Te Whakaoranga o Te Puhinui

We were privileged to be a part of the Puhinui regeneration charter, it has given us the opportunity to connect to the whenua and value the whakapapa of the Puhinui stream.

The regeneration of the Puhinui project was one of the ways our team formed. Before TTR came to shape, we were a part of a 10-week programme to learn about co-design as year 13 graduates. We were introduced to Panuku and the project they held to restore the mauri of the Puhinui. This was the first time we learned about the Puhinui stream, a treasure, hidden and neglected. We learned to use the Hautu-waka to identify the issues keeping the stream in an ill state and potential solutions to bring back the mauri of the Puhinui, this was our first project.

Contributing to the restoration of the mauri of Te Puhinui brought to us many opportunities including Te Puhinui big clean up (a complete eye opener), our first presentation to the PM – Jacinda Ardern and Te Whakaoranga o Te Puhinui.

This special occasion took place at the Auckland botanical gardens with children performing a heart-warming kapa-haka, reuniting with people we worked with during the course and connecting with different people across council who are helping bring back life into Te Puhinui.

- Jen Benjamin (Junior Designer)