Community Voice
Collective Impact
Community insights, action research, evaluation, systems-change
Kia ora, Talofa lava, Kia orana, Mālō e lelei, Bula Vinaka, & Welcome.
Kāinga in the Pacific, is where everyday living happens, within whānau/aiga/family, through shared practices, relationships, and decisions about life and health.
Papakāinga extends this into a broader connection with Papatūānuku (mother earth), grounding our wellbeing in the environment, whakapapa, and collective living.
Together, they reflect a holistic understanding that health and wellbeing are shaped by our relationships, communities, environments, culture, spirituality, and the systems that shape our everyday lives.
For us, this means creating work that is community-led, relational, and grounded in the lived experiences of the people and places it seeks to serve.
Who We Are
A collective of lived experience experts, researchers, practitioners, facilitators, and community leaders working toward meaningful systems change. At the heart of our kaupapa is the belief that our communities hold deep knowledge, strength and solutions. Rather than working on communities, we work with communities — creating spaces grounded in trust, reciprocity, and collective care. Our approach is informed by Māori and Pacific ways of knowing and being, while walking alongside those committed to equity, justice, healing and transformative change.
We recognise that many of the challenges facing our people are not individual failings, but the result of historical and structural inequities that continue to shape opportunity, participation and wellbeing in Aotearoa. Our work spans food sovereignty, domestic violence prevention, health and wellbeing, equity, and strengthening critical thinking in the face of misinformation — carried out for, by, and with Māori and Pacific peoples, alongside our friends and partners who walk with us in this kaupapa.
What we do
Research for impact
Our research is community-led, strengths-based, action oriented. We believe research should not only generate knowledge and understanding, but also strengthen participation, self-determination, and meaningful change for the people it serves.
Community wānanga & talanoa
We design and facilitate wānanga, talanoa, and visual learning experiences that create space for conversation, critical reflection, and collective understanding. Our approach brings people together around the issues shaping communities and futures - from Te Tiriti and emerging technologies, to wellbeing, neurodiversity, violence prevention, and food sovereignty.
Impact & Evaluation
We work alongside communities to understand what matters, what is changing, and the impact being created. Our culturally grounded approaches generate meaningful evidence that supports learning, accountability, and lasting outcomes for whānau and communities.
Systems Change & Collective Learning
We support communities, organisations to navigate complexity, shared understanding, and create meaningful change to respond to health and social issues shaping our communities and futures.
Recent Work
Stopping Violence Research
With the generous support of Clare Foundation, and alongside Backbone Collective, Papakāinga has undertaken research to better understand stopping-violence initiatives and their impact on victim-survivor’s. This work is centered on the voices of wāhine Māori and Pacific women and shines a light on the complexities in seeking pathways to safety for those who’ve lived through harm.
Ask an Aunty/Ask a Niece
Digital Safety, Critical Thinking & Relationship Resilience Programme
In partnership with Tiaki Akoako, Ask an Aunty/Ask a Niece are culturally grounded digital safety and critical thinking programmes supporting rangatahi Māori, Pasifika, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, to navigate today’s online world. Delivered alongside schools, iwi, youth organisations, and community groups, workshops explore misinformation, AI, online safety, digital wellbeing, and healthy relationships while strengthening critical thinking, cultural identity, and digital resilience across all ages and communities.