OUR APPROACH
The Auckland Co-Design Lab
The Southern Initiative (TSI) established the Auckland Co-Design Lab, widely recognised for its methodologies and frameworks to address complex social and economic issues. Through research, experimentation, and cross-sector collaboration, the Co-Design Lab applies a systems-thinking approach to co-design solutions. It plays a pivotal role in shaping our approach to breaking systemic barriers to equity.
Our 6 Guiding Pillars
1. Context-Driven Innovation
Innovation must be deeply connected to people and place, especially in South and West Auckland. Solutions must respond to the realities of communities, adapting to their changing needs and challenges.
2. Participatory Approaches
Shifting power to communities is essential for systems change. Through co-design and collaboration, community worldviews shape solutions, ensuring whānau and local partners are central to creating sustainable outcomes.
3. Evidence-BAsed Methodologies
Effective solutions are grounded in theories of change, data, research, and lived experiences. Testing, learning, and iterating in real-world settings generates practice-based evidence for systemic transformation.
4. Māori and Pasifika Leadership
Culturally grounded, values-based leadership drives meaningful change. Māori and Pasifika-led teams ensure solutions are developed by and for those most affected by inequities, fostering community-driven progress.
5. Systems Change for Social Equity
Achieving equity requires rethinking how systems function and upholding Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations. Long-term transformation is necessary to break cycles of disadvantage and reduce reliance on social safety nets.
6. Indigenous Frameworks
Indigenous knowledge provides holistic, intergenerational solutions that strengthen resilience, wellbeing, and prosperity. These frameworks guide TSI’s work in navigating complexity and driving change.
Indigenous Frameworks
Hautū Waka
Our practice is deeply navigational; wayfinding through the complexity of systems to build intergenerational equity and wellbeing. Much of our work is discovering the tools to navigate in indigenous practice, science, design and whatever works for what we need. Hautū Waka is a navigational framework rooted in mātauranga Māori and can be used as a tool to help navigate complexity.
Te Tokotoru
Te Tokotoru represents the three interconnected dimensions of strengthening, healing and responding. Te Tokotoru emerged from work to identify the conditions that enable communities to be well. It is informed by the work of Māori and Pasifika practitioners, researchers and providers around what matters and makes a difference to whānau and ‘aiga.
Niho Taniwha
Our work is about reconnecting to tangata whenua and Pasifika innovation to support social and economic transformation. The Niho Taniwha model is a values-led set of practices that weave learning and evaluation through the innovation process. It is developed from working with whānau, communities and systems. It is grounded in Aotearoa and draws respectfully from mātauranga Māori.