Concept Alignment for Sustainability: Relevance of the Mauri Model in Asmat,Southern Papua

Abstract

Asmat is located in the delta area of Southern Papua, the easternmost part of Indonesia. The culture of the indigenous people of this area, the Asmat, is focused on sustaining balance in the universe: Asmat believe in a connection between humans, their environment and the spirit of the environment. This article aims to determine the feasibility of transferring a decision-making framework created specifically for the Aotearoa New Zealand context to the geographically, politically and culturally distant context of Asmat. The Māori concept of mauri is similar to the Asmat concept of ja asamanam apcamar (keep in balance). The Mauri Model Decision Making Framework is a unique sustainability decision-making model that was developed in New Zealand. The framework has been applied to engineering case studies to assess problem solving in complex systems. A comparison between Māori and Asmat tribes reveals similarities that support the use of the Mauri Model in the Asmat context to assess the equitable distribution of infrastructure development in Asmat.