Para Kore
About Us
Ka pūtake mai ngā akoranga me ngā kaupapa ka kōkirihia e mātou i te tirohanga Māori, hei whakau i te hononga ki a Ranginui rāua ko Papatūānuku.
We educate and advocate from a Māori worldview to strengthen connection to Ranginui and Papatūānuku.
Our Story
Early conversations that started the Para Kore journey were initiated by Waikato Regional Council staffers Gannin Ormsby and Susa Kupa who had wanted to help marae with waste minimisation.
Gannin called hui in 2008 wanting to talk about marae recycling and that was from him going to hui and seeing how much rubbish there was.
Others came on board, including Eric Pene from the Tribal Development Unit of Waikato Raupatu Lands Trust, Pine Campbell a founder of Xtreme Zero Waste, Carol Henry from Waikato Regional Council and Marianna Tyler from GreenUp Ltd.
Working in education at Xtreme Zero Waste at the time, Jacqui was invited and through pestering from Rick Thorpe, Jacqui agreed to take part in the development and implementation of the project. Not long after, at the request of the steering committee, Xtreme Zero Waste applied to the Sustainable Management Fund (SMF) and thereby became the project coordinator of Para Kore.
The following year, with Sustainable Management Fund funding, a pilot programme took place at Raglan’s Poihakena Marae, Tūrangawaewae Marae in Ngāruawāhia and Kirikiriroa Marae, the largest urban marae in Hamilton.
Not satisfied with driving a recycling kaupapa, the steering committee consisting of Jacqui, Carol, Marianna and Pine set a goal, that by 2020 all marae of Aotearoa are working towards zero waste.
Innovative education within the framework of kaupapa and tikanga Māori
Para Kore empowers and supports marae and organisations across Aotearoa to reduce waste through the delivery of innovative education and support within the frameworks of kaupapa and tikanga Māori.
Our Vision
Pae Tawhiti
Oranga Taiao, Oranga Marae, Oranga Whānau
Para Kore embraces the tikanga of caring for Ranginui and Papatūānuku. Sending waste to landfills or holes, burning rubbish and littering is a waste of valuable resources, pollutes our environment and is harmful to us all.
Closed Loop Living
Para Kore is working towards embedding zero waste, closed loop living within marae and Māori communities across Aotearoa–putting everything in the same black rubbish bag, burning or burying waste out the back is no longer acceptable.
Collective Action
We support indigenous values of kaitiakitanga, whilst recognising the systematic oppression of Māori and the dominant paradigm. Our focus is collective action, rather than individual.