‘Strengthening community from the inside out’: Transformative possibility for climate change resilience and adaptation in Te Awa Kairangi-Hutt City Kaitlyn Coury Simon A thesis submitted to Victoria University of Wellington as partial fulfilment of requirements for the degree of Master of Environmental Studies School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences Te Whare Wānanga o te Ūpoko o te Ika a Māui–Victoria University of Wellington March 2019 Strengthening community from the inside out comes from Common Unity Project Aotearoa’s “Why we’re here” webpage. Title image: Te Puni and The ReMakery front entrance (Unless otherwise noted, all images are my own.) ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I acknowledge tangata whenua and mana whenua as kaitiaki of the land I stand on. I acknowledge tino rangatiratanga and recognise that my fulfilment of a master’s degree occurs on occupied land. Thank you to the people of Common Unity Project Aotearoa, who have inspired me and sparked joy through their learning and sharing. Thank you to the Deep South Challenge-Adaptive Communities research project and Victoria University of Wellington for helping to fund this research. To Amanda and Gradon, who have made this research experience one of empowerment, learning and fun. Thank you for your thoughtful and caring guidance. To my family living, Mom, Linda, Aunt Cheryl and Conor, and passed, Aunt Mickey, Sitto and Giddo. The joy and privilege I have in writing these words is made possible by your dedication to hard work, your fierce support of family and your value of education. My work is your work. Finally, to Sitto, my grandmother. I dedicate this thesis to you and carry you in my heart. iii ABSTRACT How do we organise society and adjust our human relationships with the natural environment to adapt to a changing climate? How do we decide to make these adjustments? These questions shape Aotearoa-New Zealand climate change discourse across adaptation research and central and local government policy. A resilience approach to adaptation is one conceptual response that has gained popularity over the past decade. However, some critical geographers argue that the dominant typologies of resilience have been normalised as neoliberal capitalist strategies and positioned as ‘neutral processes’, and that these strategies can perpetuate inequity and unsustainability. Critical geographers therefore suggest focusing on addressing the root causes of inequity and unsustainability through transformative resilience and adaptation. This research builds on critical geography work by exploring how Common Unity Project Aotearoa (CUPA), a charitable trust located in Te Awa Kairangi-Hutt City, is fostering a community that understands and performs transformative possibilities for resilience and adaptation. For community members of CUPA, ethical actions of a community economy, a process of collective learning and an ability to make sustainability accessible contribute to transformative adaptation and resilience. Exploration of these themes provides a grounded example of how communities can adapt to climate change in ways that also seek to transform inequitable and unsustainable capitalist relations with one another and with the natural environment. CUPA’s transformative work poses implications for councils and decision-makers seeking to build resilience and the capacity to adapt in community, offering alternate possibility for discourse, decision-making, participation and engagement. I approach this project as a scholar-activist in recognition that research is a performative, political act. Through a scholar-activist methodology I use participant observation and interviews to gather insight and information. I ground my critical geography lens in care in order to contribute to a knowledge- iv making around climate change based in possibility and multiplicity, rather than of authority and judgement. Key words: climate change, adaptation, resilience, transformative, diverse economies, community economy, community development, Aotearoa, New Zealand v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................................ III ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................................... IV LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ......................................................................................................... IX LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................ X LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................................ XI GLOSSARY ...................................................................................................................................... XII CHAPTER 1 THE RESEARCH.................................................................................................... 1 1.1 INTRODUCTION: A RESILIENCE APPROACH TO ADAPTATION ..................... 1 1.1.1 LEARNING RESILIENCE AND ADAPTATION ........................................................................... 3 1.1.2 INDIGENEITY, RESILIENCE AND MĀTAURANGA MĀORI .......................................................... 4 1.2 THEORETICAL GROUNDING AND RATIONALE: UNLEARNING AND RELEARNING RESILIENCE .................................................................................................... 6 1.2.1 UNLEARNING RESILIENCE AND ADAPTATION ....................................................................... 6 1.2.2 RELEARNING RESILIENCE AND ADAPTATION ........................................................................ 9 1.3 GAP, GUIDING QUESTION AND AIMS ..................................................................... 10 1.4 THESIS STRUCTURE ...................................................................................................... 12 CHAPTER 2 TE AWA KAIRANGI-HUTT CITY AND THE CHANGING CLIMATE...................................................................................................... 14 2.1 INTRODUCING COMMON UNITY PROJECT AOTEAROA .................................. 14 2.1.1 NAU MAI HAERE MAI, WELCOME TO THE REMAKERY ......................................................... 14 2.1.2 MORE ABOUT CUPA .................................................................................................. 19 2.2 INTRODUCING TE AWA KAIRANGI-HUTT CITY ................................................. 22 2.2.1 HISTORY ................................................................................................................... 23 2.2.2 CURRENT PHYSICAL AND HUMAN LANDSCAPES ................................................................. 25 2.3 CLIMATE CHANGE HAZARDS .................................................................................... 28 2.4 CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION ............................................................................ 30 2.4.1 GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE AND CURRENT UNDERSTANDINGS ............................................... 30 2.4.2 IMPLEMENTING ADAPTATION ........................................................................................ 33 2.5 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................... 35 CHAPTER 3 THE RESEARCH PROCESS AND COMMON UNITY PROJECT AOTEAROA ................................................................................................................................... 36 3.1 INTRODUCING MYSELF, THE RESEARCHER: EPISTEMOLOGY AND POSITIONALITY ...................................................................................................................... 36 3.2 WORKING WITH AND FOR CUPA: A SCHOLAR-ACTIVIST APPROACH ..... 38 3.2.1 METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK ...................................................................................... 39 3.2.2 WEAVING IN REFLEXIVITY ................................................................................................ 40 vi 3.3 GATHERING INFORMATION: OBSERVING, DOING AND LISTENING ......... 41 3.3.1 PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION ............................................................................................. 41 3.3.2 ‘SITTING DOWN AND TALKING’, SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS.............................................. 42 3.4 WHERE DATA MEETS THE LITERATURE: THEMATIC ANALYSIS .............. 43 3.4.1 TRANSCRIBING .............................................................................................................. 43 3.4.2 THEMATIC CODING ........................................................................................................ 44 3.4.3 SELECTION FOR FINAL INCLUSION ...................................................................................... 45 3.5 FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS AND LIMITATIONS ............................................ 45 3.6 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................... 46 CHAPTER 4 WITHIN AND BEYOND CAPITALISM: COMMUNITY ECONOMY 47 4.1 BEYOND CAPITALISM: SURVIVING TOGETHER WELL AND EQUITABLY 48 4.1.1 SURVIVING TOGETHER WELL............................................................................................. 48 4.1.2 SURVIVING WELL TOGETHER, AND EQUITABLY ...................................................................... 54 4.2 BEYOND CAPITALISM: CREATING COMMONS ................................................... 56