Papa Taiao Earthcare Process
Papa Taiao Earthcare Process:
Papa Taiao Earthcare is at the forefront of delivery of project based learning for a more sustainable future. We follow best practices and refine our courses to meet the needs of students and the communities they are from.
This story of the taiohi from Te Kura Taumata o Panguru, a Kura in one of the most remote communities in Aotearoa on the northern shores of the Hokianga Harbour, gives one example that demonstrates our development, delivery and review of the Papa Taiao programmes.
On Mitimiti reef, Pyura, a biosecurity threat, is smothering kutai (mussel) beds. Kutai is an important mahinga kai (traditional food source) for the community. When we explained the threat, taiohi got angry, demanding “What are you gonna do about it?” This is the question we plan for. Our response was, “This is your place, what are you going to do about it?” This question puts taiohi in control and stimulates creative problem solving. The first response was let’s “get rid of it”. After a couple of hours, with only 20kg in the bucket, they declared “this is useless! How can you do it better?” We turned the question back on them, “How can you do it better?” Taiohi came up with the idea to have a competition. They raised $800 in prize money. Of the 100ish people in the Mitimiti community, 68 participated; clearing half a tonne of pyura from the reef. Next, taiohi researched how to make fertiliser from the pyura. They then designed an experiment testing it’s effectiveness, measuring a 35% advantage over a control. They added seaweed to the mix and marketed it as an Organic Pest To Product Fertiliser. They sold a few bottles, made a few dollars, then received an order for a 1000L making thousands of dollars. This year the taiohi have moved to a new reef for their competition because the community has continued clearing it and there is no more pyura at Mitimiti and there are millions of small mussels returning to their habitat. This team of young people completed standards in EfS, Enterprise and Biology. The qualifications fell out of their actions as opposed to driving the actions. The team of four students won two National Awards in Sustainability and several of the students gained Excellence endorsements and others who had never achieved an Achievements Standard gained a Merit. Recently, the same taiohi recruited support from the Tekaraka community and built their own Aquaculture/oyster farm that they are going to make a shared kai source for the community.
Papa Taiao can tell many stories of success similar to this. We are constantly reviewing and refining our process to ensure it is appropriate for the taiohi we are working with. However, we have noticed that they share a common set of themes that demonstrates our process:
Match a taiohi’s passion to a local issue
Work with local experts, hapu or community groups to understand the problems that lead to the issues
Spark a sense of personal responsibility
Give taiohi an opportunity to brainstorm potential solutions based on good information
Trial and test the solutions
Give them support and mentorship to design a successful enterprise or project based on their ideas
Involve supporters within the community
Support taiohi gain qualifications and,
Enable taiohi to make and keep a few dollars out of their enterprise
The above process is very important but possibly the greatest contribution Papa Taiao makes is that taiohi feel able to be bold, creative and enterprising while making a better world because any pain experienced from falls and failures does not have long lasting impact. The scaffolding we put in place produces a greater willingness to take risks and a much greater chance of experiencing success.
Other environmental leadership opportunities and conferences such as the BLAKE Inspire and the Climate Challenge exist. These are awesome introductions to sustainability but available to an elite few and after inspiring taiohi they leave them excited but without the scaffolding, skills, and long-term support to develop their own change enterprise. Papa Taiao is generating opportunities for more young people with the aim of improving equity of access. We believe that the more young people involved in sustainability education the more likely it is that we will drive change within New Zealand for a more equitable and sustainable society.