Best for
Week 1 action project launch — establishing team, selecting an environmental issue, and planning your 6-week intervention and data collection approach.
Environmental Mātauranga • Unit 9 Week 1 • Years 7–10 • Assessment template
Environmental Action Project Planning Template
Plan your Taiao Guardians project. Your roadmap for creating real environmental change — grounded in both mātauranga Māori and scientific approaches.
Free planning template, premium localisation path
If you want this template adapted to your specific rohe — including iwi consultation contacts, local council reporting formats, and community partner networks — Te Wānanga can localise it for your context.
- Adapt planning phases to your kura's timetable and assessment schedule.
- Integrate local hapū/iwi environmental priorities into the project focus.
- Track project milestones and community engagement in My Kete.
Kaiako planning snapshot
- Use length: 60–90 minutes to complete Phase 1 planning; return across the unit for phases 2–3.
- Grouping: Groups of 3–4. Assign roles explicitly — project lead, data manager, community liaison, documentation.
- Prep: Walk audit zones in advance. Have a list of local permission contacts ready. Check council bylaws for any intervention types that require approval.
- Differentiation: Entry groups select from a narrowed list of pre-approved issues; on-level groups self-select; extension groups may propose novel interventions requiring staff sign-off.
- Neurodiversity support: Break the template into one section per session. Verbal planning allowed — students dictate to a scribe before writing.
Resources already provided
- Three-phase project structure — investigation, implementation, impact assessment
- Week-by-week timeline with milestone checkpoints
- Team roles and community engagement planning
- Dual-lens integration — mātauranga Māori and scientific methods
- Final presentation planning with multiple format options
- Teacher-only curriculum companion available
All planning sections and milestone checkpoints are provided. Build from the Environmental Audit Guide findings — students should have a prioritised issue before completing this template.
Ngā Whāinga Akoranga / Learning Intentions
- We are learning to plan a real environmental action that integrates both scientific and mātauranga Māori approaches.
- We are learning to think systematically about phases of environmental change — investigation, intervention, and impact measurement.
- We are learning to take responsibility for kaitiakitanga through sustained community action.
Paearu Angitu / Success Criteria
- I can clearly describe the environmental issue my team has chosen and why it matters.
- I can explain how both scientific data and mātauranga Māori will guide our intervention.
- I can plan how we will measure whether our action made a real difference.
Curriculum alignment / Te Marautanga o Aotearoa
This project planning template sits at the centre of the Unit 9 assessment: students evaluate ways to positively impact ecosystems and communicate kaitiakitanga actions — exactly what the NZ Curriculum asks for in the Living World strand.
Why this matters in Aotearoa
A project plan that could be from anywhere is a weaker plan than one that is explicitly located in a specific rohe. Traditional Māori environmental stewardship was always place-based — kaitiakitanga was enacted in relationship to a particular awa, ngahere, or moana, and the knowledge embedded in that relationship was irreplaceable. This template asks your team to be as specific: name your place, name your issue, name your community, and commit.
Rōpū / Project Team
| Ingoa / Name | Tūranga / Role | Pūkenga / Skills |
|---|---|---|
Āhuatanga Taiao / Selected Environmental Issue
Choose one issue category:
Specific issue description and location:
Why this issue matters for the taiao and the community:
Wāhanga Tuatahi — Phase 1: Investigation and Planning (Weeks 1–2)
Baseline data collection plan — what measurements will you take?
Mātauranga Māori research plan — who will you consult? What traditional practices are relevant?
Permission requirements before starting:
Wāhanga Tuarua — Phase 2: Implementation (Weeks 3–5)
Planned intervention — exactly what action will your team take?
How will you integrate mātauranga Māori into your approach?
Community engagement plan — how will you involve at least 10 other people?
Wāhanga Tuatoru — Phase 3: Impact Assessment (Week 6)
How will you measure whether your intervention worked? What data will you compare?
Long-term sustainability plan — how will this project continue after the unit ends?
Hōtaka Wiki-ā-Wiki / Week-by-Week Timeline
Wiki 1
Wiki 2
Wiki 3
Wiki 4
Wiki 5
Wiki 6
Whakaaturanga / Final Presentation
Choose two presentation formats:
Presentation planning notes:
Entry, on-level, and extension pathway
Entry
Choose from a teacher-selected shortlist of issues. Complete Phase 1 with support. Present findings orally.
On-level
Self-select an issue. Complete all three phases. Integrate at least one mātauranga Māori source. Present in two formats.
Extension
Propose a novel intervention. Collect quantitative before/after data. Engage real stakeholders (council, hapū, school board). Propose a sustainability handover plan.
Hononga Marautanga · Curriculum Alignment
Social Sciences — Ecological Sustainability
Level 3–4: investigate local environmental issues; understand that communities have responsibilities to protect the environment for future generations; develop the skills to take informed, responsible action.
Science — Living World / Planet Earth
Level 3–4: observe and describe patterns in the local environment; connect scientific observation to environmental decision-making; understand that human activity affects ecosystems and that this impact can be reduced through careful stewardship.
Aronga Mātauranga Māori
In te ao Māori, planning for environmental action is inseparable from understanding whakapapa — the relationships between people, land, and water that define responsibility. A kaitiaki does not plan an intervention in the taiao without first understanding who holds mana whenua over that place, what relationships exist between the community and the environment, and what obligations those relationships create. The planning process you are beginning today mirrors that: before acting, understand the landscape of relationships as well as the landscape of problems.
Your action project will be more effective — and more ethical — if it is grounded in these questions. Who has the right to decide what happens in this place? Whose knowledge should inform the plan? What would success look like not just scientifically but in terms of restored relationship between people and taiao? Kaitiakitanga is not just about fixing problems; it is about restoring the quality of relationship that prevents problems from arising in the first place.