As the year draws to a close, it is a timely opportunity to reflect on the moments that have lifted our spirits. For me, one such moment was the opening of Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland’s Hiwa, the institution’s new recreation centre. A student-driven project more than a decade in the making, it has recorded more than a million visits in less than a year. It stands as a place of excellence and inspiration, and a reminder of what shared ambition and hope can achieve.

What Hiwa represents is an antidote to the general malaise that pervades our society today.

As a former health professional, I recall “malaise” as a term used to describe a vague sense of discomfort or unease, not quite a disease but a weariness of spirit. Who among us hasn’t felt this in recent years? The wider social equivalent is everywhere: a low-level disenchantment that manifests in mistrust, polarisation, and fatigue.

Higher education is not immune. Universities once sat beneath a canopy of trust. Today, that canopy has thinned. Science itself faces scepticism, even hostility. Public faith in expertise and education is eroding at the very moment the world needs critical thinking, imagination, and moral courage.

So, how do we respond?

First, we must agree that thinking itself matters. It is not a task to be outsourced. In an age where algorithms anticipate our thoughts, contemplating risks is becoming an artefact of history. Yet the life of the mind remains one of humanity’s greatest tools for renewal.

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.” Social media has flipped that hierarchy. It thrives on gossip, outrage, and distraction, the opposite of reflection.

If we are to rebuild trust, universities must confront their own distortions. Minds, like mirrors, can warp what they reflect. We may believe we are seeing the world clearly, when in truth we are gazing at a distorted version of ourselves. Too often, institutions look at their communities rather than with them.

True partnership requires us to step away from the mirror. Partnership is not transactional. It is not about looking across a table; rather, it is about being together: sharing a vision, insight, and purpose. It is, in the truest sense, about beholding, that is, recognising one another not as objects of analysis, or targets of messages, but with authentic and genuine appreciation of our peers with equal value and agency.

This calls for ethical and authentic collaboration. It requires us to rebuild trust, to find common cause with students, caregivers, iwi (tribes), community groups, businesses, policymakers, and global peers. Collaboration is not about telling or showing, it is about being, feeling, creating and finding solutions together.

University of Auckland leaders at the signing of the Kōtuitanga/Memorandum of Understanding with local iwi/tribe Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei

At the University of Auckland, several recent initiatives show what this looks like in practice.

In 2022, we signed a Kōtuitanga, or Memorandum of Understanding, with local iwi Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, which has seen university and iwi leaders collaborate on strategic planning, programmes, activities, cultural narratives, language, and ways of being.

A partnership with Auckland’s Eden Park saw the national university football championships take place at the stadium

An innovative partnership with Auckland’s Eden Park stadium has fostered local and global community connections while integrating research, teaching, and learning with one of the city’s most dynamic and beloved venues.

A diverse group of partners is now forming around the University’s Newmarket Innovation Precinct, which, with industry, business, the Auckland Business Chamber, the Auckland Council and our research and startup communities, promises to build a shared foundation for the region’s innovation ecosystem.

By engaging authentically and taking the time to establish genuine long-term relationships, we will, with our partners, create the bonds of a civilised and humane society.

Hiwa reminds us what happens when we do. A student idea became a collective achievement. A building became a symbol of trust, collaboration, and renewal. In an age of malaise, that is the kind of story worth telling, and retelling, until it becomes the new normal.