SDG 13 - Climate Action

Local education programmes on climate 

Lincoln University hosts local education programmes and events that encompass climate change, its impacts, mitigation and adaptation techniques.  

In 2024, the University hosted the 25th South Island Dairy Event, attracting attendees from across the dairy industry. The conference included a visit to two of the University’s demonstration dairy farms to learn about current research and featured workshops on environmental issues and disaster preparedness. The conference focused on improving the efficiency and productivity of dairy farming through implementing sustainable practices on-farm.  

Lincoln University hosted the Global Dairy Farmers Congress on campus. The group comprised dairy farmers and dairy-related stakeholders from around the world who toured the University before joining the Partnership & Demonstration Lead from South Island Dairy Demonstration Centre (SIDDIC) at the Lincoln University Dairy Farm. Lincoln University farms were showcased to demonstrate best-practice, innovative farming practices, specifically in reducing the environmental footprint through more sustainable practices.  

Owl Farm is a joint venture between St Peter’s School Cambridge and Lincoln University, established to take on a leadership role in demonstrating best practice dairy farming and sustainable farming practices on a working farm. The dairy farm annually opens its farm gates to the public to share agricultural knowledge with those in the industry and beyond. Owl Farm also provides an opportunity for school-aged children to learn about the career opportunities in the food and fibre industries.  

Hosted throughout the year and open to the public, Lincoln University’s Excellence Series Events showcase the leadership and impactful applied research conducted at the University. In 2024, Professor Tim Smith presented his research on climate change and its ongoing impacts, which continue to have a dramatic effect on communities, leaving some vulnerable. He discussed how populations can adapt to build resilience, an issue of increasing urgency. Professor Smith shared examples of the complex interplay between social-ecological vulnerability, drawing on research from the Mekong Delta, Australia and the Pacific. He also discussed responses to reduce risk and the implications for the long-term resilience of communities and the systems that support them. Through these examples, Professor Smith offered insights into likely future vulnerabilities and strategies for effective adaptation. 

Lincoln University’s Sustainability Fund supports community-based sustainability initiatives, allocating funds from the 5% sustainability surcharge applied to all University air travel bookings. In 2024, the first round of funding was allocated to different projects, including a grant for a 10-person cohort of Lincoln University soil scientists to take a low-carbon path to attend the New Zealand Society of Soil Science and Soil Science Australia Joint Conference (NZSSS). This low-carbon path reduced the greenhouse gas emissions by 82% compared to the same journey taken by air travel. 

Project WineCycle also received funding to turn the waste product from the winemaking process into valuable garden fertiliser. This saw the construction of a composting facility for grape marc, with the compost later removed and applied as fertiliser around the vineyards and other horticultural activities on campus. The WineCycle project also developed online lecture materials to support the teaching of sustainable winemaking and showcased the composting initiative to visiting wine industry professionals. 

Lincoln University’s Sustainability Week is held annually on campus to promote sustainable activities in people’s everyday lives and share that everyone can help reduce climate change. The 2024 Sustainability Week was organised by the Lincoln University Students’ Association, the Lincoln Environmental Sustainability Society, and Sustainability Action Group for the Environment (SAGE), and was run by students and staff. Over 100 native seedlings, donated by Lincoln University’s Field Research Centre and Travis Wetland Trust, were planted on campus. At the same time, other events focused on promoting alternative ways to travel using sustainable modes of transport. 

Collaboration for climate change disaster and adaptation planning  

Lincoln University collaborates with branches of government and community groups from the NGO sector on climate change adaptation, monitoring and disaster preparedness in various ways.

Associate Professor Hamish Rennie is one of 11 independent experts appointed to the Severe Weather Events Recovery Review Panel. The panel advises government on preparedness for severe weather events and oversees decisions to assist communities affected by severe weather events. Their reports to the Ministers for Emergency Management and Recovery and for the Environment included:   

• Hawke's Bay flood protection works to address the ongoing risk to individuals occupying land affected by Cyclone Gabrielle 
• Auckland flood resilience works to improve the discharge of flood waters from two local streams into the Manukau Harbour 
• Hawke's Bay Rural Recovery works to remediate, repair or mitigate damage caused by the North Island weather events. 

Lincoln University has partnered with Fire and Emergency New Zealand to develop a tool for landowners, community environmental groups and councils to mitigate the risk of wildfires.

Freely available online, the Plant Flammability Directory lists over 400 plants tested for flammability at Lincoln University. It enables property owners and community groups involved in replanting and land restoration to search for low-flammability plant options that help mitigate fire risk on their properties. The research (led by Associate Professor Tim Curran) is ongoing, and the directory continues to be updated.

The researchers are also advising Te Kākahu Kahukura to develop a landscape-scale fire strategy to help safeguard the Port Hills from the impact of future wildfires. Te Kākahu Kahukura is a voluntary landowner and community-driven initiative that includes a range of private landowners, agencies, councils and organisations, and is facilitated by the Banks Peninsula Conservation Trust. 

Representatives from Lincoln University were amongst 11 other institutions that form part of the Tertiary Education Sector Climate Futures Group (TESCFG). The TESCFG serves as an advisory group to support tertiary institutions in climate planning, and through its work, has developed a practical framework for use in tertiary institutions' climate adaptation planning. 

Agritech Lincoln, Lincoln University’s innovation and development subsidiary, is collaborating with a team including other universities, Ministry for the Environment, Waikato Regional Council and local community groups on a project investigating the effects of globally rising air temperatures and increasing atmospheric CO2 levels on the Waikato River, especially water quality and boundary conditions. The work aims to future-proof the ecosystem’s health, thereby protecting the water supply used by around one-third of New Zealanders. 

Lincoln University partners with farmers' organisations to provide research and education around best environmental practice in the dairy industry, a major source of emissions in New Zealand, including on Lincoln's demonstration farms. Other university researchers are working with farmers and growers to assess adaptation readiness and climate change planning, developing a framework for longer-term monitoring of adaptation methods around climate change and extreme weather events. 

A collaboration between AgResearch/Lincoln University is developing more accurate reporting for New Zealand’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory. New Zealand has international obligations to report on greenhouse gas emissions annually (under the Paris Agreement and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change). Originally, New Zealand’s emission factors for livestock urine and dung were based on Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) default values, and their accuracy was unproven. This research showed a significant seasonal effect on dairy cattle urine and a significant difference in emissions from dung deposited on flatland compared to medium/steep sloping land. The inventory methodology will need to be updated to provide different types of dung values dependent on land slope and to account for seasonal differences in urine emissions. This will support more targeted mitigation strategies.