Professor of Indigenous Planning Hirini Matunga has been awarded the honorary title of Emeritus Professor at Te Whare Wānaka o Aoraki Lincoln University.
The honour has been conferred on Professor Matunga (pictured) in recognition of his international influence, reputation and achievement in Indigenous self-determination through planning, design, environmental management and policy analysis and Indigenous people’s experience.
Professor Matunga is leaving his role in April after a 43-year career, having graduated with a Bachelor’s in Town Planning from Auckland University in 1983. After working as a planner specialising in Māori issues at various councils, Professor Matunga joined Lincoln University as a senior lecturer in 1992. He later became Director of the Centre for Māori and Indigenous Planning and Development (renamed Te Whanake in 2008).
After nine years as Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Māori and Pasifika) and additional time serving as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Communities), Professor Matunga chose to step away from senior leadership to focus on teaching and research.
“I felt I could contribute significantly to the research and teaching in Māori planning, policy, resource management, heritage and design, so I joined the Department of Environmental Management,” says Professor Matunga.
“My research focus is on Māori self-determination through planning, design, environmental management and policy analysis. I’ve always felt a deep obligation to bring my own experiences and those of many Māori communities into my research and teaching, in the hope of offering practical solutions and possibilities for resolution.”
Professor Matunga has had a significant international impact. He wrote the First Code of Ethics adopted by the World Archaeological Congress in Venezuela in 1990, which to this day remains unchanged and guides archaeologists’ work with indigenous peoples worldwide.
“Over the past 20-plus years, I’ve taken my experiences as a Māori planner in Aotearoa and extended these principles into the practice of indigenous planning internationally,” he says.
“My desire has been to flip the script – shifting planning from a tool for oppression to one that enables emancipation from ongoing colonialism in its many forms. Indigenous peoples are the first planners, so to speak, and I have been joined by many others to grow a global indigenous planning movement. Of note, the 2nd Global Conference on Indigenous Planning- Reclaimed will be held in Auckland next year.”
The University says his impact on planning students here in Aotearoa is undeniable, as evidenced by his 2000 book chapter, Decolonising planning: The Treaty of Waitangi, the environment and a dual planning tradition. In 2013, he also wrote the influential introductory chapter Theorising Indigenous Planning in Reclaiming Indigenous Planning which theorises the concept of indigenous planning both as a process and an outcome.
Professor Matunga’s contribution as co-author of the journal article Indigenous Planning: from Principles to Practice, in which he wrote the section A Revolutionary Pedagogy of/for Indigenous Planning, published in Planning Theory & Practice, has been viewed over 50,000 times.
“I have found it deeply fulfilling to further understanding of Māori planning practice, drawing on knowledge gathered over many years working in local, regional, central and iwi government,” says Professor Matunga.
“My career has coincided with major reforms in resource, coastal, heritage management and local government. Throughout this time, there has been ongoing concern around the place of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in these processes, with many Waitangi tribunal claims justifiably advocating tino rangatiratanga (Māori sovereignty). These concerns remain highly relevant today.”
Acknowledging his leadership and considerable contribution to Māori and Indigenous teaching, research and university management, Lincoln University awarded Professor Matunga the prestigious Ngāti Moki Trophy for Māori Leadership in 2024.
He has received many other honours during his long and influential career. In 2015, he was presented with the New Zealand Planning Institute’s (NZPI) Papa Pounamu Award for Outstanding Service to Māori Environmental Planning and Resource Management by the Minister for Māori Development. In 2021, he was an advisor and mentor to the project Planning for Equitable and Inclusive Cities and Human Settlements – Te Whaihanga, New Zealand (Ako Aotearoa, Auckland Council, Te Hana Te Ao Marama), which received an Outstanding Planning Achievement award from the Commonwealth Association of Planners.
In 2022, Professor Matunga received the NZPI John Mawson Award for Merit for his contribution to the authorial team behind the work Mana whenua engagement in crown and local authority-initiated environmental planning processes: A critique based on the perspectives of Ngāi Tahu environmental kaitiaki.
“I’ve had many career highlights over the years. Of particular importance are the many messages I’ve received from former students, thanking me for my teaching or for the reports I’ve written that helped shape their careers. I am proud of the impact I have made,” he said.
Emeritus Professor Matunga was formally recognised for his outstanding contribution to Lincoln University at a function hosted on campus on 30 April.
