title: Change in Local Places: the experince of a peri urban community

authors: Wright, Jason John

subjects: Change

abstract: ABSTRACT

This thesis explores change in place, and particularly the social tensions that arise from change in peri-urban communities. In this study, a review of relevant literature indicates that rural/urban fringe areas are dynamic places, as pressure for the conversion of rural land uses to rural residential function creates social and economic anxiety. 

With pressure for change, tensions between people, both inside and outside of the local community become more clearly articulated, as change for some members of the community is an un-welcomed progression. Others, who may have no association with the local community, grasp the opportunity for change, particularly if financial return is the end reward. This study considers various approaches to the analysis of these changes in place and develops a methodology that reveals the social dimension of change, and more particularly the tensions associated with shifting land use patterns and changing demographic characteristics in the peri-urban location of Matangi.

text: Change in Local Places: the experince of a peri urban community ABSTRACT

This thesis explores change in place, and particularly the social tensions that arise from change in peri-urban communities. In this study, a review of relevant literature indicates that rural/urban fringe areas are dynamic places, as pressure for the conversion of rural land uses to rural residential function creates social and economic anxiety. 

With pressure for change, tensions between people, both inside and outside of the local community become more clearly articulated, as change for some members of the community is an un-welcomed progression. Others, who may have no association with the local community, grasp the opportunity for change, particularly if financial return is the end reward. This study considers various approaches to the analysis of these changes in place and develops a methodology that reveals the social dimension of change, and more particularly the tensions associated with shifting land use patterns and changing demographic characteristics in the peri-urban location of Matangi.

year: 2006

title: Farmers Reap Benefits of DSS

authors: Foulds, Les R.

subjects: management

abstract: Maize farming in New Zealand is an important activity contributing a significant proportion of the output of the agricultural sector. Commercial contractors form an important part of the harvesting process by traveling from farm to farm harvesting maize. Traditionally, commercial harvesters have difficulty in deciding when to harvest different farms within a short period in time, taking into consideration various limitations such as limited dedicated machines and crews. 
We report here on the development of a scheduling and decision-making support system (DSS) that assists commercial harvesters in scheduling their activities. We also present the outcomes of the implementation of the system by a large commercial harvester.

text: Farmers Reap Benefits of DSS Maize farming in New Zealand is an important activity contributing a significant proportion of the output of the agricultural sector. Commercial contractors form an important part of the harvesting process by traveling from farm to farm harvesting maize. Traditionally, commercial harvesters have difficulty in deciding when to harvest different farms within a short period in time, taking into consideration various limitations such as limited dedicated machines and crews. 
We report here on the development of a scheduling and decision-making support system (DSS) that assists commercial harvesters in scheduling their activities. We also present the outcomes of the implementation of the system by a large commercial harvester.

year: 2006-04

title: Demystifying a relationship between voluntary work and Māori

authors: Te Momo, Oliver Helena Fiona

abstract: The purpose of this thesis is to provide evidence that critically reviews the relationship between Māori and voluntary work in social service organisations. Since colonisation very little research has been initiated that investigated the involvement of Māori in voluntary activity yet recent statistics show that Māori are the highest participants in this type of work. This thesis provides an analysis of the relationship of Māori to voluntary work and its evolution in a Colonial State, Liberal State, Welfare State, and Neo-Liberal State in New Zealand. Three perspectives of Māori voluntary work provide the foundation for the analysis of this relationship. The first perspective describes voluntary work from a personal experience as an insider. The second perspective explores literature that records Māori involvement in voluntary activity. The third perspective documents life experiences from Māori voluntary workers in New Zealand communities. The three perspectives provide an empirical foundation for the type of relationship that has developed between Māori and voluntary work; Māori and the State; Māori and their place in New Zealand society. My interest in Te Ao Māori (the Māori world) as a valid and thriving ontological position and my academic interest in critical theory provide the theoretical lens for my analysis. 

Personal experience as a Māori volunteer opened doors to the communities I entered and added strength to the research, the first perspective. Western research in Māori communities often by non-Māori researchers, was conducted to gather knowledge for Western policy makers. Māori knowledge was not recognised as valid and the people were treated as objects. Knowing this, I searched for an approach that valued Māori participants, valued Māori people, and contained cultural aspects that separated the procedure from Western research. A review of literature, the second perspective, introduced a cultural approach to research termed kaupapa Māori research, generated out of and for Te Ao Māori detailed further in Chapter Three.

Participants’ life experiences coupled with literature provide a wealth of knowledge and a testimony to the type of relationship that exists between Māori and voluntary work. Criticism from Māori communities as to the exploitation of Māori volunteers has swelled in recent years so that the environment volunteers work in is no longer attractive to Māori people. Therefore, documenting the life experiences of Māori who participate in voluntary work as the primary source of information was imperative and produced evidence to describe the relationship between Māori and voluntary work in the thesis. A triangular study: case study, community study, and cross-section study (Chapters Six, Seven, and Eight), provide the ‘grass roots voices’ and represent the third perspective. 

My observation of Māori organisations’ involvement in voluntary work generated in me a deep concern in what appeared to be an involvement in activity that improved neither the lives of the volunteers nor the wider problems to which they attributed their aroha. This involvement activity is a product of historical developments whereby the Western ideology of voluntary work became confused with a Māori ideology of collective participation. This confusion has created an environment where Māori voluntary organisations are working unpaid with insufficient resources in oppressive conditions in the attempt to provide social solutions. I argue that the Māori ideology of collective participation has been co-opted in the emerging conflict of neo-liberalism to provide social services in communities which government agencies exploit. In conclusion, the thesis is a journey through the world of voluntary work for Māori in communal organisations.

text: Demystifying a relationship between voluntary work and Māori The purpose of this thesis is to provide evidence that critically reviews the relationship between Māori and voluntary work in social service organisations. Since colonisation very little research has been initiated that investigated the involvement of Māori in voluntary activity yet recent statistics show that Māori are the highest participants in this type of work. This thesis provides an analysis of the relationship of Māori to voluntary work and its evolution in a Colonial State, Liberal State, Welfare State, and Neo-Liberal State in New Zealand. Three perspectives of Māori voluntary work provide the foundation for the analysis of this relationship. The first perspective describes voluntary work from a personal experience as an insider. The second perspective explores literature that records Māori involvement in voluntary activity. The third perspective documents life experiences from Māori voluntary workers in New Zealand communities. The three perspectives provide an empirical foundation for the type of relationship that has developed between Māori and voluntary work; Māori and the State; Māori and their place in New Zealand society. My interest in Te Ao Māori (the Māori world) as a valid and thriving ontological position and my academic interest in critical theory provide the theoretical lens for my analysis. 

Personal experience as a Māori volunteer opened doors to the communities I entered and added strength to the research, the first perspective. Western research in Māori communities often by non-Māori researchers, was conducted to gather knowledge for Western policy makers. Māori knowledge was not recognised as valid and the people were treated as objects. Knowing this, I searched for an approach that valued Māori participants, valued Māori people, and contained cultural aspects that separated the procedure from Western research. A review of literature, the second perspective, introduced a cultural approach to research termed kaupapa Māori research, generated out of and for Te Ao Māori detailed further in Chapter Three.

Participants’ life experiences coupled with literature provide a wealth of knowledge and a testimony to the type of relationship that exists between Māori and voluntary work. Criticism from Māori communities as to the exploitation of Māori volunteers has swelled in recent years so that the environment volunteers work in is no longer attractive to Māori people. Therefore, documenting the life experiences of Māori who participate in voluntary work as the primary source of information was imperative and produced evidence to describe the relationship between Māori and voluntary work in the thesis. A triangular study: case study, community study, and cross-section study (Chapters Six, Seven, and Eight), provide the ‘grass roots voices’ and represent the third perspective. 

My observation of Māori organisations’ involvement in voluntary work generated in me a deep concern in what appeared to be an involvement in activity that improved neither the lives of the volunteers nor the wider problems to which they attributed their aroha. This involvement activity is a product of historical developments whereby the Western ideology of voluntary work became confused with a Māori ideology of collective participation. This confusion has created an environment where Māori voluntary organisations are working unpaid with insufficient resources in oppressive conditions in the attempt to provide social solutions. I argue that the Māori ideology of collective participation has been co-opted in the emerging conflict of neo-liberalism to provide social services in communities which government agencies exploit. In conclusion, the thesis is a journey through the world of voluntary work for Māori in communal organisations.

year: 2003