Description:

The Sustainable Seas National Science Challenge was established in 2014. It’s a monumental research initiative to protect our moana, funding over 100 unique projects and drawing upon the knowledge of leading marine conservation experts.

A decade on, Aotearoa’s marine environment is hurting more than ever. Our waters are under significant pressure from habitat loss, pollution, and climate change.

Our challenge was to make the incredible findings of the Sustainable Seas research projects easily accessible to policymakers, business owners, and community groups, all in the pursuit of meaningful change.

Introducing Tohorā - a breakthrough digital product for protecting our moana.

Tohorā is Aotearoa’s first AI-powered tool in the science sector. It allows us to process and analyse extensive marine research, rapidly distilling key findings into straightforward summaries. It does this through a natural language search function, increasing accessibility and reach.

It means no matter how complex or detailed the findings are, there is a way of understanding and utilising them, consulting only verified and deeply considered sources of information. Information that can be used to advocate for our marine environments, by informing policy, business decisions, and community initiatives. It’s knowledge guiding change.

Tohorā is named after our mighty whales, the guardians of our ancestors, who guided our tūpuna across vast oceans. Now, Tohorā is showing us a way once more.

As a taonga, these treasured whales were the foundations of Tohorā’s design system. Our iconography was inspired by traditional whalebone whakairo (carving), seen in our hero logo mark and throughout the extensive marine-based illustrations featured within the tool.

This digital product has a deep connection to Te Ao Tūroa (the long-standing natural world), upholding Te Ao Māori values, principles, and practices. To represent this, specially selected kowhaiwhai patterns run throughout Tohorā’s pages, and within the main navigation as a symbol of guidance.

Tohorā is a hard-working marine conservation tool, organising huge pools of data in seconds. Every result is underpinned by its source material for accurate research accreditation. In particular, careful consideration was given to the information hierarchy, making the findings easy to understand and use.

Tohorā has been incredibly well received by Aotearoa’s marine conservation community, with over 2.8K active monthly users since its launch in May 2024. For an industry of its size, this is a hugely significant result.

As Aoteraoa’s first AI-powered tool in the science sector, Tohorā is also paving the way for more digital products of its kind. In the field of research, the application of AI drawing from closed-source data sets ensures trusted information. It also breathes new life into data sets that are traditionally filed away and hard to access.