G.I.F.T has supported Blake to develop and lead NZ-VR - a 360 virtual reality marine experience to engage a wide and diverse audience in understanding and caring for our marine environment around the Hauraki Gulf. The NZ-VR series is a 360 virtual reality marine experience to engage a wide and diverse audience within the Hauraki Gulf. It also allows viewers to develop an emotional connection to the environment and a desire to act. The GIFT team spoke to Blake’s Kaihautu Māori Manager Leigh Takirau who, is leading the mahi with taitamariki and rangatahi.
Ko Waikato raua ko Mangawara ōku awa
Ko Tikapā raua ko Hokianga ōku moana
Ko Hapuakohe raua ko Whakatere ōku maunga
Ko Waiti raua ko Tuhirangi ōku marae
Ko Ngāti Makirangi raua ko Te Māhurehure ōku hapū
Ko Ngāti Paoa rātou ko Ngāti Whatua ki Ōrakei, Ko Ngāpuhi ōku iwi
Ko Leigh Takirau tōku ingoa
Kia ora e te whānau,
I am Leigh Takirau, the Kaihautu Māori Manager at BLAKE, formerly The Sir Peter Blake Trust. I am honoured to hold this exciting role and have been in the position since July 2020. It has been an amazing experience connecting with iwi and communities to support positive outcomes and working closely with taitamariki and rangatahi. Prior to working at BLAKE, I was positioned at Te Puna Mātauranga ō Aotearoa ki Tāmaki Mākaurau providing reading, digital literacy advice and resources to schools around the country. I continue my role as a kaiako teaching te reo Māori and tikanga within an Auckland school. Rawe!
My passion has always been to work with our taitamariki to help inspire leadership under the values of Te Ao Māori. Learning through the realms of mātauranga Māori to demonstrate kaitiakitanga is a fantastic way to encourage sustainable activity for future generations. Being able to align my personal values with my professional career has been enriching, and I have had the chance to connect with many people who are fierce kaitiaki in their fields. We are noticing a shift taking place among our primary and secondary students, who are becoming more informed about the state of te taiao. But it’s not just an increased level of awareness, they want to progress action to save and improve its health. Tamariki and rangatahi today are extraordinarily progressive and conscious. It is awesome to work in a space that helps encourage this.
BLAKE provides an underwater virtual reality (VR) programme into schools, run in partnership with New Zealand Geographic and supported by Foundation North’s G.I.F.T and several other funders, and I am thrilled to lead the Māori adaptation of this. The Māori version of the programme is delivered in te reo, and utilises a range of Māori concepts including pūrakau, rahui and whakatauāki, to deliver a more relevant and meaningful experience for tamariki Māori. We also acknowledge that kura will have different requirements and expectations, so we are working collaboratively to ensure the programme is flexible to accommodate all of our people!
Wearing VR headsets, students experience a range of local underwater environments through 360˚ videos that have been filmed by New Zealand Geographic. The programme enables students to compare and contrast healthy marine ecosystems with damaged ones. We also encourage discussion from these observations where students learn about the causes of the damage and what action they can take as young kaitiaki in our mission to protect and enhance our marine environment.
This experience is awesome, it’s special to witness young people react to what they’re experiencing through the VR headsets. It’s truly unique!
Over 30,000 students have already experienced NZ-VR in schools across Auckland, through BLAKE’s hour-long mediated experience. We now have availability for kura and Māori immersion units across Auckland to experience the Māori version of NZ-VR in terms 2 and 3, and we are keen to reach as many students as possible. So if you know of a kura or a Māori immersion unit that would be keen to experience NZ-VR they can find out more at www.blakenz.org/programmes/blake-nz-vr/. I would also love to connect with community in this space and always keen to kōrero over a coffee or cup of tea and a ginger nut.
Ngā mihinui
Leigh x