About Te Puna Aurei LearnFest
What does Te Puna Aurei mean?
Te Puna Aurei, the name gifted by Associate Professor Tom Roa, means a spring of intertwining knowledge. A puna is a spring of water and aurei is concept of threading things together. LearnFest is about threading together people, learning, research and current or emerging pedagogies.
This name also refers to the University's sculpture Aurei by Waikato Alumnus Rangi Kipa (pictured below). The sculpture sews together the past to the future aspirations. At a deeper level Aurei was inspired by a whakataukī (Māori proverbial saying) from the first Māori king, Kīngi Pōtatau: Kotahi to kohao o te ngira e kuhuna ai te miro mā, te miro pango, te miro whero meaning there is but one eye of the needle which the white thread, black thread and red thread must pass.