Case Study: Mohua 2042 – Community-Led Sustainability and Participatory Grantmaking in Action

Golden Bay, or Mohua as it's known in te reo Māori, sits nestled between two national parks at the top of Aotearoa New Zealand's South Island. It’s a place of golden beaches, rich biodiversity, and a fiercely creative and engaged population. In recent years, this small coastal region has become the home of a bold community experiment in reimagining sustainability, decision-making, and grassroots empowerment.

The Mohua 2042 project began in 2019, when a diverse group of locals—farmers, artists, educators, businesspeople, and others—started asking a big question: What would a truly sustainable Golden Bay look like in 20 years?

From that seed grew the Mohua 2042 Sustainability Strategy, a community-developed roadmap encompassing 11 interconnected themes—from ecosystems and food systems to governance, creativity, health, and education. The strategy emerged through years of hui (community meetings), online feedback tools, and voluntary collaboration. What resulted was more than just a plan: it was a shared vision, a constitution, and a call to action.

A New Challenge: How to Fund the Vision—Together

After the strategy was completed in 2021, the newly formed Mohua 2042 Trust faced the next big question: How can we fund these ideas in a way that stays true to our values?

Typical funding models—top-down, expert-driven, slow to move—didn’t align with the kaupapa of Mohua 2042, which was rooted in connection, collective decision-making, and local knowledge. The Trust began searching for a new model of funding—one that could be community-led, transparent, and nimble.

That’s when they found The Wellbeing Protocol, a not-for-profit building software that enables participatory grantmaking. The Wellbeing Protocol had just trialed its app with Sport NZ in the Tāne Ora programme and was looking for a real-world community to test a place-based version.

The match was perfect. In November 2023, with support from a $4,000 Community Grant from the Tasman District Council, the first Golden Bay pilot of the Wellbeing Protocol app launched. The app allows residents to submit ideas, create proposals, vote on what they think matters most, and allocate funds accordingly—all from their phones or laptops.

This pilot was announced in the Golden Bay Weekly and supported by a public hui held at the Senior Citizens Hall in Takaka. Every resident or property owner in Mohua could download the app and apply to join the community by agreeing to the values of the Mohua Wellbeing 2042 Constitution, a guiding document that ensures decisions align with sustainability, care, confidence, and community wellbeing.

What Happened Next?

Within weeks of launching, the community began proposing ideas—ranging from youth wellbeing programmes to seed-saving initiatives and education projects. With transparency and community voice at the core, the platform helped democratise funding decisions.

A number of proposals reached the required community support threshold and received funding in the first round, including:

• Golden Bay Seed Exchange Initiative – promoting food sovereignty and biodiversity through local seed saving and education.

• Sustainable Farm Tour – showcasing regenerative farming practices around the Bay.

• Healing Species Programme – a youth-focused, dog-assisted programme that fosters emotional intelligence and compassionate education.

• Tracking Our Sustainable Progress – creating a system for measuring and reporting community sustainability goals.

You can see these and more examples in the 2024 Mohua 2042 Sustainability Report

Why It Works

This collaboration between Mohua 2042 and The Wellbeing Protocol is more than just a new way to distribute funds—it’s a rethinking of how communities govern themselves.

Some of the key features of the model include:

• Digital participation: The app allows anyone in the community (who meets the eligibility criteria) to submit, support, and vote on proposals—removing barriers to participation.

• Community constitution: The values and purpose of the funding pool are defined by the community itself, ensuring alignment with shared goals.

• Stewardship and transparency: Local “stewards” help oversee the process, but ultimate power sits with the collective.

• Trust-based funding: Funders agree to let the community decide how the money is used, removing bureaucratic gatekeeping while maintaining alignment with shared goals.

Importantly, the approach reflects indigenous and local values—acknowledging the spiritual, relational, and ecological dimensions of wellbeing. It’s an example of digital technology being used to enhance, not replace, human relationships and decision-making.

Building Momentum

Since the launch, Mohua 2042 has attracted more support. In early 2024, another $4,000 was secured—$3,000 from the Tasman District Council and $1,000 from the local lines trust. These additional funds are helping the pilot continue, with aspirations to grow the initiative, support more proposals, and expand to neighbouring communities.

The community is also building momentum through storytelling—sharing their experiences via local media, hui, and workshops. Ten stories of sustainability in action are being profiled in the Golden Bay Weekly and Fresh FM, with plans for a podcast series in the works.

Meanwhile, the Wellbeing Protocol platform continues to evolve with input from users. A growing number of communities, funders, and organisations across Aotearoa, Australia and the UK are now using this approach to decision-making.

Learn More and Get Involved

The Mohua 2042 project shows what’s possible when grassroots vision meets digital innovation. It’s a model that blends the wisdom of local communities with the tools of the future—and it’s just getting started.

If you’re a community organiser, funder, or changemaker, you can learn more or get involved:

• Contact The Wellbeing Protocol to find out how it could be used in your community

• Contact Mohua 2042: mohua2042@gmail.com

Together, we can create communities where wellbeing is co-created, sustainability is lived, and the decisions that shape our futures are made by the people who live them.