Massey ranked in world top 100 for sustainability impact

Massey University is listed at 96th worldwide and joint first in Aotearoa New Zealand in the THE Impact Ratings, which measure global universities’ success in delivering on the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This year’s results show improvements for Massey in 11 of the 17 SDGs. Massey now ranks in the world’s top 30 for three SDGs, the top 50 for another three, with a further four SDGs ranking in the top 100.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Pierre Venter says the results are a powerful endorsement of collective efforts across the university to drive positive change, at both a local and global level.

“From sustainable agriculture to gender equality, these rankings highlight the breadth and strength of our contribution to the world’s most pressing challenges. These results reflect the dedication of our staff, students and partners, and our shared commitment to creating meaningful global impact through research, teaching, collaboration, leadership and community outreach.

“We’re proud to see our work recognised across the Sustainable Development Goals, reinforcing our role as a university committed to shaping a more sustainable future.”

Massey’s top SDGs were SDG2 Zero Hunger and SDG 15 Life on Land, both ranked 21st globally.

The university’s strong performance in SDG2 Zero Hunger reflects its excellent research and commitment to sustainable agriculture. Initiatives such as the Whenua Haumanu regenerative farming project, several food drives to reduce student food insecurity and an increase in numbers of agriculture graduates have all contributed to this rise.

Massey University’s contributions to education and actions in SDG15 Life on Land resulted in its rise into the top 30. The work in this space seeks to protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.

Massey also does a lot of exemplary research in this space, from conservation support for endangered birds, to native tree plantings and sustainable agriculture research and practice.

Massey’s strong performance in SDG13 Climate Action research this year, alongside its commitment to lowering carbon use, increasing renewable energy use and actions such as releasing practical guides on topics from helping farmers build climate-resilient pastures to a green theatre guide to lower the carbon footprint of the performing arts, are some examples of the university’s work towards SDG13 Climate Action.

Ranked in the top 50 worldwide are SDG5 Gender Equality, SDG14 Life Below Water and SDG11 Sustainable Cities and Communities for which Massey has ranked 32nd equal, 49th and 50th equal respectively.

The university’s sustained strong performance in gender equality research, increasing proportion of female students, high achievement rates for female students, increased progress measures for women, increase in women in senior leadership positions and encouragement of women into male-dominated fields, have contributed to the positive ranking for SDG5 Gender Equality.

The strong results for SDG 14 Life Below Water reflect Massey’s work with local communities to improve freshwater and marine ecosystems. Key initiatives include the Tiaki Wai Catchment Solutions project, short courses that support farmers and rural professionals to develop Freshwater Farm plans, and collaboration between Massey’s Wildbase Oil Response and Maritime New Zealand to protect wildlife affected by oil spills and other marine pollution events.

Massey also continued its strong research performance in SDG11 Sustainable Cities and Communities, along with initiatives like establishing Massey’s Molecular Epidemiology and Public Health Laboratory (mEpiLab), that made history as the first laboratory in New Zealand to achieve the Green Impact Labs Accreditation, a new sustainability standard for wet labs.

Find out more about Massey’s commitment to the SDGs and more about the THE Impact Ratings here.

Results for Massey University:

How is the overall ranking created?

A university’s score for the overall result is calculated by combining its score in SDG 17 with its top three scores out of the remaining 16 SDGs. This result is averaged over the last two years. SDG 17 accounts for 22 per cent of the overall score, while the other SDGs each carry a weight of 26 per cent. This means that different universities are scored based on a different set of SDGs, depending on their focus.