Te Pūnaha Hihiko: Vision Mātauranga Capability Fund

Lizzie - Kia ora e hoa hi my friend

Moira - kia ora e hoa, kei te pehea koe? Hey mate, How are you?

Lizzie - Kei te pai ahau, I’m well thanks!

Lizzie - Whats the haupapa of our korero today? What are we we talking about?

Moira – Todays kaupapa is te pūnaha hihiko, Vision Mātauranga Capability fund.

Lizzie – Encourage more Māori organisations to apply

Moira – ae tika tau (yes you’re correct!)

Moira - The Vison Mātauranga Capability Fund (VMCF) is a tool for weaving together Mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) with Western Science to contribute to the growth and economic development of ngāi iwi Māori (of iwi and Māori).

Lizzie – so that’s got to be good for Maori right?

Moira – Absolutely! With the assistance of this fund; Māori are able to lead and implement a kaupapa Māori (collective vision, aspiration and purpose for a community) approach to ensure that traditionally recognised practices such as the continuation of kaitiakitanga (guardianship), mana motuhake (self-determination), mana whenua (authority) and mana whakahaere (management) are upheld.

Lizzie – ka rawe e hoa! That’s awesome my mate!

Moira - $4 million dollars is invested annually in projects. There are two schemes, a Connect and a Placement – Connect builds relationships between the partners, and Placements build the capability of a named individual. Projects can run for up to 2 years.

The funding helps Māori organisations to partner with research organisations to work on a project together that’s important and meaningful.

The funding also helps researchers to gain a better understanding of what Māori organisations need and want from the science system.

Moira - Capability is the focus of the fund. It’s a stepping stone for reaching your long-term aspirations in science – for Maori organisations it is by building science capability within your organisation to achieve them.

So what makes a great application?

It needs to show clearly that science capability is being developed in the team members, which will lead to future research.

That there are clear benefits to both the researcher and the Māori organisation.
The project will align with at least one of the themes of the Vision Mātauranga Policy (indigenous innovation, environmental sustainability, social well-being, or Mātauranga)

Lizzie – Ka rawe e hoa! (Amazing my mate!) you’ve got me sold

Moira - Check out the MBIE VMCF webpage for more tips and tricks on how to apply.

Lizzie - Tena koe e hoa, (thank you)

Moira - Kia pai to koutou rā – have a great day!

Both - Mauri ora! – (this is like a proclamation – all in acceptance of all the information that was just shared)

We are here to help you if you have any questions get in touch by emailing us at vmcf@mbie.govt.nz.