Evaluation of Wave 13 initiatives for Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu
Project Background
This evaluation focusses on the Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu Wave 13 commissioning process and outcomes for whānau. There are 50 entities in the wave, 42 of these were interviewed for this evaluation.
Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu, the commissioning agency, is the realisation of an iwi-led Whānau Ora model that invests directly in whānau for social impact to bring about positive change for whānau. Previous evaluations have identified the successful components of the whānau commissioning approach (Savage et al., 2016 – 2018). The initiatives are highly contextual, utilising local resources and experience
Wave 13 Report
What we did
Forty-two kaupapa initiatives were interviewed for this evaluation. A two page description was developed in consultation with each initiative to describe their aspirations, learnings, achievements and impact. Together the initiative descriptions provide an illustration of what localised, whānau generated innovations look like in action.
The focus of this evaluation is to examine the wave commissioning approach and the contribution this makes to what we know about indigenous commissioning for health and wellbeing outcomes internationally. The purpose is to reflect on what we have learnt over 13 waves and identify the contribution to what is already known.
Outcome
After 13 waves of funding and evaluation, the evidence demonstrates how a relatively small investment of public sector funding, in indigenous concepts of wellbeing, can disrupt the trajectory of intergenerational disadvantage. Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu have demonstrated rigour to establish and embed an adaptive learning environment.
The ability of indigenous peoples to address the impacts of structural factors deeply embedded into governments’ systems takes sustained and intergenerational effort. There is definitely a call from whānau and communities for increased resource. With future increases in their funding portfolio, Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu are well positioned to examine and adapt their business functions so that increased scale does not detract from their commissioning functionality (Whānau Rangatiratanga).
The evaluation of the Wave 13 entities reinforces the model’s ability to enable resources and support so that whānau can diversify and broker access to trade apprenticeships and employment, hauora and rongoā Māori, mahi toi, te reo Māori me ona tikanga, through to supporting whānau business, innovation, and social enterprise.
Find more information about Te Pūtahitanga and their innovative work at here
Photo credit: Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu
“With our Māori business initiatives they're so heavily scrutinized by government. They're over scrutinised and that's come out of the '80s when there was a whole of misappropriation of funds, remember those days. … So there is a lot of scrutiny, I don’t think Pākehā organisations or initiatives today are scrutinised in the same way” (Whānau from a kaupapa entity).
-Whānau comment
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We’ll work with you to find out what’s working, where investment could be put to best use or how to improve anything not going to plan. We can help you define success and set tangible, measurable goals. And we talk in real language so you can understand and engage with the findings. We engage with the community to conduct community research and consultations for private companies, trusts, government agencies, NGOs and more. But we have a special interest in research that has a purpose - to better society and teach lessons. We aim to help those we work with build capacity to enact positive change.
