Pūpūkāhi’i holomua –Unite in order to progress. This ‘olelo no’eau is the touchstone for an ambitious project that is now the sole focus of the Hulihia Center for Sustainable Systems, ** the goal of which is to be an important and integral part of the revitalization of the town of Lāhainā.

“This is a multi-phase project framed, initially, around two questions,” explains Amber Thompson, Co-Director and Sustainability Manager. “First, how do we effectively channel resources to meet the community’s needs right now? And second, how do we think about long-term recovery in a holistic manner?”

The team embarked on the project just one month after last August’s devastating wildfires. The first step was to build a stakeholder map, an ongoing process. It already includes information from about 230 organizations that are meeting needs on the ground and represents more than a dozen categories including health and wellness, social services, food, community enrichment, and more. The idea is to capture the connection between available resources and community needs. When the mapping is complete – hopefully, within the next few months – it will become a valuable tool for decision and policy makers, philanthropic organizations, and funders.

“When we have the data, we can, for example, better understand how to support an organization to increase keiki counseling services,” says Thompson. Hulihia will help make connections that can, potentially, significantly streamline the processes of helping survivors.

In terms of long-term recovery, Thompson explains that Hulihia’s unique system lens is applied to consider critical elements of development. “Infrastructure, water resources, education, workforce housing – how they function individually and how they inter-relate. That’s where Hulihia’s expertise is,” she says. The team hopes to have a data template before Fall 2024 “so that decision makers can have a holistic view of how to find the balance between our natural and human systems. What’s possible and what’s sustainable to build a resilient community within our natural system. The second phase of the project addresses this directly.”

At the heart of all Hulihia’s work are “the three pillars,” explains Kehau Kimokeo, Co-Director and Indigenous Knowledge Specialist. “They are community engagement, indigenous knowledge (defined here as Kanaka ‘Ōiwi values, knowledge, and experience), and sustainable systems.

“Learning community values is very important and community engagement will be very sensitive,” she continues. “Lāhainā was special because of the people who were there. The revitalization needs to capture the essence of the people.”

Hulihia’s holistic approach realizes the need for change and recognizes that there are certain things that simply may not be able to change. “But we still want to know what it would look like if we did restore mokuhinia (wetlands) and have a system that was built considering water, culture, land ownership, policy, management. We want to be sensitive and committed to having that indigenous knowledge aspect,” says Kimokeo.

Finally, Kimokeo stresses the importance of engaging with key leaders in the community to bring community concerns to the forefront. The team needs to make sure that conversations around the systems they are trying to build are really authentic. “We know we’re approaching the point where we need to start making decisions. So how are those decisions going to be made? We need to look at it holistically and not just be a silo of information but rather a huge system that encompasses all considerations.”

If you’re part of an entity working on recovery efforts, Hulihia needs to hear from you. Please go to the Hulihia website hulihiamaui.com and click on Wildfire Recovery Form at the top of the homepage. “We need data in order to be intentional about allocating resources. This is a community-driven tool. We can only see what we know,” says Thompson. The data collected by Hulihia is public and can be accessed at https://kumu.io/Hulihia/maui-wildfire-recovery-stakeholder-map. Kimokeo urges the public to keep checking the website, sign up for Hulihia’s newsletter, and stay engaged. We can only progress if we unite.

For complete information about Huluihia, please visit hulihiamaui.com For complete information about UH Maui College, please visit http://maui.hawaii.edu/

**Hulihia integrates indigenous knowledge, community insights, and academic research to find creative and robust ways to tackle Maui Nui’s sustainability issues. It employs a community-driven, systems-based approach to problem-solving developed through the Sustainable Science Management BAS program at our college.

* Dr. Lui K. Hokoana is Chancellor of the University of Hawaiʻi Maui College. Ka’ana Mana’o, which means “sharing thoughts,” is scheduled to appear on the fourth Sunday of each month. It is prepared with assistance from UH-Maui College staff and is intended to provide the community of Maui County information about opportunities available through the college at its Kahului campus and its education centers.