He Kai

Saltwater Sensations: Te Ao Māori and a sense of place through heke ngaru (Surfing)
2019-01-30 11:00 - 12:00 (Pacific/Auckland) | Online
Māori have a unique relationship with the ocean that stretches back many generations to the arrival of the seminal voyaging canoes. Since that time, Māori have ridden waves on various types of surfcraft but while the literature identifies the therapeutic effects of surfing and place-based health, there is a distinct lack of cultural identity and environmental spirituality identified within these largely Western-based studies.
Join Dr Jordan Waiti for this hour long webinar where he will share his insights around his study of heke ngaru (surfing). Utilising key informant interviews, an online survey, historical and auto-ethnographic accounts, the study found that Heke Ngaru was a traditional cultural custom that enhanced all aspects of Te Whare Tapa Whā (Durie, 1985). The results suggest that for some Māori a deep sense of place prevails with certain surf breaks in Aotearoa, and that this sense of place manifests an array of thoughts and feelings related to spiritual, familial, physical and cognitive perceptions. For some, these thoughts and feelings relate back many generations to their tribal ancestors, tribal boundaries or directly to specific atua such as Tangaroa and Hinemoana.
In a wider sense, the implications of these findings highlight the need to ensure that these oceanscapes and surf breaks are maintained for the future benefit of all New Zealanders’. Moreover, that reclaiming this space through heke ngaru participation is a potential future pathway for optimal Māori health and wellbeing.

Toi Tangata Office Closed
2018-12-22 - 2019-01-08

He kai kei aku ringa: Food security, sovereignty and systems in Aotearoa
2018-12-04 10:00 - 11:00 | Online
Food security is a major issue in Aotearoa. Only two in five Maori households have stable access to nutritious kai and utilise it. Estimates are that a poor diet claims between 8,000 and 11,000 NZ lives each year, but nutritious kai doesn’t simply prevent illness, it enhances health and wellbeing.
Our access to kai is limited by the food system and by our knowledge. The food system is comprised of producers, distributors, retailers and consumers and everyone has an impact on that system (and our environment). The food system is allegedly consumer-driven, that is, consumers tell the rest of the system what they want. But for those in poverty, the food system is led by massive globalised corporations, who frequently discount food with poor nutrition as “loss leaders” to promote consumption.
Colonisation has also contributed to loss of knowledge. NZ Māori were (and are) “once were gardeners”, but the knowledge of our forebears is randomly pocketed with no critical mass. Many communities are responding by employing sovereignty strategies in a worldwide movement to develop local sustainable food systems.
Already some growers have begun initiatives to feed their people, but are these pockets of resistance enough? What will overcome the pressing need of poverty? This webinar discusses these issues and potential solutions.
Dr Geoff Kira
Dr Geoff Kira is a Māori (Ngā Puhi) and public health scientist from Massey University who focusses on upstream initiatives to counter major public health issues. The phrase, “Communities often have the answers to many regional problems” is currently leading his research which focusses on a social justice approach. He has just completed a food security study, based on a fruit and vegetable co-operative model, with a community living in high deprivation. This study has confirmed previously unknown concepts about food and poverty. Geoff draws on current research and community initiatives to explore what the food system might look like in the future and what we as health promoters can do.

MAURI ORA The Metrics Of Flourishing
2018-11-09 09:00 - 15:00 | Quality Hotel Plymouth International, Corner Courtenay and Leach Street, New Plymouth, New Zealand
Compass Seminars is delighted to bring you the opportunity to spend a day with Sir Mason Durie who will discuss a range of topics relating to principles for working with Māori and Māori development. Sir Mason speaks with a freshness and clarity of understanding, if you have been fortunate enough to hear him speak before you will know that this is an opportunity not to be missed.
Regardless of whether your professional focus is on prevention, promotion, treatment, education, rehabilitation or development, well-being is ultimately dependent upon the dynamic interaction of people with each other and with the wider cultural, social, economic, political and physical environments in which people live. Sir Mason will unwrap how Māori wellbeing is the product of these combined forces acting on the past and present experiences so that future prospects can be enhanced.
Some of the key areas that will be discussed include:

Mauri Ora and Mauri noho – flourishing and languishing
Current and future cultural demographics in New Zealand and implications for a changing society
Personal and environmental risks to wellbeing, and measures to build resilience
The application of Māori perspectives to therapeutic interventions
The importance of Whānau and Whānau development for Aotearoa in the future

Sir Mason will be speaking about issues that are relevant to all professionals working in health, welfare, education and community settings.
Sir Mason Durie is from Rangitane, Ngāti Kauwhata and Ngāti Raukawa. He is a medical practitioner and specialist psychiatrist and has held the positions of Professor of Māori Studies and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Massey University. He has particular interests in health, education, indigenous advancement, mental health care and Māori development. He has served on a number of Boards and Trusts, including the Families Commission, Secondary Futures, Te Papa Tongarewa, the Foundation for Research Science and Technology, the National Health Committee, the Mental Health Foundation, the Alcohol & Liquor Advisory Council, the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Māori Health, the Whānau Ora Governance Group and the Mental Health Foundation. He was knighted in 2010 for his contributions to Public Health and especially to Māori Health.
We would recommend you register early as Sir Mason’s previous seminars have been fully subscribed.

The Auckland Walk Challenge
2018-11-01 - 2018-11-30
When and where
Date: 1 to 30 November 2018.
Location: Auckland-wide.
The Auckland Walk Challenge is back by popular demand – this time for the month of November.
Start summer feeling great by joining this year’s challenge. This free, month-long event runs from 1-30 November and aims at getting more people walking in Auckland.
Complete weekly challenges and be in to win a great range of prizes throughout the month as you ‘virtually’ walk the length of New Zealand.
Just walk for at least 30 minutes a day – to work, to the bus stop, to the local shops – and track your distance online. It’s fun, it’s FREE, it’s easy and good for you. Track your steps through the simple online platform or sync your activity tracker device.
Registration is now open, so why not form a team with colleagues or friends and family and take to two legs this Spring.
There are lots of great prizes, including Blunt umbrellas, ferry passes to some of our fabulous Hauraki Gulf Islands, organic food hampers and a double pass for the Auckland Bridge Climb.
Sign up for the Challenge now:
Find out more and register for The Auckland Walk Challenge
Register by 27 October and be entered into the draw to win a Fitbit Charge 2.

Workshop: Reducing the exposure of alcohol marketing to young people
2018-10-31 09:00 - 13:00 | Domain Lodge, 1 Boyle Crescent, Auckland, New Zealand
A half-day workshop examining alcohol marketing to young people for the public health sector and policy makers.

About this Event

A Cancer Research Week workshop co-hosted by Cancer Society Auckland Northland, SHORE and Whariki Research Centre Massey University, Alcohol Healthwatch and University of Otago.
Featuring renowned international and local experts, this workshop will explore the power of alcohol marketing and effective public health policies to counteract the pervasive promotion of alcohol, especially to young people. It is brought to you as part of Cancer Research Week, which in 2018 is focused on the prevention of cancer.
Alcohol stands with smoking and obesity as one of the key preventable risk factors for cancer. It is directly linked with more than 200 cancer deaths in Aotearoa New Zealand every year, but there are effective prevention strategies available to reduce risk and harm.
You will hear from:

Professor Gerard Hastings, international social marketing expert who will explore the global impact of alcohol marketing
Professor Sally Casswell on how global strategies impact New Zealand adolescents
Professor Jennie Connor on past efforts to restrict alcohol marketing
Professor Antonia Lyons on the use of social media as an alcohol marketing tool
Iain Potter on experiences with tobacco sponsorship
Dr Nicki Jackson facilitating a discussion on priorities for policy change and mobilising communities.

This workshop is free to attend, but places are strictly limited to 60 attendees. Please register to secure your place. Click the green register button at the top of this page to complete the form. If there are no places available, please email smokefree@akcansoc.org.nz to be put on the wait list. Please put ‘alcohol workshop’ in the subject line, as there are several events taking place during Cancer Research Week.
For more information please contact Cancer Society Auckland Northland on smokefree@akcansoc.org.nz
About the speakers:
Keynote Speaker: Professor Gerard Hastings OBE
Gerard Hastings is Professor Emeritus at Stirling University (UK) is recognised as the world’s leading social marketing academic. He founded the Institute for Social Marketing which he directed for many years, and his academic career has focused on researching the impact of marketing on society – both for good and ill. This has involved him in advising Government and working with policy makers and civil society both nationally and internationally.
He was Special Advisor to the House of Commons Health Select Committee during enquiries into the alcohol industry (2010) as well as enquiries into tobacco (2000), food (2004) and pharmaceuticals (2005).He has also been an advisor to the World Health Organization.
He has published widely in academic outlets, especially in health and business journals. His latest books are Social Marketing: Rebels with a Cause (with Christine Domegan) and The Marketing Matrix: how the corporation gets its power and how we can reclaim it are published by Routledge.
In 2009 he was awarded the OBE for services to health care. In 2014 he accepted the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education on behalf of the University of Stirling for the ground-breaking critical marketing research conducted by the Institute for Social Marketing.
Professor Sally Casswell
Prof Sally Casswell, ONZM, BA(Hons), PhD, FRSNZ has published more than 200 articles in peer reviewed international journals, is a member of the World Health Organisation’s Expert Advisory Panel on Alcohol and Drug Dependence and is currently Chair of the Global Alcohol Policy Alliance and President of the Kettil Bruun Society for Social and Epidemiological Research on Alcohol. She holds a personal chair in social and health research and is Director of SHORE and Co-director of the SHORE and Whariki Research Centre, School of Public Health, Massey University.
Her research interests are in social and public health policy, particularly in relation to alcohol. She has a particular interest in development and implementation of healthy public policy at the global level and in international collaborative research. She was selected by her peers to receive the Jellinek Memorial Award, the premier international award for alcohol research.
Professor Jennie Connor
Jennie Connor is the Chair of the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, at Otago University Medical School. She is a public health physician and epidemiologist, who teaches epidemiology. She has 20 years experience in public health research that has largely focussed on the health effects of alcohol, injury prevention, and sexual and reproductive health, and is a theme leader in the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study. Professor Connor has completed two assessments of the “Alcohol-attributable burden of disease and injury in New Zealand” with international collaborators, including estimation of alcohol-attributable cancer. She is a medical spokesperson for Alcohol Action New Zealand, an incorporated society advocating for the adoption of evidence-based policy to reduce harm from alcohol.
Professor Antonia Lyons
Antonia Lyons is Professor of Health Psychology and Head of School at the School of Health, Victoria University of Wellington. Prof. Lyons has been teaching health psychology at various levels since 1996. Previously she coordinated the Masters in Health Psychology programme at Massey University, and also lectured in health and social psychology at the University of Birmingham, UK. Prof. Lyons has published widely on the social and cultural contexts of behaviours related to health and their implications for individual subjectivities, gendered identities and embodied experiences. She is currently a co-editor for the journal Qualitative Research in Psychology and an associate editor for Psychology and Health, and (with Prof Kerry Chamberlain) she co-edits the Routledge book series Critical Approaches to Health. She is a founding member of the International Society for Critical Health Psychology.
Dr Nicki Jackson
Nicki joined Alcohol Healthwatch as the Director in February 2017. She brings extensive academic and practice experience in health promotion and alcohol harm reduction, in particular. Her background comprises: developing and delivering training in evidence-based public health in Australia, leading the Health Promotion undergraduate degree at AUT University, and managing the alcohol and tobacco regulatory and health promotion activities of the Auckland Regional Public Health Service. Her work in public health evidence has been recognised by the World Health Organisation. In 2016, she completed her PhD investigating adolescent alcohol use in New Zealand and won the University of Auckland Vice Chancellor’s Excellence Award for best Doctoral thesis at the University in 2016. She is also an Honorary Academic at the University of Auckland.

Addressing Inequities in Childhood Obesity Hui
2018-10-30 09:00 - 13:30 | Domain Lodge, 1 Boyle Crescent, Auckland, New Zealand
A half-day hui on childhood obesity for the public health sector and policy makers.

About this Event

A Cancer Research Week Hui co-hosted by Cancer Society Auckland Northland and Hāpai te Hauora.
This hui features renowned international and national experts who explore the complex nature of childhood obesity. They will examine how disproportionately affects high needs populations; the obesogenic environment; and effective strategies to combat this growing public health challenge.
It is brought to you as part of Cancer Research Week, which in 2018 is focused on cancer prevention.
Cancer affects more than a million New Zealanders and is the single largest cause of death in Aotearoa, New Zealand. And yet more than 30% cancer cases are preventable.
Obesity is one of the key preventable risk factors for cancer, along with smoking and alcohol. It is directly linked with 11 different types of cancer as well as other diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. In fact, obesity is set to overtake smoking as the leading risk factor for cancer.
However, there are effective prevention strategies available to reduce the prevalence of obesity and the harm it causes.
At this half-day hui, you will hear from:

Professor Anna Peeters, an international obesity expert, who will explore effective strategies to address obesity and inequities.
Kaupapa Māori approaches (speaker to be confirmed).

Healthy Auckland Together (HAT) on a collaborative approach to address obesity.
Professor Louise Signal on marketing: New Zealand children exposing their obesogenic world.
Dr Gerhard Sundborn on the impact of sugary drinks on Māori and Pacific communities.
Professor Boyd Swinburn on obesogenic environments and priorities to reduce obesity and inequities.
A facilitated discussion on priorities for policy change and action to reduce obesity and inequities.

This hui is free to attend and lunch is provided. Places are strictly limited to 60 attendees. Please register to secure your place. Click the green register button at the top of this page to complete the form.
For more information please contact the Cancer Society Auckland Northland on smokefree@akcansoc.org.nz
About the Speakers:
Professor Anna Peeters
Anna Peeters is Professor of Epidemiology and Equity in Public Health and Head of Obesity and Population Health at the School of Health and Social Development at Deakin University, Melbourne.
She is a public health researcher, particularly interested in the provision of information to facilitate objective and equitable choices in public health by policy makers, practitioners and the public.
Professor Peeters is also on the council of the Australia New Zealand Obesity Society (ANZOS, President 2011-14, Chair ASM 2015), and on advisory boards and steering committees for the Parent’s Jury, the Victorian government’s Equity Focused Health Impact Assessment advisory group and the WorkHealth advisory group. She is also on the World Cancer Research Fund’s Policy Advisory Group.
In 2014, Professor Peeters was awarded the prestigious World Obesity Federation Andre Mayer Award, as well as a Churchill Award.
Professor Boyd Swinburn
Boyd Swinburn is a Professor of Population Nutrition and Global Health at the University of Auckland. He is also an Alfred Deakin Professor and Director of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention at Deakin University in Melbourne.
He is Co-Chair of the World Obesity/Policy & Prevention (formerly known as IOTF) and was President of the Australia and New Zealand Obesity Society (ANZOS) from 2005-7.
Professor Swinburn has contributed to more than 30 WHO consultations and reports on obesity; authored more than 300 publications; and given more than 400 presentations.
His major research interests are centred on community and policy actions to prevent childhood and adolescent obesity, and reduce the ‘obesogenic’ food environment.
Healthy Auckland Together (HAT)
Healthy Auckland Together is a coalition of 26 organisations representing local government, mana whenua, health agencies, NGOs, university and consumer interest groups.
HAT works to change policy, infrastructure design and planning, so that environments can encourage physical activity and good nutrition.
HAT believes many of the drivers of obesity, inactivity and ill health exist outside the health sector, and changing these environments can be more effective than asking individuals change behaviour.
Speaker to be confirmed.
Professor Louise Signal
Louise Signal is a Director of the Health Promotion and Policy Research Unit at the University of Otago, Wellington.
Her research focuses on identifying and addressing environmental determinants of health and has a strong focus on addressing inequities, particularly for Māori, Pacific and low-income communities.
Her work includes obesity prevention; addressing harm from alcohol and gambling; and tackling inequities in cancer treatment.
She is the Principal Investigator on Kids’Cam, a research programme that uses automated cameras to study the world in which children live. Kids’Cam is part of the HRC-funded DIET programme. Currently there are 16 projects underway or completed using the New Zealand data.
Professor Signal is currently leading similar research in Tonga in collaboration with Dr Viliami Puloka and the Tongan Government.
Dr Gerhard Sundborn
Dr Gerhard Sundborn is a Senior Lecturer, Department of Pacific Health, University of Auckland.
He is of Tongan and NZ European heritage and his research interests are in Pacific health, unhealthy weight, type 2 diabetes, and sugary drink consumption.
He is currently carrying out a solutions-focused, intervention study to prevent dental caries, unhealthy weight, and type 2 diabetes in four Auckland high schools.
In 2013, together with colleagues Dr Sundborn founded FIZZ (Fighting Sugar in Soft-drinks) a public health advocacy group that aims to reduce sugary drink consumption to zero by 2025.

Stop Cancer Before it Starts
2018-10-29 08:30 - 17:00 | Domain Lodge, 1 Boyle Crescent, Auckland, New Zealand
A one day symposium for the public health sector and policy makers.

About this Event

As part of Cancer Research Week 2018, the Cancer Society invites members of the public health sector and policy makers to a one-day symposium; Stop Cancer Before it Starts: Saving lives with effective tobacco, alcohol & obesity policies.
Cancer affects more than a third of all New Zealanders. Despite considerable progress on more effective treatments, cancer remains New Zealand’s single largest cause of death. However, between 30% and 50% of all cancer cases are preventable and research shows the most effective prevention strategies are national-level policies to reduce risk and harm.
The symposium will focus on three key preventable risk factors; tobacco, alcohol and obesity.
International experts Professor Gerard Hastings and Professor Anna Peeters will discuss the prevention of cancer and other life-threatening, non-communicable diseases through national-level policies. They will be joined by New Zealand experts, Boyd Swinburn, Sally Casswell, Jennie Connor, Richard Edwards and Anaru Waa, plus more speakers to be announced.
This symposium is free to attend but places are strictly limited. Please register to secure your place. Click the green register button at the top of this page and complete the form. If there are no places available, please email smokefree@akcansoc.org.nz to be put on the wait list.
For more information, please contact Cancer Society Auckland Northland on smokefree@akcansoc.org.nz.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Keynote Speaker: Professor Gerard Hastings OBE
Gerard Hastings is Professor Emeritus at Stirling University (UK) and also works with L’École des Hautes Etudes en Santé Publique, Rennes. He founded the Institute for Social Marketing which he directed for many years, and his academic career has focused on researching the impact of marketing on society – both for good and ill. This has involved him in advising Government and working with policy makers and civil society both nationally and internationally.
He was a Special Advisor to the House of Commons Health Select Committee during its separate enquiries into the tobacco (2000), food (2004), pharmaceutical (2005), and alcohol industries (2010) and acts as a Temporary Advisor to the World Health Organization (WHO) on both communicable and non-communicable disease on a regular basis. He has also been an expert witness in litigation against the tobacco industry in the UK and internationally, and in 2011 successfully challenged the Industry’s right to access confidential research through Freedom of Information. He currently sits on the BMA Board of Science, is a member of the Lancet Obesity Commission, a Trustee of the UK Health Forum and a Schools Speaker for Amnesty International.
He has published widely in academic outlets, especially in health and business journals. His latest books are Social Marketing: Rebels with a Cause (with Christine Domegan) and The Marketing Matrix: how the corporation gets its power and how we can reclaim it are published by Routledge.
In 2009 he was awarded the OBE for services to health care. In 2014 he accepted the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education on behalf of the University of Stirling for the ground-breaking critical marketing research conducted by the Institute for Social Marketing.
Guest Speaker: Professor Anna Peeters
Anna Peeters is Professor of Epidemiology and Equity in Public Health & Head of Obesity and Population Health in the School of Health and Social Development at Deakin University, Melbourne.
Anna is a public health researcher, particularly interested in the provision of information to facilitate objective and equitable choices in public health by policy makers, practitioners and the public.
Anna is also on the council of the Australia New Zealand Obesity Society (ANZOS, President 2011-14, Chair ASM 2015), and on advisory boards and steering committees for the Parent’s Jury, the Victorian government’s Equity Focussed Health Impact Assessment advisory group and WorkHealth advisory group, and on the World Cancer Research Fund’s Policy Advisory Group.
Anna has recently been awarded the prestigious World Obesity Federation Andre Mayer Award for 2014 and a Churchill Award (2014). Anna holds an NHMRC Career Development Fellowship.
Guest Speaker: Professor Boyd Swinburn
Boyd Swinburn is the Professor of Population Nutrition and Global Health at the University of Auckland and Alfred Deakin Professor and Director of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention at Deakin University in Melbourne. He is Co-Chair of the World Obesity/Policy & Prevention (formerly known as IOTF) and was President of the Australia and New Zealand Obesity Society (ANZOS) from 2005-7.
He has also contributed to over 30 WHO consultations and reports on obesity, authored over 300 publications and given over 400 presentations. Through these efforts he is significantly contributing to national and global efforts to reduce the obesity epidemic.
His major research interests are centred on community and policy actions to prevent childhood and adolescent obesity, and reduce, what he has coined, the ‘obesogenic’ food environment.
Guest Speaker: Professor Sally Casswell
Prof Sally Casswell, ONZM, BA(Hons), PhD, FRSNZ has published more than 200 articles in peer reviewed international journals, is a member of the World Health Organisation’s Expert Advisory Panel on Alcohol and Drug Dependence and is currently Chair of the Global Alcohol Policy Alliance and President of the Kettil Bruun Society for Social and Epidemiological Research on Alcohol. She holds a personal chair in social and health research and is Director of SHORE and Co-director of the SHORE and Whariki Research Centre, School of Public Health, Massey University.
Her research interests are in social and public health policy, particularly in relation to alcohol. She has a particular interest in development and implementation of healthy public policy at the global level and in international collaborative research. She was selected by her peers to receive the Jellinek Memorial Award, the premier international award for alcohol research.
Guest Speaker: Professor Jennie Connor
Jennie Connor is the Chair of the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, at Otago University Medical School. She is a public health physician and epidemiologist, who teaches epidemiology. She has 20 years experience in public health research that has largely focussed on the health effects of alcohol, injury prevention, and sexual and reproductive health, and is a theme leader in the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study. Professor Connor has completed two assessments of the “Alcohol-attributable burden of disease and injury in New Zealand” with international collaborators, including estimation of alcohol-attributable cancer. She is a medical spokesperson for Alcohol Action New Zealand, an incorporated society advocating for the adoption of evidence-based policy to reduce harm from alcohol.
Guest Speaker: Professor Richard Edwards
Richard is co-director of ASPIRE 2025 research collaboration and co-director of the Health Promotion and Policy Research Unit (HePPRU). Prof Richard Edwards trained as a public health physician in the UK, and came to Wellington in November 2005. He has over 20 years’ experience in tobacco control practice and research in the UK and New Zealand. His main research interests are in tobacco use epidemiology and tobacco control. He has also carried out research in a variety of other areas, notably environmental epidemiology and non-communicable diseases in sub-Saharan Africa. His current research focus is on tobacco control policy research, particularly in relation to achieving the Tupeka Kore vision of ending significant tobacco use in Aotearoa/New Zealand by 2025. He is principal investigator on the New Zealand arm of the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Evaluation project.
Richard is also co-author of the Achieving Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 -a national action plan for tobacco
Guest Speaker: Anaru Waa
Anaru works at ASPIRE University of Otago and is a lecturer in public health. He has a strong interest in tobacco research and is on the national advisory group for Hapai te Hauora’s National Tobacco Advocacy Service, and is a Board member of Action on Smoking and Health.

Ngā Mata o te Marama Workshop
2018-10-18 14:00 - 16:30 | Ranui Community Centre, 474 Swanson Road, Auckland, New Zealand
Hosted by Tuhi, this is an introduction workshop learning about the phases of the maramataka (Māori lunar cycle), the significance of this traditional mātauranga (knowledge) and with practical ideas and activities your everyday life with your whānau and in your mahi with a focus on people and our emotions.
The workshop is facilitated by Mihi Tibble (Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau ā Apanui, Te Arawa, Ngāti Awa) and Geneva Harrison (Ngāti Kahu, Te Rarawa, Te Aupouri). A number of resources are provided and with the workbook being sent to you on completion of registration.
The workshop will cover:
– our journey and inspiration,
– provide an overview of maramataka and the importance of observations
– a walk through the key phases of the maramataka
– the related atua for certain phases and
– interactive group sessions
You will need to bring a pen and colouring pencils!
Mauri Ora

Breast Cancer Awareness Month
2018-10-01 - 2018-10-31
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and what better way to show your support for the thousands of women each year who are diagnosed with breast cancer, than by going PINK!
Hundreds of workplaces, schools, community groups and people around New Zealand help raise much needed funds for breast cancer education, research and support each October, and would love for you to join them this year.

Toi Ako Webinar: Disrupting mainstream discourses with a wairua centered approach
2018-09-19 10:00 - 10:45 | Online
South Auckland has the largest Māori population in the world. Imagine if Māori:

Mobilised a collective voice for change
Lead discussions at decision making tables, at all levels across the system
Pioneered indigenous leadership for social change, locally, nationally and globally

In this free webinar, Mason Ngawhika, Nikki Timu and Anaru Ah Kew from Healthy Families Manukau, Manurewa-Papakura, will demonstrate how they have provided the tools in support of localised Māori systems, which leverage ancestral practices to inform community-led solutions. They look to shift the focus from a human centred approach to a wairua centred approach that places the environment at the heart as an alternative to mainstream ideologies.
Through Māori systems the team aims to empower communities to return to a place of understanding, being observant and using Te Taiao (the natural environment) as well as Te Taiao Tangata (the built environment) to restore the natural balance and reciprocal relationship between manaaki whenua and manaaki tangata. This supports the notion that when the whenua is cared for, people are naturally ‘well’.
“Ko te awa ko au, ko au ko te awa”
The aim of this webinar is to:

Challenge dominant mainstream discourses which rely solely on Western science or Western health approaches to alleviate the burden of disease and degradation of our natural environment.
Encourage ways for Māori to move from being victims of change, to drivers of change through crafting solutions which enable Māori to adapt and thrive in a constantly changing climate and social system.
Showcase design thinking practices which reframe the paradigm of thinking to a wairua centred approach, which has an emphasis on the ecosystem rather than an ego-system.

About the Presenters

Mason Ngawhika (Te Arawa, Ngai Tahu) is the Kaiārahi Māori or the Māori Responsiveness Manager at Healthy Families Manukau, Manurewa-Papakura.Mason has a background in nutrition and public health. In the past Mason has worked for the Auckland Regional Public Health Service, Hāpai te Hauora and Toi Tangata.

Anaru Ah Kew (Ngāti Hikairo, Ngāti Whawhakia, Kai Tahu) is the Kaiwhakaauaha Pūnaha in the Māori Responsiveness team at Healthy Families Manukau, Manurewa-Papakura.Anaru has a background in Māori mental health where he was responsible for embedding health initiatives within the organisation, focussing on improving health outcomes for Tangata Whaiora.

Nikki Timu (Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāti Kahungunu, Whakatohea) is the Lead Systems Innovator at Healthy Families Manukau, Manurewa-Papakura. She holds portfolios in the sport, physical activity and education spaces with a focus on Māori and indigenous people.Nikki has a background in tertiary education, as an academic in both sport and health contexts. She has recently completed a Master of Physical Education through the University of Otago exploring Māori perspectives on haka in sport.
Register Now

Māori Language Week 2018
2018-09-10 - 2018-09-16
“Strength for an endangered language comes from its status, people being aware of how to support revitalisation, people acquiring and using it and from the language having the right words and terms to be used well for any purpose.”

Breathe Better September NZ 2018
2018-09-01 - 2018-09-30
What is Breathe Better September?
Breathe Better September is a national campaign to raise awareness of respiratory conditions in New Zealand. The campaign encourages all Kiwis to show their support for better breathing and healthy lungs and to start thinking about how they can improve their respiratory health.
What is a respiratory condition?
​Respiratory disease includes asthma, bronchiectasis, bronchiolitis, pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lung cancer and obstructive sleep apnoea.
How many people does it affect?
Over 700,000 Kiwis have a respiratory condition, it’s the third leading cause of death and costs the country $6 billion each year. In New Zealand over 521,000 people take medication for asthma, making it the most common respiratory condition in the country.
Breathe Better September will take place from 1-30 September 2018 and is run by
​the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation NZ.

Maramataka in the Workplace Wānanga
2018-08-24 | Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae, 139 Carrington Road, Auckland, New Zealand
An empowering and informative wānanga to help you learn how to use the Māori systems framework of maramataka in the workplace.
Maramataka first began as a Māori system of awareness of the natural environment and its potential abundance. It comprises thousands of years of observations and knowledge and is the science of the moon energies.
Traditionally, Māori used it to improve their fishing, hunting and gardening practices but maramataka can be applied to all aspects of life and is viewed as a taonga from our ancestors.
This maramataka planning wānanga is for kaimahi working in hauora & community development. It is designed to be empowering and informative and is an opportunity for you to learn from experts with over 30 years’ experience.
The time of Hotoke (winter) is the best time to whai whakaaro (create a vision), whakatikahia (review) and whakatakoto kaupapa (strategy). During this wānanga you will learn how to use the Māori systems framework of maramataka Māori to greater enhance your productivity and work/life balance.
You will also be guided on how best to plan out your next 12 months of business operations using maramataka Māori and consider the right actions to undertake at the right times, referring to Ngā Peka o te Tau (the seasons) and Ngā Wahanga o te Marama (energy phases of the moon). This will contribute to effective stakeholder engagement, community consultation, team leadership, event management and the delivery of services to meet tangible deadlines.
You will learn how to use the maramataka and Nga Peka o te Tau as reference points for effective planning, delivery and measurement of your organisations goals.
You will examine Ngā Tohu o te Tangata and consider if your organisation is delivering its services at the right time, ie do you close for summer break when your clients need you the most?
Maramataka practitioners, Reuben and Heeni, will cover mātauranga Māori divisions of time, space and energy and challenge you to consider if you are in sync with the environment and support you to realign with the natural phases towards productivity (kia puta ngā hua).
**BONUS**
You will also receive a maramataka Māori wall planner, a great tool to help you observe, plan and action your mahi.
About the facilitators
Rueben Taipari and Heeni Hoterene are practitioners of maramataka Māori and take a practical approach to ‘living by the maramataka.’ Rueben uses the maramataka that his whanau has always used, handed down through the generations, for planting and fishing on their ancestral lands in Ahipara. Over 20 years ago he designed a unique colour coded system as a guide for planning by the maramataka. Heeni and Rueben have now been delivering maramataka workshops for over 15 years, working with whanau, community, educators, and the health and environment sectors. They are committed to mana Māori motuhake and view maramataka as a kaupapa that helps whanau to realign themselves with the natural cycles of Aotearoa, reclaiming their time, space and energy through actioning mātauranga Māori.

World Breastfeeding Week 2018
2018-08-01 - 2018-08-07
A sustainable and more equal world begins with efforts to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. Malnutrition, food insecurity and poverty affect millions and stand in the way of sustainable development.
Breastfeeding is a universal solution that gives everyone a fair start in life and lays the foundation for good health and survival of children and women.

*POSTPONED* Toi Ako Webinar: Sleep with Sarah-Jane Paine
2018-07-25 10:00 - 11:00 | Online
“Good sleep is vital to our waking function and to our health.”* It is something we all know; the amount and quality of sleep we get affects our health and wellbeing. There is now a growing recognition that inadequate sleep is a major public health issue. With more than 15 years experience in undertaking research looking at sleep health inequities in Aotearoa, Sarah-Jane Paine will cover health inequities in sleep within Aotearoa in our upcoming webinar.
Toi Tangata kairahi, Darrio Penetito-Hemara, will also join her to talk about the recently released Sit Less, Move More, Sleep Well: Active play guidelines for under-fives resources and share his insights around the importance of activity and sleep for tamariki.
*Philippa Gander
About the presenter
Sarah-Jane Paine (Tūhoe) is a Senior Lecturer at Te Kupenga Hauora Māori and Co-Director of the Tōmaiora Research Group, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland. She holds science degrees from the University of Otago and a PhD in Public Health from Massey University. She was a recipient of the HRC Eru Pōmare Fellowship in Māori Health (2008 – 2011) and the Massey University Early Career Research Medal (2012). Her research involves the quantitative investigation of ethnic inequities in health and the determinants of health across the life-course. She was the Māori Principle Investigator on a HRC-funded longitudinal study investigating the maternal sleep problems across the perinatal period and the implications for maternal and child health. She also has been involved in several studies that have used routinely-collected national health data and survey collections to investigate issues in Māori health. In her current role she works with members of the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences to consider responsiveness to Māori in their research.

Toi Ako: Whakapapa and Systems Dynamics Webinar
2018-07-04 11:00 - 12:00 | Online
In this free, one hour long webinar, Dr Ihi Heke will deliver a brief introduction to systems dynamics and whakapapa crossover. He will share his whakaaro and insights into maramataka and tohungatanga as the means for modelling whakapapa concepts.
Register Here

Toi Ako: The Ola Ora Journey: Navigating Digital Health and Wellbeing Platforms and Mātauranga Māori
2018-06-13 11:00 - 12:00 | Online
The Ol@-Or@ research project, initially called the Welltext project, aims to create an intervention tool to reduce the risk of heart disease, obesity and diabetes in Māori and Pacific Islanders.
Funded by the Healthier Lives He Oranga Hauora National Science Challenge, the study works in partnership with Māori and Pasifika communities (with the target age group of 18 years or older) to create and design a mobile health lifestyle support programme (mHealth Tool).
In this panel webinar, the team looks at the development and exploration of the Ol@/Or@ mobile health tool. Join them as they share the lessons learned and their application within this research project and extend our collective understanding of the contribution that mātauranga Māori can make to contemporary nutrition and physical activity movements.
The panel will take participants through the Mahi Auaha design process and stimulate the creative platforms that are possible through co-design approaches. The navigation of one’s hauora journey is never a one size fits all approach. Through their involvement in this challenge they offer insights around the application of Mahi Auaha (Co-Design) which enables health providers and community champions to gain a better understanding of community health needs and service delivery improvements for the user.
Follow the journey into this emergent space and learn about the strengths and challenges of utilising digital platforms to improve health and wellbeing. Digital platforms may offer an equal and reciprocal relationship between professionals and the core economy (family, neighbourhood and community), shifting the balance of power, responsibility and resources to a more mutually beneficial situation across a range of settings (Sanders & Stappers, 2008).
From the creation of a new service to improving existing one’s, Mahi Auaha, underpinned by kaupapa Māori, has an exciting and innovative role in shaping approaches to health and wellbeing in Aotearoa.
Register Here

Men's Health Month
2018-06-01 - 2018-06-30
Men’s Health Month is a great time to have a think about our health and how important it is, to start talking about it with our mates, families and doctors, and to do something for ourselves to be just a little bit healthier. The theme of Men’s Health Month NZ is #MenStartTalking.
MEN’S HEALTH CHECKS
The Men’s Health website has a fantastic tool where you can type in your age or move the dial to find out what you should be getting checked up on! Check it out here.

World Smokefree Day 2018
2018-05-31
World Smokefree Day is on 31 May and is about celebrating and working towards smokefree/auahi kore lives for New Zealanders.
Internationally, World Smokefree Day is known as World No Tobacco Day, and is celebrated annually on 31 May.
World Smokefree Day is celebrated and delivered at a local level with a theme being applied to current initiatives and priorities. Regional smokefree coalitions provide a collaborative approach and touchpoints for anyone wanting to get involved.
The objectives of World Smokefree Day (WSFD) in New Zealand are:

raising awareness and contributing to the achievement of the Smokefree 2025 goal
enabling better collaboration, planning and coordination of work within regions and across the country
raising awareness of the smokefree kaupapa with the underlying objectives of reducing exposure to second-hand smoke and increasing quit attempts
enabling continuity and consistency of messaging and creative across the country
building on and complementing current work in tobacco control.

About the theme
The theme for World Smokefree Day 2018 is ‘it’s about whānau’ with a focus on celebrating New Zealand’s smokefree achievements.
The majority of New Zealanders are smokefree and want smokefree environments. Having smokefree whānau, homes, workplaces and public spaces is worth celebrating! Tihei manawa ora! Sneeze, the breath of life!

Youth Week 2018
2018-05-19 - 2018-05-27
“Ahakoa te aha, kei a koe te tikanga: Be who you want to be.”

You are invited to play off this theme, perhaps by using the longer theme “Be who you want to be, not what you want to see” or even the symposium favourite “Be who you want to be, not what others want to see”.
Youth Week has been celebrated in Aotearoa/New Zealand since the late 1990s. The nine-day celebration has been coordinated by Ara Taiohi since 2010 with the support of the Ministry of Youth Development and various corporate sponsors such as Health Promotion Agency, WelTec, Inspiring Stories Trust and Vodafone.
Check out local events here.

Pink Shirt Day
2018-05-18
Pink Shirt Day is about working together to stop bullying by celebrating diversity and promoting positive social relationships.
It’s about creating a community where all people feel safe, valued and respected, regardless of age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, ability, or cultural background.

On Pink Shirt Day we ask New Zealanders to Speak up and Stand together to Stop bullying.
Celebrated annually around the globe, Pink Shirt Day began in Canada in 2007 when two students, David Shepherd and Travis Price, took a stand against homophobic bullying after a new year 10 student was harassed and threatened for wearing pink. David and Travis bought dozens of pink shirts and distributed them to their male classmates to wear the next day. The word got out online and hundreds of students showed up in pink, some from head-to-toe, to stand together against bullying.
We’ve been celebrating Pink Shirt Day in New Zealand since 2009 and the campaign grows stronger and larger every year.
Pink Shirt Day is led by the Mental Health Foundation, with support from: The Peace Foundation, RainbowYOUTH, InsideOUT, New Zealand Post Primary Teachers’ Association, Youthline and Family Works.
What does Speak up. Stand together. Stop bullying mean?
Speak up
Giving voice to a problem is the first step towards addressing it. Having conversations with your friends, family, whānau, children, parents, teachers, students and wider communities is a great way to come up with ideas and strategies to address bullying. Speaking up is also about asking for help when you need it. This can be scary, and sometimes the first person you ask can’t or won’t do anything to help you. Keep asking. Pink Shirt Day shows there are many people who care about supporting you.
Stand together
Bullying behaviour is influenced by the actions and values of friends, families and whānau, schools, workplaces and whole communities. Real change happens when we stand together, sending a strong message that there is no place for bullying in New Zealand. Bullying often makes people feel alone, but Pink Shirt Day shows that many people care. Many people want to play their part in making New Zealand a safe, welcoming and respectful place for everyone, regardless of age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, ability, or cultural background.
Stop bullying
On Pink Shirt Day, look out on the sea of pink and know that together we can stop bullying.

Toi Ako Webinar
2018-05-09 11:00 - 12:00 | Online
Weighing in on Weightism: Does a weight focused approach align with the Māori view of health?
Because of the association between body weight and many chronic and metabolic illnesses such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes, weight and other weight or body fat-related measurements such as BMI (body mass index) or waist circumference are commonly used to screen and assess health risks.
Weight loss is now linked with health, happiness, and will power, while over-weight or obese is linked to ‘unhealthy’, poor choices, and a lack of will power. Our modern fascination for weight loss has led to stigma of those who are overweight or obese, and considering Māori are among those with the highest prevalence of ‘overweight’ and ‘obesity’, the line between ‘weight-ism’ and racism can become somewhat blurred.
There is a massive amount of research linking BMI, weight, and waist circumference, to diabetes, heart disease and other aspects of poor health, so aren’t we justified in waging a ‘war on obesity’? Although this association is well established, whether increased weight (or even fat) is actually the ‘cause’ of these lifestyle illnesses is less clear. What’s more, many studies have shown that weight loss is extremely difficult and nearly impossible for some people, while others have shown that healthy habits like regular physical activity can improve health even when no weight is lost.
Nevertheless, the commercialisation of weight loss continues to drive a news feed full of before and after pictures, and new weight loss product after new weight loss product.
For Māori, who have highlighted holistic views of health relating to whenua, whakapapa, wairua, hinengaro and whānau (as well as tinana), a weight focused approach to health or illness does not necessarily align with ‘our’ way of viewing health. Accordingly, there has been a swell of initiatives drawing on traditional knowledge and cultural values to drive health promotion in Aotearoa. This is particularly apparent within various physical activity initiatives where the connection to whakapapa, and traditional knowledge and values, have become the driver for lifestyle change.
Yet, despite these movements, the outcome measures used to assess such initiatives almost always default to some weight-related measure, whether weight itself or BMI. Decolonising health initiatives and the outcome measures which shape them may be necessary to achieving health equity and ensuring a ‘war on obesity’ isn’t just another justification for a ‘war’ on Māori.
About the presenter
Dr Isaac Warbrick
Senior Research Fellow @AUT University
Dr Isaac Warbrick (Ngāti Te Ata, Te Arawa, Ngā Puhi) is an exercise physiologist, Senior Research Fellow and Director of Taupua Waiora Centre for Māori Health Research. His most recent publications have questioned whether ‘weight’ and ‘weight loss’ are appropriate ‘health’ measures for Māori, suggesting that outcome measures should better reflect cultural values.
View Here

He Pī Ka Rere Wānanga
2018-04-19 - 2018-04-20 | Te Ao Hou Marae, 366 Somme Parade, Aramoho, Manawatu-Wanganui, 4412, New Zealand

Toi Ako Webinar: Co Design: Authentic Māori engagement through participatory design
2018-04-11 10:00 - 11:00
This webinar will look at the development and exploration of co-design fthrough a Te Ao Māori lens. Presented by Crystal Pekepo (Ngāti Vara, Ngāti Tāne, Ngāti Kahungunu), a community research and co design kaimahi for Toi Tangata, she will share the lessons learned and extend collective understanding of the contribution that mātauranga Māori can make to social design initiatives.
This webinar will take a look into some of the fundamentals of the design process, perspectives, processes and values from Māori perspectives that stimulate the creative platforms possible through authentic Māori engagement. A journey of how we have applied metaphoric models in the co design space, highlighting trials and tribulations and providing real world examples and learnings from our co-design journey.
Outcomes of this webinar:
-Fundamental understanding of co-design from Māori perspective.
-Hear some examples of how it works in practice
-The value of co-design
-Where co-design is heading in the future and its
importance to built environments
BOOK NOW

Toi Ako Webinar
2018-03-28 10:00 - 11:00
Digital Literacy 101: Introduction to digital tools for communication – Tips and Tricks
Social and communication media is now such a staple in allowing organisations to engage with their community that it makes sense to up-skill in this vital area. This webinar, presented by Layla Lyndon-Tonga, offers the opportunity to learn how to apply effective forms of communication, and in particular digital communication.
Tips and tricks for platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Zoom will be shared, as well as directing attention towards media and how to communicate about an organisation, initiative or project in the most effective way. This will include writing articles, commenting on political statements and broadcast interviews.
Layla will cover how to design and develop a Mail Chimp template to connect and communicate with stakeholders. The design features of Mail Chimp that enhance the way you communicate with others will be presented to enable better use of the database mechanism for effective management of information and connects well with a wide range of online tools considered useful for the delivery of your community events.
The content and activities of this webinar will be directly related to kaimahi in their roles in the Māori public health, physical activity and nutrition sector. As acknowledgement of participant attendance at this webinar, all participants will receive a Toi Ako certificate of attendance.
About the presenter
Layla’s extensive experience and understanding in public health growth areas
like digital literacy, gambling harm and addictions brings a depth of
knowledge to her existing public health practice, research, and capacity
building.
Layla’s skills in critical thinking, facilitation and advocating for social justice
through community action has prepared her for work in the not for profit,
social, health and adult education fields, she thrives on the challenge of
finding solutions and troubleshooting complex problems. Layla is a team
player who prides herself on operating with integrity and authenticity.
This webinar is part of the Toi Ako – workforce development opportunities. Participants will receive a Toi Ako Certificate of Attendance after completion of the webinar evaluation.
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World Water Day
2018-03-22
World Water Day is an annual event run by UN-Water, the entity that co-ordinates the United Nations’ work on water and sanitation.
You could use this day to promote water in your workplace – either from an environmental perspective, or to encourage your people about the importance of drinking 100% water.

Toi Ako Webinar
2018-03-14 10:00 - 11:00 | Online
Māori Heart Health: Iwi heart health, a persistent and undulating challenge for all
It is no secret that poor heart health is one of Aotearoa’s most pressing health problems. What many people still don’t realise, is that much of the burden caused by cardiovascular disease is preventable.
Join Dr Anna Rolleston, Director of The Centre for Health, in this free of charge webinar as she shares her insights on heart health in the context in Aotearoa. Drawing on some sobering statistics, she will analyse the links between poor heart health and the persistence of inequity.
Anna will cover some of the reasons that heart disease is such an issue in Aotearoa and how lifestyle management from an iwi perspective can make a difference, providing learnings from a kaupapa Māori heart disease risk reduction trial in the Bay of Plenty.
Touching on both western science and mātauranga Māori, Anna will explore the past, the present, and the future, and share key messages for whanau to improve heart health.
About the presenter
Dr Anna Rolleston combines a robust scientific and academic background with an understanding that change comes from within, and that we often need a good deal of support to facilitate that change. She is an inspiring speaker whose honest and upfront message about health and taking personal responsibility for your own health arouses motivation in her audiences.
Anna is a leading voice in health and a highly accomplished academic, obtaining her Masters in Exercise Physiology followed by a PhD in Medicine (Nutrition Metabolism) from Auckland University. She is a recognised health researcher, and has managed research projects across a range of interest areas including heart disease, Maori health, ageing and lifestyle management of health. Anna holds senior research fellowship roles at both Auckland and Waikato Universities and sits on a range of advisory committees and governance boards. Anna initially established the Cardiac Clinic to help people manage their health conditions through lifestyle improvements, including exercise, nutrition and stress management. She also established Performance First to work with athletes both at development level and elite. These two businesses are now integrated into The Centre for Health.
This webinar is part of the Toi Ako – workforce development opportunities. Participants will receive a Toi Ako Certificate of Attendance after completion of the webinar evaluation.

Book Now

Walk2Work Day
2018-03-14
Walk2Work Day encourages New Zealanders to do just that – walk to work!
Run by Living Streets Aotearoa, this year the focus is on the link between using public transport and walking, and celebrating walking in general.
What can you do to encourage your people to walk more? Walking to work just for that one day may be the start of a brand-new and health-giving habit.
Visit Living Streets Aotearoa’s website to find out what might be happening in your area, and to find ways to promote walking to your people.

Toi Ako Wānanga
2018-03-07 09:00 - 16:00
Thinking of the Whole: An Intro to Systems Science

This one day introductory workshop aims to support and uplift the Waikato health promotion workforce by providing participants with the opportunity to gain a fundamental understanding of Māori systems science. Looking at the concepts of whakapapa and mātauranga Māori, participants will gain valuable insights around:

The practical application of analysing a system within a community.
Gaining an understanding of systems science from a health perspective.
Examining the kaupapa Māori planning tool, He Pikinga Waiora, which uses systems thinking as part of its framework and has indigenous self-determination at its core.
Looking at a local intervention that has utilised systems thinking in its development and implementation phases.

Facilitated by Erina Korohina and Zaynel Sushil, participants will have the opportunity to learn, share and connect around systems based thinking through a mātauranga Māori lens.
What is systems science?
Systems science comes from engineering and science methodologies and is a way of considering the whole as well as all of the parts. When thinking about nutrition and wellbeing, Prof Boyd Swinburn considers this to mean looking at the enabling environment for nutrition improvement as well as health behaviour and biological factors. (Food Thinkers, 2017).
From this we can consider whakapapa which can be seen as a form of mapping genealogy. Dr Ihirangi Heke explains whakapapa as the organising system that arranges the various theoretical and practical concepts inherent in mātauranga Māori (Mātauranga Māori and Systems Dynamics, 2017).
Who is this for?
This training programme aims to support the Waikato health promotion kaimahi to better understand the basics of systems science, Māori systems thinking from a whakapapa perspective and the practical application of analysing a system within a community.
Toi Ako
Toi Ako is a part of Toi Tangata’s workforce development project. Although the medium and topics vary, Toi Ako is specifically targeted at providing valuable and relevant vocational training opportunities for the Māori public health, physical activity and nutrition sector.
For more information please contact Erina Korohina: erina@toitangata.co.nz or 022 326 5602
