(Left) City planner David Murphy, Professor Jan Thomas, Deputy Mayor Tangi Utikere.
The Palmerston North City Council has been presented with a Partnership Excellence Award by Massey University in recognition of the longstanding work the two organisations have done together and the council’s support for Massey.
Deputy Mayor Tangi Utikere accepted the award from Vice-Chancellor Professor Jan Thomas at a function in Auckland last night, where Massey celebrated its top graduates, researchers and teachers, as well as international and domestic partner organisations.
Palmerston North City Council and Massey University have enjoyed a partnership spanning more than 90 years. Recent successful initiatives include; the development and opening of Central Energy Trust Wildbase Recovery. This facility is managed in partnership with Massey University Vet facility and provides for the rehabilitation and recovery of wildlife. The opening of the He Ara Kotahi shared pathway has facilitated a direct pedestrian and cycleway pathway and bridge to Massey University and was developed through close collaboration.
The council has also been an integral partner in the delivery of Massey’s Resource and Environmental Planning programme for many decades. Its involvement includes helping students with field trips, designing and carrying out final-year projects and providing guest lecturers, funding and stakeholder governance.
The council also supports the Fitzherbert Science Centre, in which Massey is a central partner, facilitating the development of FoodHQ, New Zealand’s premier food research centre. Several Massey Living Labs research projects have been developed in collaboration with the council. These include the Living Labs Active Transport research, where council support has led to co-designed projects on barriers to active transport in Palmerston North. Since 2017 Massey has been a research partner with the council in the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment-funded Welcoming Communities initiative, Te Waharoa ki ngā Hapori.
Other finalists in the domestic partnership category were Recorded Music New Zealand, Rural Women New Zealand and DairyNZ.
(From left) Professor Anil Pushpakumara, Peradeniya Vice-Chancellor Professor Upal Dissanayake, Professor Jan Thomas, Dr Nayana Wijayawardhane.
International partnership
The University of Peradeniya, in Sri Lanka, won the international category of the Partnership Excellence Awards. The award was presented by Professor Thomas to Peradeniya Vice-Chancellor Professor Upal Dissanayake.
Massey’s School of Veterinary Science delivers a Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade project to deliver a world-leading, transformational veterinary education twinning project with the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science at Peradeniya.
The $2.2m project was the first independently funded World Organisation for Animal Health veterinary twinning project. It consisted of a world-leading and complex curricula and pedagogy change project, where Peradeniya willingly embraced substantial change in not just its veterinary undergraduate curriculum but also how it is taught and how it interacts with industry stakeholders.
Other finalists in the international partnership category were IDP Education and the University of Mataram in Lombok, East Indonesia.