Engineering with Kaitiakitanga

Engineering with Kaitiakitanga: Values, Knowledge and Practice for the Future

As the challenges facing our communities become increasingly complex, engineers have a critical role to play in shaping solutions that are not only innovative, but enduring. The infrastructure we design, the data we use, and the decisions we make today have lasting impacts on people, place, and future generations.

Join the Auckland University Engineers Association (AUEA) for an inspiring evening exploring how kaitiakitanga – stewardship, guardianship, and responsibility – can inform and strengthen engineering practice across disciplines.

Featuring Dr Emily Afoa, Dr Kepa Morgan, and Dr Kiri West, this thought-provoking conversation will explore how Māori values, mātauranga Māori, and Indigenous approaches to knowledge and decision-making can contribute to more resilient, sustainable, and equitable engineering outcomes for Aotearoa New Zealand.

Bringing together perspectives from sustainable infrastructure, values-based engineering, and Māori data sovereignty, the speakers will consider how engineers can broaden the way they define success, assess impacts, and create solutions that honour relationships between people, place, technology, and the environment.

Programme:

• Doors open 5.30pm
• Panel presentation and Q&A 6.00pm – 7.00pm
• Networking 7.00pm – 7.30pm

Speakers

Dr Emily Afoa (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Maniapoto) is a Chartered Professional Engineer, civil and environmental engineer, and Pou Whakarae (Co-Director) of Tektus Consultants. A recognised leader in sustainable infrastructure and water-sensitive design, Emily’s work integrates engineering excellence with mātauranga Māori to deliver enduring outcomes for communities and the environment.

Dr Kēpa Morgan (Ngāti Pikiao, Te Arawa) is a Chartered Professional Engineer, Distinguished Fellow of Engineering New Zealand, and Pou Hautū (Managing Director) of Mahi Maioro Professionals. A pioneer in the integration of mātauranga Māori and engineering practice, Kēpa developed the Mauri Model Decision Making Framework and mauriOmeter to support more holistic approaches to assessing sustainability, infrastructure, and environmental impacts. His work brings together engineering, Indigenous knowledge systems, and community aspirations to enable decision-making that recognises the interconnected wellbeing of people and place.

Dr Kiri West (Ngāti Maru, Ngāti Tamaterā and Ngāti Whanaunga) is an Indigenous researcher, kaupapa Māori theorist, and communication scholar specialising in Māori data sovereignty and research ethics. Her work explores how Indigenous knowledge and values can guide the ethical stewardship of data, technology, and decision-making.

Proudly hosted by Auckland University Engineers Association

With thanks to Tonkin + Taylor for generously hosting this event and supporting the University of Auckland engineering alumni community.