Outcome Two

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Developing Connected Communities

This outcome acknowledges that no one lives in a vacuum and that it takes a village to support the healthy development of young people. This means that healthy communities matter.

Relationships with tangata whenua and mana whenua

Talking about communities in Aotearoa requires understanding the relationship between tangata whenua (indigenous peoples of Aotearoa or NZ Māori) and tangata Tiriti (all people who have come to Aotearoa recently or generations ago; people who are not tangata whenua). This understanding is necessary to acknowledge and address the inequity that exists because of past, and in places, continuing lack of commitment to Te Tiriti principles, including the principle that Māori are self-determining.

Respectful and empowering relationships between tangata whenua and tangata Tiriti, are a starting point to acknowledge and address inequity and enable tangata whenua to achieve their aspirations.

Relationships with tangata whenua and mana whenua

Tangata whenua who have authority in relation to a specific place or region (i.e. the hapū and iwi of that area) are mana whenua. Tangata Tiriti has a vital role in building respectful relationships with mana whenua but this shouldn’t exclude also acknowledging maata waka (Māori who are not from the specific area, Māori who are not mana whenua) and kaupapa Māori organisations [21].

Tangata Tiriti includes the many different cultures and ethnicities living in Aotearoa, making up our communities. The languages, traditions, practices and beliefs and histories in Aotearoa of all these cultures and ethnicities are distinct and valuable. A bicultural approach, starting with respectful relationships and living the principles of Te Tiriti, also provides a blueprint to work with all cultures and ethnicities.

Community development and youth development

While we acknowledge community development is a distinct area of practice and expertise, this section describes how youth development intersects with community development. The key point of intersection is that young people and communities influence each other. Healthy communities (defined in the PYDA as strong, inclusive, connected, resilient and supportive) contribute to healthy young people, and healthy young people contribute to healthy communities. The same can be true with unhealthy communities and young people.

In an ideal world, the various parts of a community are in a healthy relationship with each other. There are relationships between individuals and community members: the sports coach, the teacher, the mum, the elderly neighbour, the friend. There are relationships between groups and organisations: the school, the sports club, the craft group, the marae, the church, community organisations and government services.

The more relationships that are woven together, the more resilient the community can be. Healthy communities are made up of a weave of ‘invisible threads’ – the threads are interconnected and represent relationships and lives. Communities provide a place of belonging and identity, hence the imagery of the woven whāriki in Diagram 1.

A sense of connection to place and ongoing connection to communities is important for youth development. Also important are opportunities for young people to use their assets, strengths and skills by participating in, contributing to, and taking leadership of valued community activities. Communities that create supportive and enriching environments for young people help contribute to positive outcomes while also reducing negative outcomes. It is recognised that there is a need to blend universal approaches (that focus on all young people) with approaches that target young people facing extra challenges.

“Greetings to all people … my strength is not that of the individual but that of the many.”

Robyn Kahukiwa – Artist

2 Tūrangawaewae can be broken into two words: tūranga (standing place) and waewae (feet). A person’s Tūrangawaewae is their ‘place to stand’, where they feel connected and empowered. Often a person’s Tūrangawaewae is their home.

Whānau

The importance of whānau as a key protective factor for rangatahi is well documented in research and Māori models of wellbeing [5]. These models illustrate the value of whānau, relationships with parents, siblings and cousins and the support and nurture from several generations of extended whānau, hapū and iwi.The contribution the extended whānau makes to the wellbeing of a young person can often be invisible or undervalued [6].

Whakapapa

Whakapapa is traditionally used to describe genealogical ancestral lineages and connections to, and interconnection between, whānau, hapū and iwi [7]. Whakapapa captures the stories of descendants, their connection to waka, whenua and specific geographical features within that region such as awa/moana, maunga, marae/whare tupuna, and the events that have shaped history [8]. Whakapapa shapes a young person’s identity and belonging, it is the back story of their existence, their place in the present, their connection to the past and the future.

Whenua

Central to Māori identity is the importance of whenua. In this context, whenua means not just the land, but the stories, histories and connections embedded in that place. The significance of whenua is reflected in the term ‘tāngata whenua’ people of the land [9]. Many young Māori have become disconnected from their whenua through urbanisation and colonisation, finding their tūrangawaewae is an important part of strengthening cultural identity.

When we talk about communities, it is important to remember that youth identities are diverse, and young people can belong to many different communities and cultures, not just their local neighbourhood. This should be encouraged and celebrated. The journey to adulthood often involves young people exploring where they fit in multiple worlds. Ensuring that young people have opportunities to identify and connect with multiple communities is an important part of a strengths–based approach. This may involve young people choosing to connect with organisations and communities that work specifically with diverse cultural identities including gender diverse, disability and diverse, faith-based and ethnic groups.

The ngahere or native bush is a great metaphor for demonstrating the diversity of a community. The bush is an ecosystem, a thriving community made up of hundreds of different types of flora and fauna – all of which are different but reliant on one another to thrive. The role of organisational support At times rangatahi, whānau, hapū, iwi and hapori are in need of support. There are organisations within communities whose purpose is to support rangatahi, whānau, hapū, iwi and hapori to achieve their aspirations. Examples of these organisations include social, education and community services, youth development programmes and justice.

The role of every organisation should be to build community capacity and empower agency, rather than maintaining dependency on the organisation. Agency refers to the ability for rangatahi, whānau, hapū, iwi and hapori to have power over their own lives. Developing agency is an important part of adolescence. Agency can be enacted through decision making, where young people influence or make decisions about issues that affect them and that are important to them [8 p. 35]. New Zealand research [22] undertaken with young people who were involved with multiple services (e.g. including social, education, justice and community services and youth development programmes) described three parts to agency:

Making sense of the world.
Having a voice and being heard.
Acting on and contributing to the world.

It is important to work in ways that supports the agency of rangatahi, whānau, hapū, iwi and hapori to assist with making connections and weaving those invisible threads, supporting young people to find their place, participate, and be heard.

This support may be provided by a range of people and services – as shown by the layers in Diagram 6.

In, with and around the community

Different people and services have different roles in supporting the healthy development of young people depending on where they sit in the community in relation to the young person. These people and services can be distinguished as being 'in’ the community with the young person, ‘with’ the community or ‘around’ the community.

A key question for anyone working with a young person is “what hat am I wearing/what role am I playing and is it in the ‘in’, ‘with’ or ‘around’ space?”. This position can change over time and depends greatly on the circumstances, so it is important to be aware of the boundaries of each. It is possible to be ‘in’ in one context, ‘with’ in another and ‘around’ in another.

Diagram 6: The Role of Organisational Support in the PYDA Framework – In, With and Around

Reflective Questions

One

Who in your organisation whakapapa to local Iwi? How do you value and acknowledge the contribution they’re making within a cultural context?

Two

What is your organisation’s whakapapa to local Iwi? What do you do or what can you do to uphold and acknowledge mana whenua?

Three

What communities and subcultures are important to the young people that you are working with? What does it mean to work respectfully with these communities to best support young people?

Four

Do you work with Māori young people and know where they whakapapa to? How do you support and value the connection of those young people to whānau (people and place)?

Five

In the context of bicultural Aotearoa, how does your practice embody the principles in Te Tiriti o Waitangi? What pūrākau (traditional narratives and stories which generate knowledge and understanding) and waiata do you know and how do you embed these in your practice?

Ideas in Action

Ideas in Action are models, frameworks, cultural narratives and practice philosophies that support practice.

Leon and Taylor

Case study two –

Leon and Taylor talk about community youth participation and youth advocacy.

They were able to contribute in an interagency process as valued stakeholders, liaise with the wider youth sector and ensure a youth perspective was included in the decision making process. The narrative demonstrates the importance of youth participation in the wider community.

Read the case study

“When e-scooters, Lime scooters in particular, were introduced to Christchurch, they started by doing a short 2-month trial over summer. A reference group with different stakeholders was formed to have discussions around what it might look like and what rules and regulations they wanted in place, should that trial be extended. In this group they had representatives from the Police, ACC, CDHB, St John, Age Concern, the Blind Foundation and a few people from the Christchurch City Council. We were asked to be on the group to share the youth of Christchurch’s voice on the topic, after we did our most recent online survey and some face-to-face surveys with people out in the community.

It was important that we were around the table. I suppose we (youth) were a key stakeholder, who would probably be using the e-scooters and that voice wasn’t represented in the other people around the table.

To capture a youth perspective, we had a day where we went out into our community and surveyed young people across Canterbury and Christchurch. We also discussed it at youth council meetings with the group as well. Those surveys had a few clear messages coming through, so it was quite easy to represent what young people were thinking. The feedback we received on the e-scooter trial, as well as the feelings of the youth council, was brought to the reference group. The reference group process wasn’t youth led; we were there as people who were supporting the voice and we weren’t leading the group. But we definitely felt like equals. They definitely gave us the opportunity to speak. They asked us for our opinion and we felt comfortable to say our opinion when the time came.

However, one of the challenges of the group was – we would go into a meeting and points were raised, and then they would turn to us and ask, “What do young people think about it?”. But we didn’t have time to get young people’s opinions on it. Yet, they just wanted an answer then and there, which was quite hard, ‘cos I’m then just giving my own opinion, I’m not giving the opinion of young people. If they had said, “Can we discuss this at next meeting and how can we support you to get the voices of young people for that next meeting?” that would probably have been easier, rather than just asking us for the opinion then and there.

Overall, we think it went quite well. When you get that many stakeholders around a table though, you’re always going to have differing ideas around things. We don’t know if we arrived at too many conclusions that everyone agreed on, but we had some really good discussions, and everyone was aware of what everyone else was thinking. There were a few people around the table who had opposing views. We feel there was more of that side.

We learned more about reference groups, that we do have a voice and that we do have the power to share the youth voice in Christchurch. That was definitely a good opportunity for us to develop ourselves in that manner. It also highlighted the importance of having youth on those boards. If we weren’t there, possibly those views wouldn’t have been represented. The young people we had spoken to were predominantly positive about the Lime Scooters. Young people were a key stakeholder, key people who would use the e-scooters and to have their voice represented in the decision-making was important.

It almost felt like if that youth voice wasn’t there, it possibly could have been forgotten or not considered.”

Practitioners’ Perspectives

Case study two –

Outcome 2 - Connected Communities

Weaving with the three key approaches

Strengths-based

The inclusion of the young people as equals around this table recognises the value and perspectives that young people bring to their communities. The young people were able to enhance the mana of the reference group, and further develop their own strengths by consulting their peers and including the voices of many other young people in the community.

Respectful relationships

The young people involved in the reference group were connected back to their own youth council and a youth worker for extra support. The other members of the reference group asked the young people questions and they felt able to give their opinions.

Building ownership and empowerment

This was demonstrated by the young people’s initiative to include other youth voices in the process. The young people identified the challenge of being expected to be able to speak for all young people without having the opportunity to consult. If the reference group process had included the opportunity to consult with more young people in its process, this would have further built ownership and empowerment.

The young people acknowledged that there were varying voices around the table, and limited times when everyone around the table agreed. However, the young people were satisfied with their role, were active participants and played a role that was meaningful.

Relevance for funders / policy makers

Young people and communities influence each other, and connected communities require positive youth development practices from many different people and organisations. There are many policies and frameworks that guide how young people are able to be active participants in their communities, and the three key approaches in this document are useful guides to what needs to be included. It is important to recognise the needs of the young people as separate from the needs of the group, and be able to understand which needs drive the action or agenda.

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Developing Connected Communities

Relationships with tangata whenua and mana whenua