Sustainability research and projects , Rangahau whakapūmautanga

The Sustainability and Responsibility Research Group helps the business sector understand:

• the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability
• how CSR and sustainability strategies can improve reputation, profitability and competitiveness.

The Sustainability and Responsibility Research Group aims to:

• develop leadership, best practices, research, support and training in corporate social responsibility and sustainability research
• gain national and international recognition for our centre of excellence
• promote inter-disciplinary exchange and co-operation.

We will meet our goals by:

• training postdoctoral fellows, postgraduate students and visiting postgraduate students
• helping researchers, practitioners and policy-makers work together
• offering a space for collaborative research with other universities, central government agencies, local governments, international organisations and research institutes.

The members of the Sustainability and Responsibility Research Group are:

• Associate Professor Gabriel Eweje – Director of the Sustainability and Responsibility Research Group
• Associate Professor David Paulee
• Dr Ralph Bathurst
• Dr David Tappin
• Dr Nitha Palakshappa
• Dr Lili Zhao
• Dr Jeff Kennedy

We welcome doctoral students with interests in sustainability, corporate social responsibility and related areas.

This research project used Western science and mātauranga Māori knowledge to understand and stop the causes of the degradation of coastal ecosystems. The project helped train iwi and hapu-based researchers and empower local iwi to take leading roles in the restoration of coastal ecosystems.

The 6-year project was a partnership involving:

• Tauranga Moana iwi
• Ngāti Raukawa
• WakaDigital
• Cawthron Institute
• Massey University.

The research was funded by the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, now part of the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment.

Find out more about Manaaki taha moana

As well as using Massey campuses as Living Labs, we run Living Labs with partners outside the university. Both academic staff and research students work with partners to co-create new knowledge and practices to address real-world challenges in local communities.

Massey's Manawatū campus is in Palmerston North, where we have an ongoing Living Lab with the local council and the people of the city. Palmerston North City Council (PNCC) has generously contributed 10 years of funding towards the Living Lab relationship as part of its '10 Year Plan 2018–28'. We’ve worked on several projects together to improve life in the city, many of which feed into the work of PNCC.

Through these projects, Massey provides expert advice to the council on topics of interest, including:

• pollution
• transport
• sustainable housing
• sustainable city strategies.

The 'Palmy' Plastic Pollution Challenge (PPC) is a long-term project to track and develop solutions for plastic pollution degrading the life essence mauri of the Manawatū river. The PPC team has sampled different aspects of plastic pollution in different places to create baseline data. This data informs the development of a community-based plastic pollution strategy for Palmerston North City.

The PPC project draws on citizen science and community engagement. Massey staff and students collaborate with :

• Palmerston North City Council
• Rangitane O Manawatū
• Manawatū River Leaders Accord
• Environment Network Manawatū
• Enviroschools

Find out more about the Palmy Plastic Pollution Challenge at Environment Network

Join the Palmy Plastic Pollution Challenge on Facebook

Massey staff and students carried out sustainable transport research for Palmerston North City Council (PNCC). The project ‘Barriers to Active Transport in Palmerston North’ ran from 2015 to 2017.

Our 2017 study found safety was the main barrier to high school students cycling to school, followed by convenience, comfort, distance and time-saving. The study uncovered that the social and school transport norms at different schools were also an important factor. Recommendations included PNCC:

• involving secondary schools when planning infrastructure such as cycle lanes, traffic lights, road markings and speed signs
• helping schools to develop transport policies and plans that promote cycling and to design cycling facilities.

By Christine Cheyne, Muhammad Imran, Waheed Ahmed and Chantelle Potroz. 2017.

Research from 2015 found Palmerston North residents saw the main barriers to cycling or walking as:

• physical aspects – for example, the distance and time involved, weather, doing other tasks at the same time, such as carry heavy shopping
• safety and infrastructure – for example, cycling with cars, cycle lanes, street and intersection design
• end-of-trip facilities – for example, showers and secure sheltered bicycle parking
• personal factors – for example, health, socio-economic status, household access to cars and bikes
• interpersonal factors – for example, the attitudes of peers, social status and identity.

By Christine Cheyne, Muhammad Imran, Michael Scott and Caleb Tien. 2015.

Massey staff and students carried out research for Palmerston North City Council (PNCC) into housing and land use within the city and wider Manawatū region.

Our 2013 research looked into what city residents thought were slowing down the adoption of sustainability features in housing. We grouped our findings into:

• knowledge gaps – for example, little knowledge of the commissioning, design and building process, especially understanding the performance of new material and systems
• legacy – for example, inertia created by the current housing stock and stigma attached to sustainable housing
• costs and benefits – for example, focusing on upfront costs rather than costs over time, related to whether residents own or rent their homes
• fragmentation – for example, the time between different parts of the design and building process, partly put down to inevitable delays in including new materials and designs in the existing building code.

By Dr Matthew Henry, Jo Ross and John Harold. 2013.

As part of the ‘Challenging Sustainability’ project, in 2012 Massey staff and students interviewed farmers in the Manawatū about subdividing farmland for ‘lifestyle sections’.

Key research findings are that most farmers:

• reluctantly sell land for subdivision to raise enough money to retire, pay debts, invest in the farm business or leave land to family members
• believe peri-urban lifestyle development has negative effects on productive agriculture and rural ways of life, outweighing benefits to themselves and their communities
  • welcome tighter limits on residential development to protect rural productivity and the character of rural areas
  • want any regulations to be flexible enough to recognise unique elements case by case – for example, specific physical characteristics, soil quality and commercial uses of their land
  • think losing good-quality land and keeping a smaller farm as productive can lead to more intensive farming, especially on dairy farms – these overlooked economic and sustainability effects need more research
• include non-economic values when thinking about subdivision – for example, family, identity and ideas about ‘good farming’.

By Dr Matthew Henry, Matt Russell and Dr Brennon Wood. July 2012.

The ‘Challenging Sustainability’ project ran from 2011 to 2012. We explored sustainable agricultural land use at the urban, rural and peri-urban scales. Massey worked with:

• Wellington City Council
• Palmerston North City Council
• Hawkes Bay Regional Council.

With local communities, artists, scientists and policy-makers, Massey researchers looked at the sustainability of the Waiwhakaiho River in the Taranaki region in 2014 and 2015. We collected, shared and interpreted social, cultural and environmental content about the river in innovative ways. This helps everyone understand more about the importance of this river.

We worked with:

• local communities
• local iwi
• Taranaki Regional Council (TRC)
• Intercreate
• NIWA

Visit Sharing the Waiwhakaiho