This programme of research, co-led by Dr Kay Saville-Smith and Dr Fiona Cram, recognises New Zealand’s severe undersupply of functional, affordable housing and the consequent problems of homelessness and exclusion, the drag imposed on communities and local economies, and the environmental and resilience risks presented by the persistent undersupply of affordable housing. 

In the Māori research we are interested in housing issues for key workers and for young Māori whānau, the impact of repairs and maintenance on making a house a home for whānau, and what supports Māori to build on their own land.

Also visit the programme's website and the Building Better Homes, Towns and Cities National Science Challenge website.

Publications

Adcock, A. & Cram, F. (2024). Young Māori mothers in and around Horowhenua talk about housing and home. In P. Barrett, F. Cram & B. James (Eds.), (2024) The experience of homemaking in unaffordable and precarious housing. (pp. 30-38). Report for Building Better Homes, Towns and Cities National Science Challenge, Affordable Housing for Generations. Wellington: AHFG, BBHTC.

Adcock, A., Cram, F., & Lawton, B. (2021). "It feels real good having my own space" - Young Māori mothers in the E Hine study talk about housing. In K. Saville-Smith, & G. Walker (Eds.), Special edition: Housing at the heart of place, people and population - Ko te whare noho kei te iho o te wāhi, te tangata me te taupori. New Zealand Population Review, 47, 171-197. 

Barrett, P., Cram, F. & James, B. (Eds.), (2024). The experience of homemaking in unaffordable and precarious housing. Report for Building Better Homes, Towns and Cities National Science Challenge, Affordable Housing for Generations. Wellington: AHFG, BBHTC.

Barrett, P., James, B. & Cram, F. (2024). Responding to the experience of homemaking in unaffordable and precarious housing. In P. Barrett, F. Cram & B. James (Eds.), (2024). The experience of homemaking in unaffordable and precarious housing. (pp. 100-109). Report for Building Better Homes, Towns and Cities National Science Challenge, Affordable Housing for Generations. Wellington: AHFG, BBHTC.

Cram, F. (2024). Older Māori returning to papakāinga and marae-based housing. In P. Barrett, F. Cram & B. James (Eds.), (2024). The experience of homemaking in unaffordable and precarious housing. (pp. 51-63). Report for Building Better Homes, Towns and Cities National Science Challenge, Affordable Housing for Generations. Wellington: AHFG, BBHTC.

Cram, F. (2021). Mahi Aroha: Māori work in times of trouble and disaster as an expression of a love for the people. Kōtuitui: New Zealand Journal of Social Sciences Online, 16( 2), 356–370. https://doi.org/10.1080/1177083X.2021.1879181

Cram, F. (2020). Mahi aroha: Aroha ki te tangata, he tangata. MAI Journal, 9(4), 3-6. doi: 10.20507/MAIJournal.2020.9.4.1

Cram, F., Berghan, J., Adcock, A., & Fowler, M. (2023). Young Mothers at Te Tipu Whenua o Pa Harakeke talk about what makes a house a home. Report for Building Better Homes, Towns and Cities, Affordable Housing for Generations – Component C, March 2023, Wellington: BBHTC.

Cram, F., Cram, S., Munro, M. & Tawhai, S. (2021). Awhi mai, awhi atu: Giving and receiving support during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown. Report for Building Better Homes, Towns and Cities, Affordable Housing for Generations, June 2021, Wellington: BBHTC.

Cram, F., Tawhai, S., Munro, M. & Apatu, A. (2024). Reinvigorating homeplaces - the impact of house repairs on Maori wellbeing. MAI Journal, 13(1), 39-50. DOI:10.20507/MAIJournal.2024.13.1.4

James, B.L., Bates, L., Coleman, T.M., Kearns, R. & Cram, F. (2020). Tenure insecurity, precarious housing and hidden homelessness among older renters in New Zealand. Housing Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673037.2020.1813259

James, B.L., Coleman, T.M., Cram, F., Bates, L. & Kearns, R. (2021). Pathways to renting among older former homeowners | Ngā ara ki te rēti whare i waenga i te hunga aātāpuputu i pupuri whare i mua. In K. Saville-Smith, & G. Walker (Eds.), Special edition: Housing at the heart of place, people and population - Ko te whare noho kei te iho o te wāhi, te tangata me te taupori. New Zealand Population Review, 47, 225-261.

Saville-Smith, K., Cram, F., James, B. and Robinson, A. (Eds.), (2022). Reflections on kaumātua, pakeke and seniors’ housing. Ageing Well National Science Challenge.

The objective of this programme of research, co-led by Dr Fiona Cram and Dr Tepora Emery, Toi Ohomai, is to nurture housing research that is by, with and for whānau (kinship collectives), hapū (subtribes), Iwi (tribes) and Māori communities. This is about mana motuhake, or Māori self-determination over housing research priorities, methodologies, and the utilisation of research findings. In this way the science and mātauranga (knowledge) of Māori housing, homes, places and people can be built and strengthened for Māori vitality and sustainability.

Visit the website for more information. Also visit the Building Better Homes, Towns and Cities National Science Challenge website.

Publications

Cram, Fiona & Emery, Tepora (2024). Poipoia te Kākano, Kia Puāwai – Nurture the seed and it will blossom. Final research report. Auckland: Katoa Ltd.

Cram, F., Emery, T., Aydon-Pou, V., Makoare, Z., Morrison, K., Munro, M., Pohatu, L., Pohatu, N., Pohatu, T.K. & Te Huia, B. (2021). Poipoia te kākano, kia puāwai: Nurturing the seed of community-based Māori housing research. Scope. Contemporary Research Topics: Kaupapa Kāi Tahu, 6, 22-32.

Cram, F., Emery, T., Munro, M., Aydon-Pou, V., Makoare, Z., Morrison, K., Pohatu, L. & Te Huia, B. (2023). Poipoia te kākano, kia puāwai: Enabling Māori community researchers to examine the meaning of home. In F. Neuhaus (Ed.), Cultures, Communities and Design: Connecting Planning, Landscapes, Architecture and People. AMPS, University of Calgary, 28-30 June 2022. AMPS: AMPS Proceedings Services 30.

Munro, Morehu (2021). Te Wairoa, te kāinga tahi. Report for the Kāinga Tahi, Kāinga Rua funding stream of the Building Better Homes, Towns and Communities National Science Challenge.

Te Huia, B. with Kairangahau Rangatahi (2021). Waipuka papakāinga. Report for the Kāinga Tahi, Kāinga Rua funding stream of the Building Better Homes, Towns and Communities National Science Challenge.

Te Huia, B. with Kairangahau Rangatahi (2020). Kaitiakitanga - Pāua. Waipuka papakāinga. Report for the Kāinga Tahi, Kāinga Rua funding stream of the Building Better Homes, Towns and Communities National Science Challenge.

Te Huia, B. with Kairangahau Rangatahi (2020). 'Matariki te whetu o te tau' - Waipuka papakāinga. Report for the Kāinga Tahi, Kāinga Rua funding stream of the Building Better Homes, Towns and Communities National Science Challenge.

The Māori and Pacific Education Initiative (MPEI) was Foundation North's (previously the ASB Community Trust) flagship investment in community-based programmes and services to improve educational outcomes for Māori and Pacific children and young people. This longitudinal study explores what happens to these students in the longer term, after they have stayed with an initiative for some time or moved on to other educational or employment opportunities. We ask whether the gains achieved by students will have a long-lasting impact upon their lives and the lives of those around them. The study is a collaborative endeavour with five of the MPEI initiatives - asking questions that are important to them, and building the capacity of community researchers through their involvement with the study. Check out the awesome video from Rise Up Academy below.

Publications

Sharp, T., Samu, T., Trotman, R., Cram, F. & Theodore, M. (2021). Pacific educational success in Aotearoa New Zealand: comparing Ngā Tau Taungahuru study findings with policy directions and research. Pacific-Asian Education, 32, 59-74.

Cram, F., Samu, T., Theodore, R. & Trotman, R. (2020). Māori whānau talk about whānau success: Findings from Round 1 of Ngā Tau Tuangahuru—the Māori and Pacific Education Initiative (MPEI) longitudinal study. Evaluation Matters—He Take Tō Te Aromatawai, 6, first-on-line.

Trotman, R., Cram, F., Samu, T., Becroft, M., Theodore, R., Trinick, T. with Pt England Primary School, Manaiakalani, Sylvia Park School, Rise UP Trust, He Puna Marama Trust, Oceania Careers Academy & High Tech Youth (2018). Investing in ‘success’ as Māori and Pacific: The collaborative development of Ngā Tau Tuangahuru, a longitudinal study. Evaluation Matters - He Take Tō Te Aromatawai, 4, 87-100.

Also see:

Wendt Samu, T. (2023). New frontiers in Pacific education, leadership and decolonized practice within Oceania: an initial exploration. In K. Leithwood and Q. GuR. Eds.), J. Tierney, F. Rizvi & K Ercikan (Editors-in-Chief), International Encyclopedia of Education, Volume 4, pp. 159-170. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-818630-5.06054-1.