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Keeping you informed about community-led research - for a more inclusive and equitable Aotearoa.
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Nau mai haere mai
Whakatairangatia i te mana o te rangahau ā-hāpori me te mahi tahi
Upholding the mana of community knowledge - together |
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Kia ora e te whanau
It's been a hive of activity for our team this month. Alongside preparations for our Annual General Meeting at the end of October, we're also looking forward to a busy programme of webinars over the coming weeks.
With less than a month until the General Election, public debate is increasingly focused on the future we want for Aotearoa. In this environment, community research and knowledge are more important than ever. They help bring lived experience into public conversations, highlight issues that might otherwise be overlooked, and support informed decision-making by communities, organisations, and policymakers alike.
I'm particularly excited to see our new Special Collection, Navigating the Online Landscape, launch today. Developed in collaboration with Tāhono Trust, Amnesty International New Zealand, and the Online Safety Coalition, this living collection brings together Aotearoa-based research, resources, and community knowledge exploring online harms, digital safety, platform governance, and the opportunities digital spaces create for communities.
This project has been a true team effort, and I want to give a special thank you to Florence Cook, who joined us as an intern through her Global Studies Master's programme and made an enormous contribution to bringing the collection to life.
To celebrate the launch, I'll be hosting a webinar on Monday 19 October, featuring an outstanding panel comprising Anjum Rahman, Karaitiana Taiuru, Suze Wilson, and Tracey Nicholls. Together, we'll explore the rapidly evolving online landscape in Aotearoa and discuss how online harms can impact participation, wellbeing, visibility, and self-determination.
The following day, Tuesday 20 October, we're delighted to present the next webinar in our Te Auaha Pito Mata Awards series. Stitching the Tīvaevae: Pacific Voices in Education features Dr Joseph Tutonga Houghton, winner of the 2026 Pasifika Community Researcher Award, in conversation with Cherie Chu-Fuluifaga ONZM. The webinar will explore how listening to and valuing Pacific perspectives can help create more inclusive and responsive educational environments, drawing on Joseph's research into the experiences of Pacific students, families, teachers, and communities.
Read on for more information and registration links for both webinars.
Nā Lorna. |
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| | This month we'd like to give special thanks to the Victoria University | Te Herenga Waka, Global Studies 301 student teams for their research projects to support our existing Special Collections.
Team 5 - Volunteering and Mahi Aroha Special Collection - Current Literature Analysis and Future Directions
Amelia Dawson, Bianca Enright, Moya O'Hagan-Cole, Alicia Montenegro Raubo, Tavenisa Rokotakala, Eva Wright
Team 6 - Housing for All Special Collection - Literary and Research Update
Willa Green, Daniel Kumar, Aufa Syahada, Mary Isabelle van den Berg, Nadia Winthrop, Kristy Zhang
Ngā mihi nui also to Stephen Epstein and Florence Cook. |
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Join our whānau
We are welcoming memberships applications and renewals.
Our members are an important part of our Community Research whānau. They are advocates of our kaupapa and the positive change for Aotearoa that we seek to achieve through amplifying community-led research, diverse voices and and ways of knowing.
Sign up to become a member here.
Join us at our AGM
Community Research will be holding its Annual General Meeting on Thursday 29 October at 12.15pm
If you'd like to attend please rsvp here.
For those able to attend in person invite, we'd love you to join us for lunch afterwards. |
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Launch of the Navigating the online landscape Special CollectionIt is with immense pleasure that we launch the latest addition to our Special Collection series: Navigating the online landscape. This curated open access living collection aims to highlight local research and community-based knowledge about the online landscape with emphasis on the concerns and aspirations of communities in Aotearoa. We invite you to visit the Special Collection page to browse the articles and reports, explore the links to relevant resources and tools, and to search, by keyword or predefined tags, the collection. Created in collaboration with Tāhono Trust, Amnesty International New Zealand, and the Online Safety Coalition, this collection will continue to evolve and grow over time. We thank our external curators group, the researchers and knowledge-makers for their vital work in this space, and those of you who have already contributed to the collection. Additional contributions are very welcome and can be uploaded here. |
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Good With/In Games Spotlight
Panel: Crafting Black Narratives
Mia Ginaé Watkins, and ft Brittney Morris, Zaire Lanier, Jarory de Jesus, and Curtis Baxter
In this month's Good With/In Games spotlight, we hear from speakers bringing grounded, practical advice for including Black characters within a game environment. Zaire discusses stereotypes and how Black culture isn't a homogenous group, and the importance of having local advice for building characters. Brittney discusses Black aesthetics - specifically the details of hair - and how the presentation of Black bodies is politicised. Jarory discussed how trauma can influence Black characters, and discusses how this is expressed can both differ from other communities, and how navigating this well can be significant for both characters and players.
"…blackness is a statement, and this applies to pretty much any and all contexts. As black people up here, especially from America, we don't have the privilege of making stylistic choices that won't be perceived as a political statement. What this means is how your black character chooses to present themself in a majority white space says more about their black identity than any line of dialogue you write will." Brittney Morris
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Webinar 12 noon-1.00pm Monday 19 October Panel speakers: Anjum Rahman, Karaitiana Taiuru, Suze Wilson, and Tracey Nicholls. Register hereTo celebrate the launch of Navigating the Online Landscape, a new Community Research Special Collection, we invite you to a webinar bringing together diverse and highly-respected speakers for an insightful and timely discussion about the rapidly evolving online landscape and its use locally. Now, more than ever, it is essential to raise the visibility of unique priorities, community concerns and aspirations for how we navigate these spaces in Aotearoa. Drawing on local evidence, lived experience, and community knowledge, and framed by Te Tiriti o Waitangi, equity, and intersectionality, this webinar will explore how online harms can directly and indirectly diminish participation, wellbeing, visibility, and self-determination. The Navigating the Online Landscape collection is a collaboration involving Community Research, Tāhono Trust, Amnesty International New Zealand, and the Online Safety Coalition. We thank the many researchers and knowledge-makers for their important mahi and for their contributions to the collection. |
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Webinar 12 noon-1.00pm Monday 19 October
Register here
In this webinar, we meet Joseph Tutonga Houghton, winner of the Pasifika Researcher Award, and explore his study Amplifying Pacific Voices in a Christchurch Secondary School: A Study Guided by Tīvaevae & Talanoa. His research examines how Pacific students, families, and teachers experience school environments, and how schools can better recognise Pacific values, strengthen relationships, and foster a genuine sense of belonging. Guided by the Cook Islands-inspired tīvaevae research model and the Pacific practice of talanoa, the study brings together the voices of students, parents, community leaders, and teachers to better understand educational aspirations and identify opportunities for growth. This webinar will move beyond the written research to engage in a conversation about the findings, the research journey, and what meaningful dialogue with Pacific communities can look like in practice. Together, we will explore how listening to and valuing Pacific perspectives can help create more inclusive and responsive educational environments.
Facilitated by Cherie Chu-Fuluifaga ONZM. Read Joseph’s research here. The judges noted, Joseph draws on lived experience and a strengths-based approach that treats Pacific values, identity, and relational knowledge as assets that can transform schooling. |
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Webinar 12 noon-1.00pm Monday 6 November
Register here
In this webinar we meet Dr Taylor Cui, recipient of our 2026 Ethnic Community Researcher Award. Drawing on in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 15 participants, Taylor examines the intersectional experiences of Chinese queer international students in New Zealand. This study explores how these students navigate both New Zealand’s tertiary education system and the broader Chinese community beyond the campus. Although New Zealand is often imagined as a progressive, queer-friendly, and liberating destination, students frequently confront the “ethnic closet” and the enduring influence of political censorship from China. These dynamics reveal that the search for a “queer home” is not a linear journey from repression to freedom, but an ongoing, embodied negotiation shaped by intersecting identities, including sexuality, ethnicity, citizenship, and migration status.
This is a joint webinar co-hosted with Aotearoa Migration Research Network.
Read Taylor's research here.
Our judges noted that Taylor's research demonstrates a strong commitment to community impact, inclusivity, and the values of the Community Research Code of Practice. |
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Te Auaha Pito Mata Awards - Webinar Series
We are excited to confirm the dates for the remaining webinars in this special series, which showcases the 2026 Award winners and provides an opportunity to hear directly from them about their research, key insights, and future aspirations.
Tuesday 20 October 12-1pm Joseph Tutonga Houghton (see above)
Friday 6 November 12-1pm Taylor Le Cui (see above)
Tuesday 10 November 12-1pm Atelaite Mapa
Monday 23 November 12-1pm Ria Te Uira Homes
There will be links to register for the remaining webinars in the coming weeks |
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Voting Resources
- With the general elections rapidly approaching make sure your enroll details are up to date here.
- If you, or someone you know, is overseas you can register here.
- Do you know someone who is not enrolled? Check out these fun ways to support them get registered:
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| | On a Roll Youth vote 2026Young people across the motu helping other rangatahi enrol and vote in the 2026 General Election.Check out these ways to help them get registered: |
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| | Te Wero Pōti This resource is available either as a web-app or as a real-world printed star chart to help you follow your progress with your contacts. |
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Conversation Guide – Talking about Te Tiriti and the election
Te Tiriti and Māori rights are critical issues this election. Having conversations with people you know is a vital way you can support Te Tiriti in the lead up to the election.
Talking with people about voting and Te Tiriti may feel challenging, so Groundwork: Facilitating Change have created this special Vote for Te Tiriti edition of their popular Te Tiriti conversation guide to support you in these conversations.
This concise resource includes a step-by-step guide to navigate tricky conversations, and specific scripts you can use and adapt to encourage understanding of, and support, for Te Tiriti in the lead up to the election.
Read the guide here.
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| | OurAction Station - Together for The Vote
Let’s work together to lift voter enrolment and turnout for Election 2026.
This national calendar is for you to connect with others enrolling voters and to see what’s happening near you.
Use it to share your independent kaupapa or events so others can find them, OR find out what enrolment activities are happening in your local area.
Access the calendar here.
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The Community Mobilisation Toolkit
The Community Mobilisation Toolkit: Preventing family violence and/or sexual violence within ethnically diverse communities in Aotearoa New Zealand was published by MSD (August 2026).
The purpose of this toolkit is to support a wide range of community groups and organisations – especially those working with ethnically diverse populations – in developing and implementing community mobilisation initiatives aimed at preventing family violence and/or sexual violence. It also provides guidance on assessing progress and measuring change. The toolkit was developed through a community-led approach which focused on learning through developing, implementing, and evaluating new initiatives responsive to communities' unique needs and aspirations. While centred on ethnically diverse communities, the toolkit's insights and approaches can be adapted and applied across a range of social groups and community settings.
Read the toolkit here. |
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| | TIKA
Tika is a free legal service to help people of all genders who've experienced sexual harm, to take action with free confidential reporting and free legal representation if a group is formed. |
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Research to understand DEI in Aotearoa workplaces
How are New Zealand organisations responding to the current political shifts surrounding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)? In what ways have the current political climate and organisational responses influenced employee experiences within New Zealand workplaces?
These are research questions Dr Majid Khan, Dr Zheng (Daniel) Duan, and Taylor Le Cui want to explore in research, supported by Massey University - Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa and Toitū Takatāpui | Rainbow Tick. They invite employees in New Zealand workplaces to participate in or disseminate our survey.
Whether you are a People & Culture practitioner, someone working in the diversity and inclusion space, a member of an employee-led network, an employee with a minority identity, or an ally for marginalised groups, your perspective will help us understand how DEI work is unfolding in New Zealand workplaces during a period of political change.
Complete the survey here.
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Hapori Aotearoa 2027Hapori Aotearoa is heading to Ōtautahi Christchurch on 10–11 March 2027, and registrations are now open. Hapori Aotearoa is a national gathering for people passionate about community-led development. It’s an opportunity to share our work, celebrate our successes, and put community at the heart of everything we do.Whether you’re working at a grassroots level, within local or central government, in the community and voluntary sector, philanthropy, research, social services or somewhere in between, Hapori Aotearoa is a chance to connect, share and learn alongside others working to strengthen communities. And you don’t need to work for a community organisation to take part. If this kaupapa speaks to you, you’re welcome. You can find out more and register here. The full programme is scheduled to be released in late November. |
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Nesemalama-Whakamana: Understanding Neurodiversity and Disability through Māori and Pasifika Experiences
Webinar 7-8pm Tuesday 20 October
We are pleased to invite you to the upcoming session in our online webinar series: Nesemalama-Whakamana: Understanding Neurodiversity and Disability through Māori and Pasifika Experiences
Culture, identity, language and whānau relationships can shape how neurodiversity and disability are understood and experienced. In this webinar, we will explore the lived experiences of Māori and Pasifika parents and caregivers, and what their stories can teach us about culturally responsive, strengths-based support.
Guest Speaker: Sophia Sagapolutele-To'afa (Researcher, Educator and Founder of Nesemalama–Whakamana Charitable Trust)
About the Session: Sophia will share insights from her research with Māori and Pasifika whānau, exploring identity before diagnosis, culture and language, experiences of navigating systems, and the importance of recognising families as partners and knowledge holders.
Whether you are a parent, carer, educator, service provider or sector supporter, this webinar offers an opportunity to listen, learn and reflect on how we can better support neurodivergent and disabled children, young people and their whānau.
🔗 Click here to register for the live webinar
If you cannot make the live session or wish to view our previous community discussions, you are welcome to watch our collection of past recordings here:
📺 Click here to watch past MINN webinars on YouTube
Together we can create spaces of understanding, belonging, and inclusion. If you have any questions or need support with registration, please feel free to reach out to our team at info@mininetwork.org.
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Online safety, privacy and AI
5.30pm Tuesday 13 October
This event will focus on the need for regulation of digital platforms in New Zealand to address the known and emerging risks associated with the safety of digital platforms and AI technologies. Hear from MP's who have taken a leadership role in policy responses, and their important contribution to this cross-party discussion.
Join in-person or online for an in-depth discussion on the importance of regulation of digital platforms
Click here for more information and to register. |
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Waking up to Whiteness: Identity Matters, Not Another Course On Culture
Facilitated by: Adreanne Ormond & Madeleine Taylor
• Monday 9 and Tuesday 10 November, 8.45am to 4.30pm
• 2/57 Willis Street, Wellington
• $300 plus GST for the two days
• Registrations close 19 October.
An insightful two-day course that explores the impact of ‘white culture’ on shaping Aotearoa/New Zealand society.
Understand the historical blend of Māori, colonial, and Pākehā influences and join the discussion on how these have contributed to social issues like racial inequities, family violence, and health disparities.
By recognising the dominant cultural narratives, we aim to foster a deeper understanding and create a fairer society.
Don’t miss this opportunity to see how this cultural dynamic affects both you and our nation.
Register for the workshop here. |
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2026 is International Volunteer Year (IVY26) – as declared by the UN General Assembly. Many community organisations are backing the year as an opportunity to promote and support volunteering.
IVY 2026 is an opportunity to emphasise the power of volunteering, encourage greater investment in volunteering, and secure commitments from governments and others to support volunteering.
Volunteering New Zealand has been asking people in the community sector what would improve the future of volunteering towards an IVY26 Call to Action.
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Our vision is a more equitable, engaged and inclusive Aotearoa informed by community knowledge.
Ko ta mātou whakakitenga he Aotearoa e tōkeke ana, e whai kiko ana, e whakamohio mai ana e te matauranga hapori.
Our Commitment:
We provide our services free of charge to support tangata whenua, and the voluntary and community sectors. Community Research is a registered charity, sustained by donations and grants.
Your Support Matters:
If you value our work, please consider making a donation. Your contribution helps us continue to foster a more connected and informed Aotearoa. |
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