Issues go under microscope
Massey University has launched a new lab for students and staff to work on the Ruataniwha Water Storage Project alongside the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council.
The Living Lab will be used to address sustainability issues such as improving the economy without harming the environment.
The regional council recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Massey University, and is using staff and student input on the water storage project’s feasibility studies.
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council economic development manager Michael Bassett-Foss said research showed when irrigation schemes are placed near regional centres, more families move into the area, the population grows; support services increase and so do median household incomes.
He said the challenge was to encourage farmers to increase the uptake of water on their land to ensure ‘‘better use of the water between farming systems so that they are both economically and environmentally better’’.
To do this, they were surveying farmers’ existing water usage so that the council could work with farmers to accelerate land use change, and encourage best practice farming methods.
The project was ‘‘delivering something the community can see’’, alongside the Living Lab’s work with Palmerston North City Council and Wellington City Council, he said.
Massey University department head Dr Allanah Ryan said the Living Lab grew out of what she called three ‘‘fruitful partnerships’’.
‘‘This project proved that innovative solutions emerge when we bring together local government and diverse university disciplines— designers and social scientists working with city planners and community members— to create a space where we can look at complicated thorny issues afresh.
‘‘Regional councils have the strictures of the Resource Management Act to worry about; city and district councils have district plan changes to manage; university researchers focus on producing good science and design.’’