ABSTRACT
For many communities experiencing the most disparity and impacts of colonisation, a continuation of dominant “expert-led”, externally imposed service models only compounds inequity. This chapter shares an Indigenous-led approach to transformative practice that seeks to restore, prioritise, and recognise the capacities and power of whānau (families) to lead their own local responses to complex social issues, disrupting and demonstrating alternatives to dominant service models. Tikanga-led innovation utilises aspects of western design and co-design methodologies, but is grounded in the practices of place, and of te ao Māori (Māori world) ways of being, knowing, and doing. It is in the practice of starting with cultural values, perspectives, and worldviews that change can be made and the process itself becomes one with transformational potential. We introduce the methodology, developed alongside whānau (families) in South Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand, and illustrate the ways of being it prioritises through two examples of whānau-led innovation initiatives from Papakura.
