Many marae are built near waterways or coastal areas, placing them in a vulnerable position to the impacts of climate change. With projections indicating increased frequency and severity of flooding, landslides, wildfires, and rising sea levels, the resilience of marae faces unprecedented challenges, necessitating urgent efforts to adapt and enhance their climate resilience.

The research team have completed a major research initiative to delineate risks, comprehend challenges, and collaboratively devise solutions with whānau, hapu and iwi to fortify and preserve their marae for future generations. Commencing in July 2022, the ‘Climate Change Impacts on Marae’ research project marks the first comprehensive survey of all marae, generously funded by the BRANZ Building Research Levy. 

In close collaboration with iwi and marae, the team identified challenges and decision-making processes that are often shouldered in isolation by whānau and hapū residing on their marae. Central to this research is the preservation, conservation, and reverence for the buildings and cultural heritage embodied within our marae—a cornerstone principle guiding the research.

Concluding in early 2024, the project aims to make a positive impact to the wellbeing, resilience, and sustainability of marae, which stand as the heart of Māori culture. It seeks to empower whānau, hapū, and iwi in identifying, adapting, and safeguarding marae and its taonga (treasures) against the adverse effects of climate change.

Discover the key findings of the Climate Change Impacts on Marae survey report.

Get the complete insights here through the research report.

If you would like to know more, just reach out.

“Māori as tangata whenua (people of the land) and kaitiaki (guardians) of their ancestral and cultural landscape will be affected by climate change. Certain whānau, hapū and iwi will be disproportionately affected, as will Māori interests, values, practices and wellbeing.”

“Many Māori communities are located in rural and remote locations, and are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change on their homes, infrastructure and sites of cultural significance to Māori – including marae, urupā (burial grounds), waahi tapu (sacred sites) and mahinga kai (food gathering sites).”
© Excerpts from Urutau, ka taurikura: Kia tū pakari a Aotearoa i ngā huringa āhuarangi | Adapt and thrive: Building a climate-resilient New Zealand

Our team is excited to embark on an innovative project dedicated to exploring sustainable relocation strategies for marae in response to climate change and environmental pressures. This project brings together an array of individuals to assess the impacts of climate-related risks and develop practical, culturally respectful relocation approaches. Working closely with iwi and komiti marae and hapori Māori, our team will focus on understanding unique needs, preserving cultural integrity, and ensuring that relocation efforts are both resilient and adaptive.

If you would like to know more please reach out.

The purpose of this research is to develop a comprehensive analysis and strategic framework for evaluating the feasibility of developing a self-sustaining, resilient community. This study aims to assess the key operational, social, environmental, and economic factors that would contribute to the viability and longevity of such a community.

By investigating models of resilience and sustainability, the research will explore how this community might function autonomously while maintaining adaptability in response to external challenges. Ultimately, the findings will provide guidance in determining actionable pathways for creating a model community that can thrive independently while demonstrating best practices in resilience and self-sufficiency.

The 2010/2011 Canterbury earthquakes were one of the most devastating events in Aotearoa’s history. Due to the large scale of disruption and losses, central government created a separate body, the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA), to manage and oversee recovery activities.

Working with local authorities and stakeholders, CERA played a major role in driving the recovery in Ōtautahi, Christchurch. This paper aims to analyse CERA’s decision-making process and the effects of some of its critical decisions on the recovery outcomes.

The team conducted a Build Back Better analysis of the Recovery effort to understand the decisions taken and processes used. Click here to read the ‘Post-disaster reconstruction in Ōtautahi, Christchurch: a build back better perspective’

The need for a Post-Disaster Recovery framework has never been more critical in the face of increased risk and threats we are facing due to climate change and natural disasters. A successful post-disaster recovery framework address rehabilitation of physical structures and the psychological, social, and economic recovery of communities, making it a holistic approach.

In 2016 a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Kaikoura, a small tourism-based town on the east coast of New Zealand’s South Island. The event caused 80,00 landslides, damaged buildings, injured 50 people, and killed two people.

The Build Back Better Framework was used as a guide to evaluate the psycho-social and economic recovery aspects in Kaikoura, New Zealand following the 2016 earthquake.

Click here to read the ‘Evaluating socio-economic recovery as part of building back better in Kaikoura, New Zealand’.

The team led the Urban Theme in Phase 1 of the Resilience Challenge that ran between 2014 – 2019 that sought to tackle key challenges in natural hazard resilience.

Click here to read the ‘Building Urban Resilience in New Zealand: Lessons from our major cities.

The 2009 ‘Black Saturday’ Victorian Bushfires was one of the worst bushfires in Australian history, sweeping through 78 communities, claiming 173 lives and destroying more than 430,000 hectares of land and 2,000 properties.

The Government and affected communities were faced with a large-scale rebuilding and recovery effort to restore the built environment and re-establish livelihoods. Our research team stepped in six months after the fires to conduct an extensive longitudinal case study of the recovery effort over five years. The study series used a Build Back Better lens to investigate recovery issues and critical recovery decisions made in short and medium-term recovery timeframes, and examined the longer-term outcomes as a result of these decisions.

Click here to read the ‘Build Back Better: Implementation in Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction’ paper.

Tropical Cyclone Pam devastated Vanuatu in March 2015. Vanuatu has also experienced a number of natural disasters such as cyclones, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes in the last few decades. The disaster events resulted in a scarcity of water as water supply systems and rainwater harvesting systems suffered from the impacts.

Port Vila (the Capital), Laonkarae village on Efate Island and a few villages on Tanna Island were chosen as study sites to investigate the status of water supply systems. This research visit highlighted the importance of social, organisational, and environmental factors in water system resilience.

Click here to read the ‘Social capacities in fostering water supply resilience in Vanuatu’.

Cyclone Winston impacted Fiji in February 2016, damaging and destroying 40,000 homes and 229 schools. The total damage from the storm amounted to FJ$2.98 billion.

In light of the severe devastation brought about by the cyclone, there is a need to better prepare for future hazards, particularly in the resilience of housing structures in developing countries.

This research project was commenced in 2016 to conduct a longitudinal study of recovering villages and communities in Fiji, to better understand the resilience of the housing stock in Fiji.

Click here to read the ‘Building back towards storm-resilient housing: Lessons from Fiji’s Cyclone Winston experience’.

The Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004 was a unique multi-national disaster, devastating 14 countries and highlighting severe vulnerabilities in the affected communities. This disaster was a catalyst in bringing forth a strong motivation to use post-disaster reconstruction and recovery to not only restore communities, but address vulnerabilities and ‘build back better’ than before.

Sri Lanka was the second most affected country from the tsunami, following Indonesia. Thirteen districts along the Eastern and Southern coast of the country were impacted, with 35,322 lives lost and 516,150 people displaced. The Sri Lankan Government went into the reconstruction and recovery process with a philosophy of “Building Back Better” guiding their recovery strategy.

Click here to read the Build Back Better Lessons from Sri Lanka’s Recovery from the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.

The BBB Framework was used to assess the recovery of agricultural businesses affected by the 2014 conflict in Gaza, Palestine. The military assault on Gaza caused extensive damages to the agricultural sector. A rehabilitation project conducted by the Agricultural Development Association (PARC) and Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe (DKH) to strengthen the resilience of 310 households and their agribusinesses and fisheries provided a unique opportunity to test the applicability of the BBB Framework in a conflict situation, and understand how it can apply to a specific sector such as agriculture.

Click here to read the ‘Building Back Better in Gaza’ report