At its core, Aotearoa New Zealand’s housing crisis is not about houses, but about the way we think about wealth, community, ourselves and our neighbours, the economy, education system, and much more. The only solutions to this problem involve everyone.

How We Live - Creating Housing That Puts People and the Planet First is a report led by sustainability and ethical business champion MOTIF Agency and commissioned by the PIF Foundation, and represents a co-created response to concern for Aotearoa’s housing ecosystem after the COVID-19 crisis.

Ben Preston, How We Live co-author, says: “This is a problem fraught with complexities and one that we’d have solved by now if existing approaches and understanding were sufficient.

“Our report provides a starting point for accelerating the Collective Housing sector in New Zealand and we want to create a platform for ongoing dialogue through our website: www.howwelive.co.nz,” Ben Preston says.

Building on Counterfutures 2020 issue on housing, How We Live researchers have adopted the term ‘Collective Housing’ to capture the overarching intent to move away from ‘built houses’, towards a holistic model that enables communities to actively participate in the co-creation of homes that regenerate their spirit and their environment.

The vision of How We Live is that in 2030, all New Zealanders live in communities they feel connected to, in deep connection with the land and natural environment they are supported by.

Helmut Modlik, CEO of Ngati Toa, says: “New Zealanders were reminded in 2020 of the truth of the Māori whakatauākī Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini! ‘My strength is not that of a single warrior but that of many!’

“While the influential leadership of our Prime Minister was key, it was the unified power of New Zealand’s ‘team of 5 million’ that defeated the pandemic. We did it then, and we can do it again and defeat the curse of homelessness among our people. Kia kaha, kia maia, kia manawanui!"

The research paves the way for sustainable solutions that can be discovered and re-discovered as circumstances evolve over time. More so than that, How We Live aims to catalyse a cross-sectional approach to honestly identifying the complex, interconnected factors behind Aotearoa’s housing crisis, acknowledging these are linked to affordability issues, rapid population growth, legislative and regulatory challenges and damaging impacts on the environment.

The How We Live report will be followed by a practical guide - the How We Live Workbook. The guide allows those who want to take a different path to share their journey and learn from those who are already on the pathway. Essentially, it is a blueprint for actualising a Collective Housing project, complemented by step-by-step guidance and a knowledge-sharing library.

The How We Live report is attracting intense interest from a wide range of stakeholders, including policy makers like the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA), the Ministry for Housing and Urban Development and Kāinga Ora.

The report is attracting intense interest from a wide range of stakeholders, including policy makers like the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA), the Ministry for Housing and Urban Development and Kāinga Ora, and grassroots organisations like The Housing Innovation Society, Community Housing Aotearoa, the Society for Cooperative Housing NZ and Wellington City Mission.

About MOTIF Agency

About How We Live

About PIF Foundation

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