Early Years Wānanga Report

In June 2024, 60 community innovators, from 17 community organisations leading health promotion projects that support whānau wellbeing across Aotearoa, came together with the Te Whatu Ora Health Promotion Early Years team to wānanga. The wānanga, facilitated by TSI’s Tamariki Wellbeing team, created an opportunity to articulate how the system might better support māmā, pēpi and whānau in the early years.

This report captures key insights from community leaders on how we can meet the needs of whānau. This work demonstrates that when government trusts community to design their own solutions, we can address issues that the system has struggled to solve. The reports details insights about what makes community-led innovations successful, and what the enablers and barriers are.

TSI would like to thank Te Whatu Ora and the kaupapa partners for the opportunity to support this mahi and bring the insights from the wānanga to life through this report. We are hugely grateful for the efforts of the four kaupapa partners (from Mamia, Māmā Neke Maunga, Whare Manaaki and E Tipu E Rea Whānau Services) who were part of the design team for the wānanga, and who helped review and shape this document to ensure it was tika to what participants shared and the insights that emerged. A huge thank you also to the League of Live Illustrators for bringing the report to life.

Ka nui te mihi ki a koutou katoa.