Major Funding Recipients 2019

In 2019 the National Commission has awarded three major grants at the end of the year. The three projects all foster the development of knowledge and networks through grass-roots, kanohi ki te kanohi (face to face) communication.

The Khadija Leadership Network (KLN) is a not-for-profit organisation that supports Muslim women to develop leadership skills. It is receiving support for an oral history project, ‘Our Hijrah’ (our migration), that will capture spoken histories of Muslim migration to New Zealand dating back to the 1950s. The project will train women to become oral historians, and in addition to recording pertinent human stories, their work in the community will foster human connection and a shared sense of identity and history. The project also equips women to learn new skills and acquire professional experience.

Unitec’s Whakaora project receives support to explore regenerative approaches to farming and biodiversity. The project will work alongside local iwi and communities, and will focus on traditional, collective processes; the study will look at farming practices that aim to increase biodiversity, enrich soil, improve watersheds and enhance ecosystem services.

The Deliberative Democracy project has been supported to train 24 young people in the practice of deliberative democracy – which places emphasis on political decision-making through fair and reasonable discussion and debate among citizens. Learning practical facilitation skills, the project’s aim is to enhance civic capacity for intentional discussion – throwing light upon issues and progressing resolutions – to equip our next civic leaders to work with their communities.