SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities

Public access to museums 

Lincoln University has an Art Collection with over 300 paintings, prints, sculptures, and ceramics. The majority of the artworks are available for free public viewing in foyers, corridors and outdoor spaces, or online, along with a downloadable campus guide to 10 key artworks allowing for self-guided tours. Lincoln University also houses one of the largest entomology collections in New Zealand. The collections curator can be contacted for free tours, popular with community and school groups.

To build awareness of the Art Collection, Lincoln University’s Art Curator created an engaging video series featuring academic staff and their connection to a specific piece within the University’s Art Collection. In each video, a staff member discusses a favourite piece of artwork, sharing its significance and relevance to their teaching.  

Public access to green spaces 

The Lincoln University Campus’ open spaces and green spaces are available to the public and local community free of charge, with 58 hectares of greenspace available. People of all ages in the community are welcome to participate in sports and recreational activities at Lincoln University’s gymnasium and the surrounding fields.

Annually, the Koru Games are held on the greenspaces on campus, a three-day event, organised by the Selwyn Sports Trust, involving South Island schools competing in various sports. Many high schools from surrounding areas bring their students to use the boulder wall, while for seniors, the gymnasium has had a long-standing partnership with Lincoln Community Care Association, providing exercise classes for adults aged 60 years and over.

Representative sporting teams from various codes utilise the gymnasium and sports fields for training and matches, including local rugby clubs, as well as men’s and women’s representative sports teams. National sporting competitions were held at Lincoln University’s Bert Sutcliffe Oval, which hosted the Gillette Cup men’s and women’s competitions as well as representative national age group competitions.   

Record and preserve cultural history

Lincoln University has a specialised collection preserving Māori (indigenous) resources and taoka (treasured possessions). The collection includes books, serials, government reports and multimedia resources with significance to Māori. The collection is being developed to show strengths in Māori planning and development, natural resource and environmental management, tourism and recreation and science/bioprotection. The material is housed in one place to reflect the holistic nature of the Māori knowledge world.

Another collection is the Living Heritage Collection, which gathers Lincoln community and university events, publications, presentations and oral histories. New in 2024, is the addition of the Heritage Curator – Oral Histories whose role is to record interviews with people and moments of cultural significance to Lincoln University, particularly as it approaches its 150th anniversary.  

Affordable housing for students 

Lincoln University offers a range of student accommodation - fully catered Halls of Residence, self-catered flats or houses - that cost less than local median rents. The Halls of Residence caters for all a student’s needs, such as meals, safety and security, events, utilities (including WiFi and subscription TV) and pastoral care. Self-catered accommodation includes utilities, making it a more affordable option for students than commercial renting. With free parking and the campus being situated in the heart of Lincoln Township, the on-site accommodation is an attractive and affordable option for students, both undergraduate and postgraduate. There is a range of payment options available (fortnightly, monthly, one-off or paying for the year in two instalments), offering students flexibility in managing their living costs.  

Pedestrian priority on campus 

Pedestrian access is prioritised on the Lincoln University Campus, allowing for greater safety and movement of people to the different areas around campus. Pole barriers are used to restrict vehicular movement along with marked pedestrian lanes, sufficient lighting and pedestrian crossings to keep people safe. The Campus Master plan outlines the University’s commitment to being a predominantly pedestrian campus, with service and emergency vehicles only allowed in the campus centre. All car parks are located on the periphery of the campus. Lincoln University’s traffic policy states that no vehicle can be driven in excess of 20 kmh.  

Building on brownfield sites 

Lincoln University’s new and upcoming builds are located on brownfield sites, including former buildings that were demolished due to earthquake damage. This has meant that the building footprint on campus has not increased. In some cases, demolished buildings, such as the Burns Building, have been replaced with green spaces, encouraging easier connections between spaces and the local township. Lincoln University’s Waimarie facility was the latest to be built on a previously demolished site, utilising recycled material. Looking to the near future, the Te Whare Wānaka building will be built on a current brownfield site in response to the loss of the former Student Union.

Engaging campus life in sustainable practices

Supported by Lincoln University’s Sustainability Fund, Sustainability Week is held annually on campus to promote participation in sustainable activities within people’s everyday lives. The 2024 Sustainability Week was organised by the Lincoln University Students’ Association, Lincoln Environmental Sustainability Society and Sustainability Action Group for the Environment (SAGE).

The event was run by students and staff who recognised the importance of this event.

Lincoln University Senior Tutor in the Department of Environmental Management John Gould, a leading member of SAGE, says he is seeing an improvement each year in the uptake of sustainable practices across campus.

This year, over 100 native seedlings, donated by Lincoln University’s Field Research Centre and Travis Wetland Trust, were planted on campus by 40 enthusiastic staff and student volunteers. Dr Colin Meurk supervised the planting and shared his knowledge about New Zealand’s native trees and local biodiversity.

A strong focus of Sustainability Week is highlighting alternative ways to travel using sustainable modes of transport.

Whether walking, carpooling, driving an EV, taking a bus, riding a bike or Ebike, around 120 sustainable commuters were treated to a free pancake breakfast. Free bike servicing was also provided on campus, with 22 bikes being repaired or serviced.

Engaging students in real-life projects

The Faculty of Environment, Society and Design hosted Lincoln University alumni Phillip Millar (Land Development Project Manager) and Xoë Tay (Landscape Architect) from Selwyn District Council on campus to discuss student engagement and research opportunities arising from the development of a new district park planned on the outskirts of Rolleston. The Selwyn District Council has secured land to transform into a large-scale, multi-use public park, accommodating the needs of the rapidly growing Selwyn community.

The first stage of this new park will be approximately 35 hectares in size, with works expected to commence in 2025/2026 after the master plan for the new park is completed. Members of staff from across the faculty discussed a range of opportunities for undergraduate, postgraduate and research students to contribute to a real-life project located near the University.

Uncovering how housing and food production can co-exist

Farming for Good, a research collection aimed at better understanding the ways people connect to food and agriculture, was launched in 2024 by Our Land and Water Toitū te Whenua, Toiora te Wai.

Farming for Good collection explores five perspectives on building trust and connection in food and farming.

One of the research projects is The Peri-Urban Potential project led by Dr Shannon Davis from Lincoln University. The project explores how landscapes for both people and production can prosper within peri-urban settings through innovative spatial design.

Dr Davis discussed this research on The Conversation, sharing that population growth and housing shortages mean urban expansion often encroaches on rural productive land, a concern for local food security.

The edges of cities – the ‘periurban’ zone – are crucial for urban resilience. Apart from food, they supply ecosystem services such as flood and stormwater mitigation, cooling and climate regulation, carbon storage, waste treatment and recreation. The conversion of peri-urban agricultural land for urban expansion unwittingly undermines the very life support on which city dwellers depend. Dr Davis explores opportunities arising from the coexistence of food production and housing within peri-urban zones, including the development of five land-use design concepts aimed at addressing the peri-urban squeeze using Christchurch as an example.