News
2017 NZI Sustainable Business Network Awards
Sustainable Winegrowing NZ and The NZ Sustainability Dashboard were finalists in the Communicating for Change category of the 2017 NZI Sustainable Business Network Awards. Although they didn't win, they did receive a commendation.
For more information on the winners click here.
Sustainable Winegrowing NZ and The NZ Sustainability Dashboard were finalists in the Communicating for Change category of the 2017 NZI Sustainable Business Network Awards. Although they didn't win, they did receive a commendation.
For more information on the winners click here.
June 2017 - OWNZ Presentation
The New Zealand Sustainability Dashboard is developing a simple, online tool that supports biodiversity decisions on NZ farms. Farmers select management actions they practice. Behind the scenes, the tool draws on the available scientific evidence and assigns a ‘biodiversity benefit’ score to management actions chosen. The farmer receives greater credit for management actions when there is high quality evidence of their effectiveness. The tool, originally developed by the Cool Farm Alliance in collaboration with the Universities of Cambridge and East Anglia in the UK, is being used in overseas markets to add credentials to sustainability labels.
This talk presented by Catriona MacLeod (Landcare Research) at the Organic Winegrowers Conference in Blenheim (27-28 June 2017) provided an opportunity to advertise this tool development to the organic wine sector and invite them to participate in an online survey to get their feedback on their biodiversity interests and actions. This survey, which is open to all NZ farming sectors, will be advertised shortly. Please click here to view the talk.
MacLeod CJ, Brandt A, Collins K, Dicks L. 2017. Which biodiversity management actions make a difference? Organic Winegrowers Conference, Blenheim. 26-28 June 2017. Invited talk.
For more information on the development of the biodiversity tool click here.
The New Zealand Sustainability Dashboard is developing a simple, online tool that supports biodiversity decisions on NZ farms. Farmers select management actions they practice. Behind the scenes, the tool draws on the available scientific evidence and assigns a ‘biodiversity benefit’ score to management actions chosen. The farmer receives greater credit for management actions when there is high quality evidence of their effectiveness. The tool, originally developed by the Cool Farm Alliance in collaboration with the Universities of Cambridge and East Anglia in the UK, is being used in overseas markets to add credentials to sustainability labels.
This talk presented by Catriona MacLeod (Landcare Research) at the Organic Winegrowers Conference in Blenheim (27-28 June 2017) provided an opportunity to advertise this tool development to the organic wine sector and invite them to participate in an online survey to get their feedback on their biodiversity interests and actions. This survey, which is open to all NZ farming sectors, will be advertised shortly. Please click here to view the talk.
MacLeod CJ, Brandt A, Collins K, Dicks L. 2017. Which biodiversity management actions make a difference? Organic Winegrowers Conference, Blenheim. 26-28 June 2017. Invited talk.
For more information on the development of the biodiversity tool click here.
March 2017
The NZ Sustainability Dashboard was showcased at Zespri's Inaugural Sustainability Breakfast on March 10. Jayson Benge from the Dashboard team presented an overview of the project to around 100 guests. Other sustainability initiatives and stories were also shared by others from the sector. Below is a photo of the event.
The following day, the project also received coverage at Zespri's Kiwifruit Industry Conference ("Momentum") which had around 500 delegates. Jayson featured in a video montage put together beforehand by the Zespri Innovation team. Again, he provided an overview of the project.
The NZ Sustainability Dashboard was showcased at Zespri's Inaugural Sustainability Breakfast on March 10. Jayson Benge from the Dashboard team presented an overview of the project to around 100 guests. Other sustainability initiatives and stories were also shared by others from the sector. Below is a photo of the event.
The following day, the project also received coverage at Zespri's Kiwifruit Industry Conference ("Momentum") which had around 500 delegates. Jayson featured in a video montage put together beforehand by the Zespri Innovation team. Again, he provided an overview of the project.
September 2016
With the strong support of Dr Morgan Williams, Chair of the WWF-NZ Board and leader of the NZSD Advisory Board, we were able to host Dr Jason Clay, Senior Vice President Food and Markets, WWF-US in partnership with the Sustainable Business Council and the Sustainable Business Network. Dr Clay attended events in both Wellington and Auckland where he made a "powerful and sobering case for why we need to get it right with food if we're going to protect our biodiversity; how businesses need to lead from the front; and how Government policy will support food reliability and the value chain in the countries they govern."
To view one of Dr Clay's presentations, and his slides, click here.
To listen to an accompanying radio interview with Dr Clay, click here.
Dr Clay is pictured below (centre) along with Dr Morgan Williams (left), and the NZSD Programme Leader, Jon Manhire (right). Source: Sustainable Business Council.
July 2016
NZSD team members were involved in two workshops at IFSA 2016 Symposium - Harper Adams University (UK) (International Farming Systems Association) - 12-15 July 2016:
NZSD team members were involved in two workshops at IFSA 2016 Symposium - Harper Adams University (UK) (International Farming Systems Association) - 12-15 July 2016:
- Workshop 2.2 - Sustainability assessment at farm level for catalysing practical change, co-led by Dr Marion Sautier (NZSD, INRA) and Dr Andreas Roesch (Agroscope).
- Workshop 2.4 - Temperate agriculture sustainability assessment beyond the individual farm level, co-led by Prof (Emeritus) Henrik Moller (NZSD) and Dr Jan Grenz (HALF).
- Choice modelling for selecting and building sustainability indicators in workshop 2.2 (Henrik Moller).
- Target Setting and Burden Sharing in Sustainability Assessment Beyond the Farm Level in workshop 2.4 (Jay Whitehead). Download here.
- Implementation of sustainability assessment and reporting in horticulture: a case study of New Zealand’s wine and kiwifruit sectors in workshop 2.4 (Andrew Barber and Jayson Benge). Download here.
- Transformations of conventional production systems beyond the audit: guideline-based sustainability programs and their radical potential in workshop 3.4 - Boundary spanning between agroecological and conventional production systems: implications for pathways towards more sustainable production (Marion Sautier).
May 2016
Congratulations to Evelien de Olde, Henrik Moller, and other TempAg and NZSD team members for the publication of the paper : "When experts disagree: the need to rethink indicator selection for assessing sustainability of agriculture", available online.
Marion Sautier has been accepted to present a paper at The Worlds in a Wine Glass Conference – London (UK). 9-10 May 2016.
Congratulations to Evelien de Olde, Henrik Moller, and other TempAg and NZSD team members for the publication of the paper : "When experts disagree: the need to rethink indicator selection for assessing sustainability of agriculture", available online.
Marion Sautier has been accepted to present a paper at The Worlds in a Wine Glass Conference – London (UK). 9-10 May 2016.
March 2016
The guest editorial to introduce and summarise the Multicriteria Assessment of Food systems has been published by Ecology & Society: Alroe, H. F., H. Moller, J. Laessoe and E. Noe. 2016. Opportunities and challenges for multicriteria assessment of food system sustainability. Ecology and Society 21 (1):38. [online].
The article features the sustainability dashboard as an innovative tool for cross-scale bridging to build the resilience of dispersed and varied layers and players that influence food and fibre supply chains. This draws to a close a Feature Issue of the journal that includes 11 papers from around the world on the dilemmas of assessing sustainability and triggering transformation. Prof. Henrik Moller and our visiting scholar, Dr Hugo Alroe were two of the four guest editors of the collection.
The guest editorial to introduce and summarise the Multicriteria Assessment of Food systems has been published by Ecology & Society: Alroe, H. F., H. Moller, J. Laessoe and E. Noe. 2016. Opportunities and challenges for multicriteria assessment of food system sustainability. Ecology and Society 21 (1):38. [online].
The article features the sustainability dashboard as an innovative tool for cross-scale bridging to build the resilience of dispersed and varied layers and players that influence food and fibre supply chains. This draws to a close a Feature Issue of the journal that includes 11 papers from around the world on the dilemmas of assessing sustainability and triggering transformation. Prof. Henrik Moller and our visiting scholar, Dr Hugo Alroe were two of the four guest editors of the collection.
The ForestWood 2016 Conference is jointly hosted by the NZ Forest Owners Association (FOA), Wood Processors and Manufacturers Association of NZ (WPMA), Forest Industry Contractors Association (FICA) and supported by Woodco and NZ Farm Forestry Association (NZFFA). Jon Manhire gave a presentation about the drivers for sustainability assessment and reporting and potential responses and including an update on the NZSD forestry case study.
The Organics paper from the OECD workshop in Long Beach (November 2015), already published in Sustainable Agriculture Research, is being republished as part of a new e-book under the associated ‘Creative Commons’ copyright agreement: Merfield, C et al. Are organic standards sufficient to ensure sustainable agriculture? Lessons from New Zealand’s ARGOS and Sustainability Dashboard projects. Kim Etingoff (ed). Sustainable Development of Organic Agriculture: Historical Perspectives. New Jersey: Apple Academic Press. (In press, 2016).
February - April 2016
The AgriBusiness Group, representing NZSD, is now a Tier 1 member of the Sustainable Consortium (SC). Jon Manhire, Programme leader of NZSD, has attended their annual conference – 20-22 April 2016 (Washington DC, US).
The Sustainability Consortium is a global organisation dedicated to improving the sustainability of consumer products with a large number of members including retailers, manufacturers, NGO’s. It is a leader in the development of sustainability assessment metrics, with targets to identify hotspots by industry/sector. The SC Category Sustainability Profiles for wine 2015 – for instance– identifies 15 hotspots of key performance issues that it has identified in relation to wine production.
The AgriBusiness Group, representing NZSD, is now a Tier 1 member of the Sustainable Consortium (SC). Jon Manhire, Programme leader of NZSD, has attended their annual conference – 20-22 April 2016 (Washington DC, US).
The Sustainability Consortium is a global organisation dedicated to improving the sustainability of consumer products with a large number of members including retailers, manufacturers, NGO’s. It is a leader in the development of sustainability assessment metrics, with targets to identify hotspots by industry/sector. The SC Category Sustainability Profiles for wine 2015 – for instance– identifies 15 hotspots of key performance issues that it has identified in relation to wine production.
January-February 2016
Henrik Moller acted as a judge for Balance Farm Environment Awards (Otago & Southland). The Ballance Farm Environment Awards recognises and celebrates good farm practices which promotes sustainable land management through an annual awards programme which is now run in 10 regions throughout New Zealand. Farm visits occurred in January. Dashboard data was used by one of the applications to support their award.
Henrik Moller acted as a judge for Balance Farm Environment Awards (Otago & Southland). The Ballance Farm Environment Awards recognises and celebrates good farm practices which promotes sustainable land management through an annual awards programme which is now run in 10 regions throughout New Zealand. Farm visits occurred in January. Dashboard data was used by one of the applications to support their award.
December 2015
There was a strong presence of Dashboard researchers at the Agrifood XXII conference in Queenstown in December, 2015. The annual Agrifood conference is the largest gathering of social science researchers in Australasia interested in issues around agriculture, food, rural economy and sustainability. Dashboard researchers contributed to two different discussions at the conference.
- John Reid and Tremane Barr presented two papers on the relationship between indigeneity, food and sustainability and generated significant discussion about the innovative technologies and pathways being designed by the Dashboard project.
- A group of Dashboard researchers (Marion Sautier, Katharine Legun, Chris Rosin, Hugh Campbell) presented in sessions that discussed the social dynamics of how alternative systems develop.
While the Agrifood group have heard many analyses by researchers in our various projects on the kiwifruit, apples, aquaculture, sheep, beef and dairy industries, what became clear at this conference was that the Dashboard is generating substantial new knowledge and developing a reputation for expertise in the social dynamics of New Zealand’s wine industry.
There was a strong presence of Dashboard researchers at the Agrifood XXII conference in Queenstown in December, 2015. The annual Agrifood conference is the largest gathering of social science researchers in Australasia interested in issues around agriculture, food, rural economy and sustainability. Dashboard researchers contributed to two different discussions at the conference.
- John Reid and Tremane Barr presented two papers on the relationship between indigeneity, food and sustainability and generated significant discussion about the innovative technologies and pathways being designed by the Dashboard project.
- A group of Dashboard researchers (Marion Sautier, Katharine Legun, Chris Rosin, Hugh Campbell) presented in sessions that discussed the social dynamics of how alternative systems develop.
While the Agrifood group have heard many analyses by researchers in our various projects on the kiwifruit, apples, aquaculture, sheep, beef and dairy industries, what became clear at this conference was that the Dashboard is generating substantial new knowledge and developing a reputation for expertise in the social dynamics of New Zealand’s wine industry.
Following his presentation at SEEM 2015, Peter Green was invited to run an international workshop for world leaders in statistics and ecology at the Eco-Stats conference (Technological advances between Ecology and Statistics) in Sydney - 8-10 December 2015. Presenting a new statistical package (simr) developed for power analyses in the statistical software, R.
November 2015
Peter Green has presented the power analysis package (Power analysis for GLMMs by simulation) at the NZAS (NZ Statistical Association and Operations Research Society of NZ) in Christchurch - 24-26 November 2015.
Peter Green has presented the power analysis package (Power analysis for GLMMs by simulation) at the NZAS (NZ Statistical Association and Operations Research Society of NZ) in Christchurch - 24-26 November 2015.
Catriona MacLeod has presented "Refining monitoring and reporting in production landscapes and beyond" introducing the power analysis package with an example from the kiwifruit sector at the NZES 2015 (New Zealand Ecological Society conference) in Christchurch - 16-19 November 2015.
She gave as well another presentation "Building trustworthy biodiversity indicators" for another project which has linkages with NZSD.
She gave as well another presentation "Building trustworthy biodiversity indicators" for another project which has linkages with NZSD.
1-4 November 2015, Barcelona, Spain. Global Cleaner Production and Sustainable Consumption Conference.
Marion Sautier has presented the paper “Transformations of winegrowing systems beyond the audit: guideline-based sustainability programs and their radical potential” by Marion Sautier, Katharine Legun and Hugh Campbell. The conference was organised by the ‘Journal of Cleaner Production’.
Marion Sautier has presented the paper “Transformations of winegrowing systems beyond the audit: guideline-based sustainability programs and their radical potential” by Marion Sautier, Katharine Legun and Hugh Campbell. The conference was organised by the ‘Journal of Cleaner Production’.
