Our Story

The work of InCommon is guided by Te Tiriti o Waitangi/The Treaty of Waitangi, the founding document of Aotearoa New Zealand. We strive to develop and nurture honourable and respectful relationships with Māori as the Tangata Whenua/people of the land of Aotearoa and to fulfil our role as partners with Māori as Tangata te Tiriti/people of the Treaty.

We acknowledge Erin Matariki Carr’s interpretation of Te Tiriti o Waitangi as a framework for belonging and an invitation from Māori for all who have settled in Aotearoa to make this country their home.

InCommon began as a campaign in Ōtautahi/Christchurch in April 2021 by Ngai Tūāhuriri and Mayor Lianne Dalziel with the premise that connection across diverse groups leads to more social inclusion and less racist behaviours. This theory is also known as the “contact hypothesis”.

We have since developed into a community-based organisation that seeks to encourage and provide opportunities for people to value and connect with those from different cultural, ethnic and faith backgrounds. We see developing an ability to connect with others as the first step towards a more inclusive society.

Our mahi aims to interrupt the phenomenon of “homophily” - our unconscious biasing of others based on our visible differences. Homophily is what leads us, in a room full of strangers, to gravitate towards people who look like us and to potentially miss out on important opportunities for connection.