title: The southern initiative: How indigenous values inspire social innovation and impact

authors: Niu, Xiaoliang

abstract: Indigenous values are increasingly recognised in helping organisations contribute to wellbeing within and beyond the workplace. Adopting the theoretical lens of Māori economies of wellbeing, this case study examines how The Southern Initiative (TSI), a unit within Auckland Council, incorporates Māori values to co-create place-based solutions and foster whānau (family) wellbeing. Through kōrero (conversations) with three people, a wānanga (collaborative discussion) with TSI members, and analysis of organisational literature, we identified how TSI's organising approach synthesises social innovation and bureaucracy. We found that indigeneity-embedded intrapreneurship, distributed leadership, and whānau-centred design support TSI's innovations. Mana (prestige) emerged as a primary organising principle, sustaining TSI's approach to achieving systemic change. By bridging Indigenous paradigms and conventional managerial practice, this case study demonstrates how Māori values can transform public sector management, elevate social justice, and encourage community resilience. These findings highlight culturally grounded frameworks for delivering social impact and shaping equitable outcomes.

text: The southern initiative: How indigenous values inspire social innovation and impact Indigenous values are increasingly recognised in helping organisations contribute to wellbeing within and beyond the workplace. Adopting the theoretical lens of Māori economies of wellbeing, this case study examines how The Southern Initiative (TSI), a unit within Auckland Council, incorporates Māori values to co-create place-based solutions and foster whānau (family) wellbeing. Through kōrero (conversations) with three people, a wānanga (collaborative discussion) with TSI members, and analysis of organisational literature, we identified how TSI's organising approach synthesises social innovation and bureaucracy. We found that indigeneity-embedded intrapreneurship, distributed leadership, and whānau-centred design support TSI's innovations. Mana (prestige) emerged as a primary organising principle, sustaining TSI's approach to achieving systemic change. By bridging Indigenous paradigms and conventional managerial practice, this case study demonstrates how Māori values can transform public sector management, elevate social justice, and encourage community resilience. These findings highlight culturally grounded frameworks for delivering social impact and shaping equitable outcomes.

year: 2025

title: Whaikoorero: a study of formal Maori speech

authors: Mahuta, Robert Te Kotahi

subjects: Whaikoorero

abstract: Whaikoorero is regarded as the traditionally valued mode of communication. It is the language of the marae, the language of the chiefs and elders, and the only acceptable form of public statement in the Maori world. At the same time it is an artistic form, difficult to master, and demanding long years of practice and experience.
It is true, as I have pointed out, that one can read and listen to the myths and traditions of the Maori in books, on tapes, and through radio broadcasts. Yet it is the public rendering, the synthesising of myth and tradition, the living and the dead, and the interweaving of topical matters with the beliefs and values of the society, which hold the greatest interest for the Maori. For in whaikoorero history is relived, man reaffirmed, and status gained. The dead are recalled to participate with the living in social gatherings where tradition is orally transmitted, reaffirmed and relived. These then are some of the reasons why whaikoorero persists as a literary form and as a social feature within contemporary Maori society.

text: Whaikoorero: a study of formal Maori speech Whaikoorero is regarded as the traditionally valued mode of communication. It is the language of the marae, the language of the chiefs and elders, and the only acceptable form of public statement in the Maori world. At the same time it is an artistic form, difficult to master, and demanding long years of practice and experience.
It is true, as I have pointed out, that one can read and listen to the myths and traditions of the Maori in books, on tapes, and through radio broadcasts. Yet it is the public rendering, the synthesising of myth and tradition, the living and the dead, and the interweaving of topical matters with the beliefs and values of the society, which hold the greatest interest for the Maori. For in whaikoorero history is relived, man reaffirmed, and status gained. The dead are recalled to participate with the living in social gatherings where tradition is orally transmitted, reaffirmed and relived. These then are some of the reasons why whaikoorero persists as a literary form and as a social feature within contemporary Maori society.

year: 1974

title: Waltzing on the Vienna Consensus on Drug Control? Tensions in the International System for the Control of Drugs

authors: Boister, Neil

abstract: This article examines the tensions within the international drug control system which are putting the until now consensual position in regard to the prohibition on drugs supply and use for anything other than medical and scientific use – the Vienna Consensus – under strain. The article examines a number of areas where policy stress is leading to controversy about potential violation of international drug control treaty obligations by states parties. Drawing a comparison with earlier periods of stress when drug control fell under the League of Nations, it suggests that what appears to be occurring is a shift in the Vienna consensus, and that the drug conventions are sufficiently flexible to permit resulting shifts in practice, although reform would be preferable.

text: Waltzing on the Vienna Consensus on Drug Control? Tensions in the International System for the Control of Drugs This article examines the tensions within the international drug control system which are putting the until now consensual position in regard to the prohibition on drugs supply and use for anything other than medical and scientific use – the Vienna Consensus – under strain. The article examines a number of areas where policy stress is leading to controversy about potential violation of international drug control treaty obligations by states parties. Drawing a comparison with earlier periods of stress when drug control fell under the League of Nations, it suggests that what appears to be occurring is a shift in the Vienna consensus, and that the drug conventions are sufficiently flexible to permit resulting shifts in practice, although reform would be preferable.

year: 2016