Our impact

Humanity is at a critical juncture. As a global civic institution, we have a significant role to play as part of creating fundamental solutions to address unprecedented challenges during a time of extreme change. As a university, we remain committed to the pursuit of excellence in the development, dissemination and impact of knowledge.

In respect to our unique positioning in one of the world’s most diverse cities in Aotearoa New Zealand, and our deep connections to Pacific, Australasian and Asian neighbours, we enjoy strategic regional and global alliances that serve to further our purpose and values.

Committed to the collaborative development, wide sharing and application of knowledge for positive and material impact on our world, we will selectively prioritise research, education and engagement activity. We will reimagine what we do and embrace new areas of scholarship; loci of research concentration; new programmes of study in emerging disciplines and occupations; and changes in how we work with stakeholders and partners.

We will do this through a focus on our four interdependent priorities of sustainability, health and well-being, justice, and ethical innovation and technology.

Resource use and associated technologies have real effects – both positive and negative – for our natural, social and economic systems. Effects extend from the immediate to the long term, from the known to the uncertain, from local to global, macro to micro. Public, political, professional and academic uncertainties affect the capacity of policy, economic, social and technological adaptations, to replace or offset negative consequences.

We will continue to be world-leading in extending the reach and significance of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Earth systems, biodiversity, water, food, land, human economic systems and unplanned urbanisation are under such pressure that we need to find a way towards sustainable prosperity.

We will strengthen our recognition as a global leader in sustainable and ethical practices through our education, research and engagement, and by our internal policies and practices. We recognise that indigenous practices may yet teach us important transferable lessons regarding sustainable ecosystems and that this mātauranga may be of value to us as we commit to this global sustainability imperative.

The health and well-being of individuals and communities vary across nations, urban, rural and remote areas, and across physical, psychological and emotional manifestations. Health and well-being interventions are dependent on the human sense of connectedness, demographics, disease prevalence, political will for change, logistical and economic feasibility; and, the existence of relevant technologies. Unique indigenous approaches to well-being, such as hauora, which encompass a holistic understanding of health, will facilitate creative ways of delivering and responding to health inequalities.

Breakthroughs in technology and contemporary practices (such as genomics, phenomics, telehealth), where available, are changing life expectancies and quality. The effectiveness, ubiquity and equitable availability of preventative and remedial services depend upon a balance of technical, political, economic and ethical settings.

We will be a global innovator in the discovery and ethical and equitable application of technologies, public policy and delivery mechanisms that contribute to the sustainable health and well-being of humanity.

The capacity of individuals and organisations to meaningfully and fully engage in the lives of their communities has never been more important, yet recent experiences highlight lessening confidence in traditional governance structures. Understanding this, we recognise that maximising individual and community participation is one aspect of realising just and fair communities and creating additional societal value. Such efforts will help ameliorate the current decline in trust of democracy and consequential inequalities.

We will be known as a place where diversity and dynamism of local and global communities are recognised, valued and improved through our education, research, engagement and in how we treat the world. We will remain critically cognisant of the value and values of other knowledge systems including mātauranga Māori, and to working with citizen scientists.

Opportunities abound for automated, intelligent and distributed systems to revolutionise society and economies and transform the human condition. New digital tools and systems challenge current conceptions of national boundaries, sovereignty, personal and group identity, privacy, etiquette, security, democracy and the rule of law.

Such transformations have impacts beyond economic production, reaching into lifestyle, workplace relationships and family formation. Their adoption and application threaten to outstrip the capacity of humanity and its systems to adapt. Our distinctive application of whanaungatanga will ensure that we remain connected to our common human endeavours.

We will embrace the confluence between human practices and digital capabilities to enable the fair and ethical development, application and distribution of innovations. This requires our university to engage in wide-ranging and entrepreneurial responses.

We will forge enduring partnerships that inform and guide our progress towards becoming a Māori Data Sovereignty organisation. This will see transformations across our education, research and engagement practice and in how we work as an organisation.