title: Me ko Māui: Harnessing the sun to provide better outcomes for marae and communities

authors: Greensill, Waikauri

abstract: Marae are the cultural centres of Māori communities, providing a space for important gatherings both joyful and sad. With the advent of solar energy capture technologies and rising electricity bills, many marae are becoming interested in whether a solar powered system will be beneficial for them. However, marae have unique electricity demand profiles, distinct from commonly modelled building types such as residential or commercial buildings. It is thus difficult to estimate an appropriate solar and battery system size based on annual or even monthly electricity usage data, which may be the only data readily available, requiring more in-depth analysis at a highly site-specific level to find an answer. This thesis aims to increase understanding around how solar power could benefit marae, first by investigating the characteristic electricity demand profile of marae, then by observing how proposed system configurations meet the demand. The potential community benefits arising from such a system was also investigated. Using a year’s worth of half-hourly data from three marae, five characteristic day types were found in the analysis of the demand profile, namely a “Non-Event” profile that maintained a low baseload and accounted for 70% of the days in a year, a “1-Day Event” profile that lasted only a few hours, and for events spanning multiple days a “Start”, “Middle” and “End” day profile that varied greatly in demand magnitude. The demand profiles were then used to develop an annual demand profile for an average marae that was broadly representative of a wide range of marae. Different configurations of solar and battery powered systems were then applied to the annual demand and a technoeconomic analysis performed to determine whether a specific configuration met the needs of the average marae or not, which then produced a range of acceptable system sizes based on the needs specified. Not many solar and battery configurations resulted in positive economic returns for the marae alone, but widening the scope of the analysis to the surrounding community allows other interests such as local grid resilience to be considered, some of which may justify a marae’s decision to invest in a non-economic system to gain better community benefits. While investigating the use of peer-to-peer energy trading and community energy scenarios, sharing excess energy generated by a system with the wider community was also found to improve the economic outlook of solar for marae.

text: Me ko Māui: Harnessing the sun to provide better outcomes for marae and communities Marae are the cultural centres of Māori communities, providing a space for important gatherings both joyful and sad. With the advent of solar energy capture technologies and rising electricity bills, many marae are becoming interested in whether a solar powered system will be beneficial for them. However, marae have unique electricity demand profiles, distinct from commonly modelled building types such as residential or commercial buildings. It is thus difficult to estimate an appropriate solar and battery system size based on annual or even monthly electricity usage data, which may be the only data readily available, requiring more in-depth analysis at a highly site-specific level to find an answer. This thesis aims to increase understanding around how solar power could benefit marae, first by investigating the characteristic electricity demand profile of marae, then by observing how proposed system configurations meet the demand. The potential community benefits arising from such a system was also investigated. Using a year’s worth of half-hourly data from three marae, five characteristic day types were found in the analysis of the demand profile, namely a “Non-Event” profile that maintained a low baseload and accounted for 70% of the days in a year, a “1-Day Event” profile that lasted only a few hours, and for events spanning multiple days a “Start”, “Middle” and “End” day profile that varied greatly in demand magnitude. The demand profiles were then used to develop an annual demand profile for an average marae that was broadly representative of a wide range of marae. Different configurations of solar and battery powered systems were then applied to the annual demand and a technoeconomic analysis performed to determine whether a specific configuration met the needs of the average marae or not, which then produced a range of acceptable system sizes based on the needs specified. Not many solar and battery configurations resulted in positive economic returns for the marae alone, but widening the scope of the analysis to the surrounding community allows other interests such as local grid resilience to be considered, some of which may justify a marae’s decision to invest in a non-economic system to gain better community benefits. While investigating the use of peer-to-peer energy trading and community energy scenarios, sharing excess energy generated by a system with the wider community was also found to improve the economic outlook of solar for marae.

year: 2024

title: Engaging Māori in Biobanking and Genetic Research: Legal, Ethical and Policy Challenges

authors: Beaton, Angela

subjects: Indigenous

abstract: Publically funded biobanking initiatives and genetic research should contribute towards reducing inequalities in health by reducing the prevalence and burden of disease. It is essential that Maori and other Indigenous populations share in health gains derived from these activities. The Health Research Council of New Zealand has funded a research project (2012-2015) to identify Maori perspectives on biobanking and genetic research, and to develop cultural guidelines for ethical biobanking and genetic research involving biospecimens. This review describes relevant values and ethics embedded in Maori indigenous knowledge, and how they may be applied to culturally safe interactions between biobanks, researchers, individual participants, and communities. Key issues of ownership, privacy, and consent are also considered within the legal and policy context that guides biobanking and genetic research practices within New Zealand. Areas of concern are highlighted and recommendations of international relevance are provided. To develop a productive environment for "next-generation" biobanking and genomic research,"‘next-generation" regulatory solutions will be required.

text: Engaging Māori in Biobanking and Genetic Research: Legal, Ethical and Policy Challenges Publically funded biobanking initiatives and genetic research should contribute towards reducing inequalities in health by reducing the prevalence and burden of disease. It is essential that Maori and other Indigenous populations share in health gains derived from these activities. The Health Research Council of New Zealand has funded a research project (2012-2015) to identify Maori perspectives on biobanking and genetic research, and to develop cultural guidelines for ethical biobanking and genetic research involving biospecimens. This review describes relevant values and ethics embedded in Maori indigenous knowledge, and how they may be applied to culturally safe interactions between biobanks, researchers, individual participants, and communities. Key issues of ownership, privacy, and consent are also considered within the legal and policy context that guides biobanking and genetic research practices within New Zealand. Areas of concern are highlighted and recommendations of international relevance are provided. To develop a productive environment for "next-generation" biobanking and genomic research,"‘next-generation" regulatory solutions will be required.

year: 2015

title: A human rights approach to climate change:   Examining the relationship between support for human rights and belief in climate change

authors: Athy, Ariana

subjects: Climate change

abstract: Climate change impacts human rights, and Māori and other indigenous communities around the world are amongst those most vulnerable to its consequences. This has led the United Nations to recommend a human rights-based approach to climate action. However, no research has examined the relations between support for human rights and climate change beliefs, which is critical if such a rights-based approach is to receive widespread public backing. Here we  investigate the cross-sectional and longitudinal relations between support for human rights and climate change beliefs/concern with data from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (N ≈ 17,656) using a combination of variable- and person-centred analyses. Cross-lagged results indicate support for the item regarding physical human rights had a more reliable bidirectional, longitudinal relationship with climate change beliefs/concern, compared to the item regarding economic human rights. A latent profile analysis revealed six distinct subgroups of New Zealanders, with climate change beliefs/concern differing between subgroups but with human rights support being consistently high. Lastly, latent transition analysis revealed that all but one of the subgroups were relatively unstable across the one-year period, but New Zealanders tended to move from profiles of lower climate beliefs/concern into profiles of higher climate beliefs/concern. Findings reveal novel implications for a rights-based climate change response.

text: A human rights approach to climate change:   Examining the relationship between support for human rights and belief in climate change Climate change impacts human rights, and Māori and other indigenous communities around the world are amongst those most vulnerable to its consequences. This has led the United Nations to recommend a human rights-based approach to climate action. However, no research has examined the relations between support for human rights and climate change beliefs, which is critical if such a rights-based approach is to receive widespread public backing. Here we  investigate the cross-sectional and longitudinal relations between support for human rights and climate change beliefs/concern with data from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (N ≈ 17,656) using a combination of variable- and person-centred analyses. Cross-lagged results indicate support for the item regarding physical human rights had a more reliable bidirectional, longitudinal relationship with climate change beliefs/concern, compared to the item regarding economic human rights. A latent profile analysis revealed six distinct subgroups of New Zealanders, with climate change beliefs/concern differing between subgroups but with human rights support being consistently high. Lastly, latent transition analysis revealed that all but one of the subgroups were relatively unstable across the one-year period, but New Zealanders tended to move from profiles of lower climate beliefs/concern into profiles of higher climate beliefs/concern. Findings reveal novel implications for a rights-based climate change response.

year: 2021