Hui: Final Project Kāinga Leaders Hui, Rereatukahia Marae

Te Rereatukahia marae was the venue for Project Kāinga's capstone Kāinga Leaders hui. The hui was primarily to share, and offer feedback on the development of the kāinga plans.

The Project Kāinga leaders’ hui at Rereatukahia Marae in the Bay of Plenty brought together participating communities to share their progress in developing locally led approaches to climate adaptation and resilience. While each community followed its own pathway, their “road to resilience” highlighted the importance of long-term thinking, strong leadership, collaboration and evidence-based planning in preparing for an uncertain climate future. The following highlights reflect some of the key learnings emerging from three participating communities.

Waitangi/Oromahoe

The Waitangi and Oromahoe Kāinga Plan is a strongly community-led climate adaptation initiative, grounded in community aspirations, local knowledge and scientific evidence. The plan brings together community perspectives, environmental data and research to identify priorities, goals and actions for protecting whenua, freshwater, the coast and community wellbeing over the coming century.

A key lesson from the project was that climate adaptation plans must be practical and accessible. While robust evidence and technical analysis are essential, plans also need to be concise and easy for communities, elected members and government agencies to use. The Project Kāinga team therefore refined the plan into an accessible format that maintains its scientific integrity while improving its usefulness for community members and decision-makers. The Waitangi and Oromahoe experience demonstrates that effective climate adaptation is built through genuine partnership between hapū, researchers and government agencies, with local aspirations remaining at the centre of planning.

Tumunui

Tumunui highlighted both the opportunities and challenges of undertaking climate adaptation within Māori land trusts. Unlike geographically based communities, descendant owners are widely dispersed across Aotearoa and overseas, making engagement more complex than in traditional kāinga settings.

While a climate adaptation plan was not developed, the project identified important environmental priorities including forest restoration, freshwater health, pest management and the implications of infrastructure development within the wider landscape. The experience also reinforced the importance of governance capability, effective communication and leadership when engaging large shareholder communities.

Tumunui demonstrates that successful climate adaptation must be tailored to different governance arrangements and ownership structures. Approaches that work well for resident hapū communities may require different engagement models for Māori land trusts and incorporations with geographically dispersed beneficiaries.

Te Rereatukahia

Te Rereatukahia presented the progress being made towards developing a comprehensive Kāinga Plan through Project Kāinga. The plan combines community aspirations with scientific information and environmental data to support long-term climate adaptation.

A significant outcome of the project has been the strengthening of relationships between Ngāi Tamawhariua and both the Bay of Plenty Regional Council and Western Bay of Plenty District Council. These partnerships have enabled local knowledge and community priorities to be brought together with council expertise, environmental monitoring and planning processes to inform future decision-making.

The developing Kāinga Plan considers a broad range of climate-related opportunities and challenges, including sea-level rise, river flooding, land-use change, community wellbeing and future development aspirations. Looking beyond immediate risks, the plan adopts a 100-year vision supported by 25-year milestones and aligns with wider planning frameworks, including the Hapū Management Plan and district planning processes.

Te Rereatukahia demonstrates how community leadership, supported by strong partnerships, extensive community engagement through hui and surveys, and robust scientific evidence, can create practical pathways for long-term climate resilience

Lessons from Project Kāinga

Each community followed pathways unique to their geographic, demographic, land and ecological histories, several common themes emerged:

1. Successful climate adaptation is most effective when it is community-led, grounded in local knowledge and informed by science.

2. Project Kāinga has shown the value of bringing together fragmented environmental, social and cultural information into a single evidence base that communities can use to understand risks, identify priorities and plan for the future.

3. Strong partnerships between hapū, researchers, local government and environmental agencies are necessary to help ensure that this knowledge can inform practical decision-making.

4. Adaptation is more than responding to climate hazards—it is also about strengthening leadership, protecting cultural identity, restoring ecosystems and creating opportunities for future generations.

5. The Kāinga Plans demonstrate that adaptation is an ongoing process rather than a single project. They provide communities with a shared evidence base, a long-term vision and practical actions to inform future investment, planning and decision-making. 

   
   

The Project Kāinga “road to resilience” offers a model that other hapū, iwi, Māori land trusts and local authorities can adapt to their own circumstances to support climate resilience across Aotearoa.