Kāika Institute of Climate Resilience opens at Lincoln University
Reproduced from Te Whare Wānaka o Aoraki Lincoln University
On 3 November Te Whare Wānaka o Aoraki Lincoln University proudly announced a pivotal new chapter in climate resilience with the establishment of the Kāika Institute of Climate Resilience.
Under the leadership of inaugural Director Professor Paora Tapsell (Ngāti Whakaue and Ngāti Raukawa), this institute will champion and implement Indigenous-led innovation.
As New Zealand’s only specialist University focused on the land-based sectors, and recognising the significant growth of the Māori economy and its rapidly growing youthful population, the launch of Kāika Institute of Climate Resilience represents a profound deepening of Lincoln University’s commitment to serving Māori communities. This dedication will actively extend its reach to Pacific and Indigenous communities globally.
“Professor Tapsell’s leadership has been instrumental in shaping the Institute's vision and research direction, uniting leading researchers from Lincoln University and beyond,” said Lincoln University Provost, Professor Chad Hewitt.
“Under his guidance, the Institute will tackle challenges facing our kāika, developing solutions that integrate mātauraka, Western physical and social sciences, AI and other technologies.”
Professor Tapsell will also provide essential academic leadership and mentoring, fostering strong relationships across the University to serve kāika communities.
The Institute’s work will be guided by tikaka Māori, drawing from Lincoln University’s values and its commitment to te Tiriti o Waitangi. Key among these is whakapapa (intergenerational knowledge and relationships), manaakitaka (care and respect for people), kaitiakitaka (environmental guardianship) and rakatirataka (self-determination and leadership).
Building on Lincoln University’s 147-year legacy of impactful land-based research and education, the new Kāika Institute of Climate Resilience will focus on community-based research, applying innovative climate resilience responses across strategic themes. These themes will span crucial areas, including Climate Resilience and STEM, focusing on nature-based, AI-powered, and mātauraka-driven solutions for communities, alongside impact monitoring using modern technology.
The Institute will also address Food and Fibre, encompassing:
Food security, regenerative agriculture and whakapapa-based food systems
Infrastructure and housing – by enhancing marae and kāika energy resilience, through adaptive building and design
Bioeconomy and biodiversity, particularly through wetland and forest restoration, and applying AI and biocultural approaches to pest management.
The Institute will benefit mana whenua, hapū and iwi across Aotearoa, extending its reach to Māori organisations and global Indigenous partners across the Pacific and beyond.
Collaborative partnerships are being actively pursued with these communities, alongside academic institutions, government agencies and industry partners, all focused on co-creating impactful solutions for a resilient future, demonstrating Lincoln University’s commitment to land-based sectors.
Tangata, Whenua, Taonga: A New Climate Vision
Professor Tapsell shared his insights from over three decades of research spanning Indigenous knowledge systems, cultural heritage, and climate adaptation in a presentation at Lincoln on Tuesday 15 July. This is available to watch here.
A media statement announcing the appointment of Professor Tapsell was released in January 2025, and reads:
Mō tātou, ā, mo kā uri a muri ake nei!
Tēnā koutou katoa! Te Whare Wānaka o Aoraki Lincoln University is pleased to announce the appointment of Māori social science researcher and academic, Professor Paora (Paul) Tapsell (Ngāti Whakaue and Ngāti Raukawa), as inaugural Director of the Institute of Kāika Climate Resilience. Professor Tapsell began his role at Lincoln University on 8 January 2025.
In this new role, Professor Tapsell’s primary responsibility will be to develop and establish the Institute. He will provide leadership and guidance in creating the vision and research direction of the Institute bringing together leading researchers both within Lincoln University and beyond. The institute will tackle challenges facing our kāika and find practical, novel solutions using the best approaches from mātauraka, western physical and social sciences, artificial intelligence and other technologies. He will also provide academic leadership and mentoring while developing relationships across the University to serve kāika.
Professor Tapsell is currently a Principal at Takarangi Research, a Professorial Fellow of Heritage & Museums Studies at Australian National University and has been an Adjunct Professor with the Faculty of Environment, Society and Design at Lincoln University. Professor Tapsell is also a Companion of the Royal Society Te Apārangi and the Principal Investigator of Marsden Fund research Kūmara: Uncovering new narratives about settlement, histories and kōrero of Aotearoa.
Professor Tapsell has had extensive senior leadership experience across university and museum sectors, including Director (Māori) at Auckland Museum through the 2000s then Dean and Professor Māori Studies at Te Tumu (Otago University) up to 2017. He was briefly Director of Research and Collections at Victoria Melbourne Museums before taking up Professor of Australian Indigenous Studies at University of Melbourne. With the onset of COVID, he returned home to better serve his people, using Takarangi Research and www.maorimaps.com to assist in reconnecting urban-raised generations of Māori and their ancestral marae communities or kāika.
To date, Professor Tapsell’s research has been focused on social science and Mātauraka (whakapapa-framed knowledge) across kāika (marae communities and their urban-living kin) in Aotearoa and the wider Pacific, regarding issues of heritage protection, water security, food sovereignty and impact of climate change on health/wellbeing of tangata, whenua and taoka.
“We are delighted to appoint someone with the mana of Professor Tapsell to lead the new institute. His academic standing ensures that we will meet Lincoln University’s strategic intent to implement a research institute that brings together Māori research excellence and oversees transformational research on kāika climate-resilient futures including mana whenua research priorities,” says Lincoln University Provost Professor Chad Hewitt.
Source: lincoln.ac.nz/news-and-events/