worldviews and the collaborative nature of knowledge integration efforts.
The research design evolved iteratively throughout the study, responding to emerging insights and participant feedback. This evolutionary approach is consistent with both grounded theory methodology and indigenous research principles that emphasize responsiveness to community needs and values.
Broad exploration of knowledge integration concepts and identification of key stakeholders.
In-depth data collection and initial analysis leading to framework development.
Framework testing, refinement, and validation through participant feedback.
The primary data collection method involved semi-structured interviews with 13 carefully selected participants representing diverse perspectives and experiences.
Analysis of policy documents, organizational reports, and strategic plans to understand current approaches and identify gaps.
Observation of meetings, workshops, and community events to understand relationship dynamics and cultural protocols.
Ongoing documentation of researcher reflections, insights, and learning throughout the research process.
Use of concept mapping and visual frameworks to facilitate discussion and capture complex relationships.
Given the sensitive nature of indigenous knowledge and the potential for exploitation or misrepresentation, this research placed ethical considerations at the center of all research activities. The approach went beyond institutional ethics requirements to embrace indigenous research ethics and protocols.
Ensuring participants fully understand the research purpose, their rights, and potential implications of participation.
Following appropriate cultural protocols for meetings, knowledge sharing, and relationship building.
Recognizing Māori rights to control data about their communities and ensuring appropriate data governance.
Maintaining respectful relationships with participants throughout and beyond the research process.
Ensuring research provides benefits to participants and their communities, not just academic outcomes.
Regular check-ins with participants and community members to ensure research remains aligned with their values and needs.
Ethical research practice requires ongoing attention to power dynamics, cultural sensitivity, and the potential impact of research on indigenous communities. This research aimed to model best practice in these areas while producing meaningful outcomes for all stakeholders.
Data analysis followed the constructivist grounded theory approach, utilizing iterative cycles of coding, memo writing, and theoretical development. The process was supported by NVivo software for data management and analysis.
Initial coding focused on identifying key concepts and patterns in the data without predetermined categories.
Focused coding around emerging central categories and their relationships to other concepts.
Final phase focused on integrating categories around core categories and developing the WEKA framework.
A comprehensive framework for integrating Mātauranga Māori with Western disaster resilience practices in agricultural contexts
Building and maintaining meaningful relationships as the foundation for all knowledge integration efforts.
Creating supportive structures, systems, and processes that facilitate knowledge integration.
Environmental guardianship and responsibility for the sustainable management of natural resources.
Maintaining cultural integrity and truth in all knowledge sharing and application processes.
The WEKA Framework emerged through an iterative process of data collection, analysis, and validation with research participants. The framework represents a synthesis of participant insights, theoretical understanding, and practical application considerations.
Initial interviews and data collection revealed key themes and concepts
Concepts were grouped and refined into four core components
Framework was tested and refined through participant feedback
Final adjustments based on stakeholder input and practical testing
"Weaving Worlds: Navigating Knowledge for Collaborative Resilience" emerged as the core category that captures the essence of successful knowledge integration. This concept encompasses the delicate balance required to bring together different knowledge systems while maintaining their integrity and creating new possibilities for resilience.
The core category represents the central phenomenon that all participants recognized as essential for successful knowledge integration. It encompasses both the challenges and opportunities inherent in bringing together different worldviews, knowledge systems, and approaches to environmental management and disaster resilience.
Managing the intricate process of moving between different knowledge systems and worldviews
Creating synergies and new possibilities through respectful knowledge integration
Achieving enhanced disaster resilience through combined knowledge systems
The WEKA Framework underwent extensive validation through multiple stages of participant review, expert consultation, and practical testing. This validation process ensured that the framework was both culturally appropriate and practically applicable.
Structured sessions with research participants to review and refine framework components
Review by Māori cultural advisors to ensure cultural appropriateness and authenticity
Review by academic and practitioner experts in disaster resilience and knowledge integration
Framework components were validated as culturally appropriate and respectful of Māori values and protocols
Framework was confirmed as practical and implementable across diverse agricultural contexts
Framework was validated as theoretically sound and contributing new insights to knowledge integration theory
The research revealed seven key themes that emerged from the data analysis, providing comprehensive insights into the complexities and opportunities of integrating Mātauranga Māori with Western disaster resilience practices. These themes form the empirical foundation for the WEKA Framework.
"Mātauranga Māori isn't just about the past - it's a living system that has solutions for today's problems. But people need to understand it properly, not just take bits and pieces."
— Māori Knowledge Holder
Using traditional indicators such as plant phenology, bird behavior, and water quality signs to predict environmental changes
Incorporating traditional knowledge of natural hazard patterns into modern risk assessment frameworks
Implementing regenerative land management techniques that maintain ecosystem health
Participants emphasized the importance of moving beyond reactive disaster response to proactive resilience building that incorporates both traditional and modern approaches to environmental management and community preparedness.
"We found that combining traditional flood stories with modern hydrological data gave us much better flood prediction models than either approach on its own."
— Emergency Management Professional
The integration of traditional and modern farming approaches emerged as a key opportunity for enhancing both productivity and environmental sustainability in Canterbury's agricultural sector.
Using lunar cycles to optimize planting, harvesting, and land management activities
Growing multiple crops together to enhance soil health and reduce pest pressure
Reading environmental signs to make farming decisions and predict weather patterns
Combining traditional indicators with GPS, sensors, and data analytics for precise resource management
Integrating traditional soil building techniques with modern conservation agriculture
Using traditional knowledge to enhance modern biodiversity conservation efforts
The research revealed significant tension between profit-driven business models and values-based approaches to agricultural management, while also identifying opportunities for creating hybrid models that serve both economic and cultural objectives.
"We realized we could make good money while also looking after the land properly. It's not either/or - it's about finding the right balance and taking a longer-term view."
— Agricultural Business Owner
Successful knowledge integration was consistently linked to the quality of relationships between stakeholders, with participants emphasizing that technical solutions alone are insufficient without strong collaborative foundations.
Meaningful relationships require significant time investment before productive collaboration can occur
Non-Māori stakeholders must invest in understanding Māori protocols and worldviews
All parties must see clear benefits from the relationship and collaboration
Relationships require ongoing maintenance and cannot be treated as one-off transactions
Existing power structures can undermine genuine partnership and collaborative decision-making
Business and policy timelines often don't allow for proper relationship building processes
Different communication styles and expectations can create misunderstandings
Past negative experiences can create barriers to new collaborative efforts
The research identified significant systemic barriers that prevent effective knowledge integration, while also highlighting policy opportunities for creating more supportive environments for collaborative approaches.
Current consultation processes often fail to meaningfully engage with Māori knowledge and perspectives
Fragmented regulatory frameworks don't accommodate holistic approaches to environmental management
Funding criteria don't recognize or support the time and relationship building required for knowledge integration
Developing shared governance arrangements that provide genuine decision-making authority to Māori
Creating policy frameworks that support holistic, cross-sector approaches to environmental management
Investing in capability development for both Māori and non-Māori organizations to support collaboration
"The policy framework needs to change to actually support partnership, not just talk about it. That means changing how decisions are made, how funding works, and how success is measured."
— Policy Maker
Individual perspectives, values, and beliefs emerged as crucial factors in determining the success or failure of knowledge integration efforts, highlighting the importance of personal transformation alongside systemic change.
Shared commitment to environmental protection creates common ground across cultural boundaries
Concern for community health and resilience motivates collaborative action
Commitment to future generations resonates across different worldviews
Successful collaboration often requires fundamental shifts in how individuals understand human-environment relationships
Personal investment in cultural learning and protocol understanding is essential for authentic engagement
Integration requires professionals to expand their identity and practice beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries
"For me, it was a journey of understanding that my way of knowing wasn't the only valid way. Once I opened my mind to other ways of understanding the world, everything became richer and more complex - but also more meaningful."
— Research and Development Professional
The WEKA Framework provides a practical pathway for implementing indigenous knowledge integration in agricultural disaster resilience contexts. This chapter outlines implementation strategies, potential impacts, and specific applications across different sectors and scales.
Relationship building and cultural competency development
System preparation and supportive structure development
Small-scale implementation and testing
Expansion and embedding in standard operations
The WEKA Framework can be applied across various scales of agricultural business, from individual farms to large corporations and industry associations. Each application context requires tailored approaches while maintaining the core framework principles.
Integrating traditional soil and water management practices with modern precision agriculture
Combining traditional environmental indicators with sensor technology
Using traditional weather prediction alongside meteorological forecasting
Building relationships with local Māori communities and knowledge holders
Incorporating traditional knowledge into supply chain resilience planning
Developing products that reflect cultural values and sustainable practices
Establishing formal partnerships with Māori organizations and communities
Implementing co-governance structures that include indigenous representation
Advocating for policy changes that support knowledge integration
Developing training programs for members on cultural competency and collaboration
Facilitating knowledge sharing about successful integration approaches
Creating industry standards that incorporate cultural and environmental values
"The key is starting small but thinking big. You can't transform everything at once, but every successful pilot project builds momentum for broader change."
— Agricultural Business Consultant
Effective implementation of the WEKA Framework requires supportive policy and regulatory environments. This section outlines key policy changes needed to facilitate knowledge integration at scale.
Establishing legal frameworks that enable shared decision-making authority between Crown and Māori entities
Improving consultation processes to ensure meaningful engagement and genuine partnership opportunities
Creating funding streams that recognize and support the time and resources required for relationship building
Developing integrated regulatory approaches that accommodate holistic environmental management
Establishing pilot programs to test new policy approaches before full implementation
Investing in capability development for both government and Māori organizations
Developing new success metrics that include cultural and environmental outcomes
Creating mechanisms for coordination across different government agencies and sectors
Implementation of the WEKA Framework generates benefits across multiple dimensions - environmental, social, economic, and cultural. Understanding these benefits is crucial for building support and demonstrating value to diverse stakeholders.
Measuring the success of knowledge integration requires developing new metrics that capture both quantitative outcomes and qualitative improvements in relationships, cultural understanding, and environmental health.
Assessment of trust levels, communication effectiveness, and partnership satisfaction through surveys and interviews
Evaluation of cultural understanding, protocol adherence, and respectful practice through cultural advisor assessment
Analysis of how well different knowledge systems are being combined and applied through case study documentation
Assessment of community satisfaction with outcomes and processes through community feedback sessions
"Success isn't just about the numbers - it's about whether our mokopuna will inherit a healthier environment and stronger communities. That's the real test of what we're doing."
— Māori Community Leader
This research represents an important step in understanding how indigenous and Western knowledge systems can be integrated for enhanced disaster resilience. This final chapter examines the broader implications of the findings, identifies areas for future research, and considers how the WEKA Framework might be applied in other contexts and scales.