In this lunchtime talk Maria Bargh, Professor of Politics and Māori Studies, discusses contemporary perspectives on resource use and renewable energy generation with artist Matthew Galloway. Galloway has an ongoing interest in renewable energy generation as evidenced in the project The Power That Flows Through Us, which focuses on the Clyde Dam, the third largest hydroelectric power station in Aotearoa. While Bargh’s area of research includes Māori resource management economy including renewable energy, freshwater, mining and biodiversity. In this conversation Galloway and Bargh look back on approaches to resource use of the ‘Think Big’ era and consider with a contemporary lens in what ways land relations and use might be different in the future.

Maria Bargh (Te Arawa, Ngāti Awa) is Professor of Politics and Māori Studies at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington. She has researched and published widely in the area of politics: Māori, environmental, local, national and international. Her work on a ‘tika transition’ for climate change has been used by community organisations and local and central government in Aotearoa New Zealand. She is co-lead of the ‘adaptive governance and policy’ research team for the Biological Heritage, National Science Challenge, and Minerals Advisor for her hapū Ngāti Kea/Ngāti Tuara at Horohoro, Rotorua. She served as Deputy Chair of the Independent Electoral Review Panel 2022-2023.