1.1
Research Aim
Indigenising trade policy using Indigenous world views, knowledges and values.
We will…
Examine what trade policy would look like if Indigenous peoples designed it using Indigenous worldviews, knowledges, and values, using a four-stage kaupapa Māori research process.
Achieve this through wānanga, kōrero, document analysis, and iterative co-design workshops with Māori and Indigenous peoples, enterprises, and stakeholders.
Develop theories and frameworks for Indigenous trade and policy guidelines, with a focus on trade agreements and their implementation.
Evaluate these frameworks through engagement with trade policymakers from Māori, Indigenous, local and international organisations.
People
Research Lead: A/Prof. Robert Joseph
Indigenising Trade Policy
Te Piringa Faculty of Law, University of Waikato
Associate Professor
Associate Professor Robert Joseph (Ngāti Raukawa ki Wharepuhunga, Ngāti Maniapoto) is a senior academic at Te Piringa Faculty of Law, University of Waikato. He is also the Director of the Māori and Indigenous Governance Centre, where he focuses on Indigenous governance, the Treaty of Waitangi, and dispute resolution. Joseph’s research interests include the intersection of traditional Māori knowledge systems and Western legal frameworks, post-settlement development, and Indigenous self-determination.
A Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand, Joseph has contributed extensively to Māori legal studies, including Indigenous governance initiatives both domestically and internationally. His academic work advances legal solutions that promote intergenerational wellbeing and sovereignty for Māori.
Dr Keaka Hemi
University of Waikato
Assistant Vice-Chancellor Pacific
Dr Keakaokawai Varner Hemi is the Assistant Vice-Chancellor of Pacific at the University of Waikato, providing leadership for Pacific development initiatives and fostering Indigenous knowledge systems. She plays a key role in the university’s Lo’i Pacific Research and Innovation Hub, supporting academic programmes and student success. Dr Hemi’s expertise includes human rights law, Indigenous governance, and education. Her leadership reflects a commitment to uplifting Pacific communities and enhancing cultural engagement in higher education.
Dr Mia Mikic
Te Raupapa Waikato Management School, University of Waikato
Contract Lecturer
Dr Mia Mikic is a trade economist and Research Associate at Te Raupapa Waikato Management School, University of Waikato. She has an extensive background in international trade and economic policy, having previously served as Director of the Trade, Investment, and Innovation Division at the United Nations ESCAP. Dr. Mikic’s research focuses on sustainable trade development, multilateral trade systems, and economic integration within the Asia-Pacific region. She also contributes to the Asia-Pacific Research and Training Network on Trade (ARTNeT) as an advisor and remains actively involved in policy work through partnerships with academic and international institutions.
Currently, she serves as a Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Euro-Asian Studies, University of Zagreb, Croatia, and provides advisory services across multiple sectors to promote inclusive trade policies.
Tara Francis
Director of Research
Tara Francis is the Director of Research at New Markets Lab, where she specialises in international trade law and policy, focusing on inclusive trade, regional economic development, and digital trade. Her work supports capacity-building efforts to promote equitable market access across emerging economies. Francis has extensive experience conducting legal research and fieldwork in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, contributing to projects to improve trade environments and regulatory systems.
She holds an LL.M. in International Business and Economic Law from Georgetown University Law Center, where she also earned a certificate in World Trade Organisation (WTO) law. Before joining New Markets Lab, Francis worked in banking and finance law in India, providing advisory services for cross-border trade negotiations.
Prof. Katrin Kuhlmann
Professor Law, Georgetown University
President and Founder, New Markets Lab
Katrin Kuhlmann is a Professor, Graduate and International Programs and co-director of the Center on Inclusive Trade and Development at Georgetown Law, as well as President and Founder of the New Markets Lab. Her career began in private legal practice with a focus on international trade, energy, and project finance, followed by a move to USTR, where she negotiated bilateral and multilateral trade deals, led intellectual property rights commissions with developing economies, spearheaded trade and gender initiatives, and designed and led negotiation of a regional Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) with Central Asia. That TIFA was the first economic agreement of its kind that is still used as a basis for economic engagement and development.
After leaving USTR, she focused on how trade and development work in the field, leading non-profit and think tank initiatives focused on trade and gender, regional trade with and within Africa, food security, and special and differential treatment and trade preference programs.
In 2010, she founded the New Markets Lab (NML), a legal and regulatory innovation lab dedicated to data-driven research and field work which has advanced a bottom-up approach to using law as a driver for sustainable and inclusive development. NML has partnered with foundations, governments, local and international institutions, and, most importantly, vulnerable communities, to support legal innovations, highlight good practices from national law and regional trade agreements, and build legal capacity among lawyers and non-lawyers alike.
Her work at Georgetown Law has focused on research, writing, and teaching in the areas of international trade, international law and development, and comparative economic law. She has worked to bring a micro, field-based approach into the classroom, legal scholarship, and high level policy discussions while helping to shape the future of inclusive and sustainable trade and development.
A/Prof. Wayne Rumbles
Te Piringa Faculty of Law, University of Waikato
Associate Professor
Associate Professor Wayne Rumbles is a leading academic at the University of Waikato’s Te Piringa Faculty of Law. His research and teaching focus on the intersections between law and technology, including legal education, cyberlaw, and criminal law. Rumbles has made significant contributions to the legal curriculum, particularly in integrating IT-related content across core law subjects.
He advocates for innovative legal pedagogy and frequently collaborates with law faculties across New Zealand to refine legal education. Additionally, Rumbles has held leadership roles, including Faculty Chair, further enhancing the academic environment at Te Piringa.
Leah Bell
Te Piringa Faculty of Law, The University of Waikato
Master student