In brief:
Regeneration begins with people and place. Climate Action Tai Tokerau supports a regional transition toward a regenerative economy – one that restores ecosystems, strengthens communities, and improves health and wellbeing.
We do this by acting as a transition steward: building the relationships, coordination, and shared frameworks needed for long-term systems change, grounded in mātauranga Māori and place-based knowledge.
Our role: Transition stewardship
CATT is not a service provider or a project delivery agency in the conventional sense.
Our role is to act as a regional transition steward – convening people, knowledge, and initiatives across climate, food systems, land use, health, and community development, and helping align them toward shared long-term outcomes.
We focus on building the enabling infrastructure for change, including:
- Trusted relationships across sectors and communities
- Shared frameworks and language for regeneration
- Coordination mechanisms that reduce fragmentation
- Pathways that weave mātauranga Māori, earth-systems science, and local lived knowledge into place-based action
- Space for Indigenous and community leadership.
This work is essential to systems change – and is often invisible, undervalued, and underfunded.
Why Te Tai Tokerau?
Te Tai Tokerau is one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most environmentally rich and culturally significant regions. It is also one of the most economically marginalised and climatically vulnerable.
The region has:
- A strong Māori presence and leadership
- Large areas of productive land with regenerative potential
- Deep community knowledge and innovation
- Significant health and equity challenges shaped by food systems
This combination makes Te Tai Tokerau both highly vulnerable – and uniquely positioned to become a living example of regenerative transition with relevance far beyond the region.
How we work
Our work is guided by several core principles:
- Indigenous leadership and worldview
Mātauranga Māori and relational ways of understanding land, people, and future generations are foundational, not supplementary. - Systems thinking
We move beyond single metrics or sector silos to address soils, water, climate, biodiversity, health, and social cohesion as an integrated whole. - Pre-competitive collaboration
We support shared infrastructure and coordination that benefits farmers, communities, and regions without undermining autonomy. - Place-based learning
What works here is shaped by this place — and offers insights for other regions facing similar challenges.
Climate Action Tai Tokerau 
Dear people,
thank you very much for this brilliant and crucial work!
Rob de Laet
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