Atua Matua
with Dr. Ihirangi Heke
27-28 October 2026
What is
Atua Matua?
At its core, Atua Matua is the process of gathering ancient, indigenous, environmental knowledge and repurposing it for contemporary use. It reawakens and reapplies ancestral thinking across a vast array of disciplines—from industry leaders redefining how they care for the environment, to high-performance athletes unlocking the potential for environmentally centered training, to the cutting-edge development of AI for Humanity.
This programme is designed for anyone who works, studies, or recreates in an outdoor environment. It will include theory sessions as well as practical outdoor sessions.
About
Dr. Ihirangi Heke
For over three decades, Dr. Ihirangi Heke has built population health and well-being programs rooted in traditional environmental knowledge. In 2007, he developed the Atua Matua Māori Health Framework, an innovative system that repurposes ancient Māori environmental science into contemporary roles across health, environmental sustainability, education, high performance sport, and more recently, AI for Humanity. Today, the Atua Matua framework is taught across multiple New Zealand and international universities.
An internationally recognized consultant, Dr. Heke has advised global organizations including Google X, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and the Systems Dynamics Lab at Case Western Reserve University. Locally, he maintains academic roles with the University of Otago, Victoria University, and AUT, while consulting for the NZ Academy of Sport, the Department of Conservation, and the Ministry of Education.