The Mauri Model shows how Indigenous-defined cultural indicators can be operationalised in IA, and introduces Infrastructure Belonging as a mauri-based infrastructure assessment framework.
The Aashukan Declaration affirmed Indigenous Peoples' rights as the foundation for impact assessment, calling for processes founded on Indigenous worldviews. Ten years on, the Mauri Model Decision Making Framework demonstrates how these principles are operationalised in Aotearoa New Zealand. The Mauri Model, assesses decisions by their impact on mauri (life essence, life supporting capacity) across environmental, cultural, social, and economic dimensions. It enables multiple ontologies to be considered within a single assessment framework, a capability absent from reductionist science-based tools. As Morgan et al. (2021) argue, cultural indicators are the sole prerogative of Indigenous Peoples, and how Indigenous epistemologies are empowered in decision-making frameworks is critical when decisions are no longer made in purely Indigenous contexts. This presentation shares case studies from Aotearoa where the Mauri Model has been applied, freshwater management, flood mitigation, and wastewater reuse, to show how Indigenous-defined cultural indicators can be embedded as operative considerations. The mauri0meter classifies mauri state (enhanced, diminished) and has been benchmarked as an exemplar sustainability indicator set against Bellagio STAMP principles. Infrastructure Belonging treats infrastructure as the physical expression of community belonging. It asks whether infrastructure enhances the mauri of communities it serves. Applying the Mauri Model to infrastructure assessment reveals opportunities to move beyond social licence toward genuine intergenerational wellbeing.
Dr Kēpa Morgan (Ngāti Pikiao, Te Arawa) created the Mauri Model Decision Making Framework. He chaired the IAIA Indigenous Peoples' Section and co-facilitated the Aashukan Declaration (2017).