This course provides a lasting experience, fostering critical thinking and passion for designers developing expertise grounded in place-based knowledge from Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa. We’ll explore narratives, stories, case studies, and projects unique to Aotearoa NZ, examining history, opportunities, and challenges from both local and indigenous kaupapa Maaori perspectives. The course introduces the cultural narratives of Aotearoa New Zealand, highlighting the role that contemporary design, values, tikanga, and co-design can play in creating solutions grounded in personal and collective community aspirations.
In recent years, government and social institutions have critically explored co-design as a promising practice for facilitating self-determination and innovation. Co-Design allows new ways of thinking to be expressed, enabling genuine connections that foster the necessary collaboration to deal with complex challenges and foster social innovation. For example, “Maaori co-design” or tikanga-led design explores how kaupapa Maaori (Maaori knowledge) and co-design can be used together to address challenges affecting Maaori and Indigenous communities.
Students will learn to design from a culturally respectful perspective, developing a deeper understanding of the historical relationship between Tangata Tiriti and Tangata Whenua, celebrating what is unique about the people and the place where this university is embedded. The topics discussed will help students build a shared understanding of Maaori heritage, worldview, whakapapa (interconnectedness), values, stories, and current challenges, alongside narratives and design approaches from Oceanic peoples and those from further afield so we can explore and experience authentic intercultural practices.
Students will also learn collaborative design methods as a respectful approach when working with local communities. This paper emphasises the importance of local knowledge and positioning whaanau and/or community groups at the centre of projects. Students will learn to develop empathetic listening, collaboration, understanding of power dynamics, and facilitating safe spaces for others; the ability to test and fail forward in order to improve and co-develop solutions. Moreover, due to these inspiring narratives, students will be encouraged to explore their uniqueness and positionality and develop their own decolonising design methods.