In consultation with NZAid and the Tongan MoE, the IoE designed a study to identify the skills, knowledge and values that enable Pacific peoples to live sustainably in their communities. With IoE as the lead, and involving curriculum writers on the research team itself, the study collected rich data on local concepts of sustainable development and livelihoods, which in turn guided the development of a new national curriculum framework as well as new courses of study for primary schools. Tongan concepts such as poverty, wealth, livelihood and personhood (including the human relationship with the land) differ markedly from their non-Tongan equivalents, and working within such deeply-rooted local concepts was cited as a success factor in the work.