Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau – AUT has undergone a transformational journey towards aligning with Te Tiriti o Waitangi. As a Crown entity, AUT has a duty to actively promote and protect Tiriti rights and develop education settings that reflect Māori-Crown relationships.
AUT plays a critical role in shaping Aotearoa New Zealand. To ensure a thriving Aotearoa New Zealand for all, we need to acknowledge and redress the enduring harms of colonisation and racism, and all forms of discrimination by creating an environment in which tangata whenua succeed alongside tangata Tiriti and to ensure that we understand how we work together to achieve that. Te Tiriti o Waitangi guides us in this work.
AUT has a role and responsibility to support the aspirations of Māori. AUT is committed to an ongoing relationship of mutual benefit for all – tangata whenua and tangata Tiriti. We are committed to upholding Te Tiriti for the benefit of all the communities we serve – mō ngā mokopuna me ngā uri katoa.
Our name, Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau, reflects our mission and purpose:
Therefore, Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau is a space that celebrates the pursuit of knowledge and embraces new realisations that reflect our world, which is meaningful, impactful, and transformative for collective wellbeing and growth.
The framework is a confident response to our commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and seeks to enable us to give life to Tiriti honouring actions. Importantly the framework responds to the National Education and Learning Priorities (NELP) and the Tertiary Education Strategy (TES) 2020. Te Aronui was developed and co-designed by AUT staff throughout 2022, engaging with tangata whenua and other key stakeholders of the university.
The vision of the framework is to see a culture within AUT that views Te Tiriti as an opportunity to grow and prosper as a university; providing a strategic foundation for faculties and schools, and central service units to support the formulation of strategic and operational plans to enhance positive outcomes for Māori and the wider AUT whānau.
The vision of Te Aronui is to see a culture within AUT that views Te Tiriti as an opportunity to grow and prosper as a university.