Current Sustainability Newsletter
UC Sustainability Newsletter 16 January 2012, (PDF, 693 KB)

To see past Sustainability Newsletters see the News Archive

We are having an end of year picnic! Click here for an invite and celebrate Solstice with us

Regular Events

UC Gardening Group
Wednesdays 12:10 - 1 pm, Okeover Community Garden
The group is for keen gardeners who want to meet up with other keen gardeners, and for those who want to be keen gardeners. Bring along your lunch and your ideas, and let's see where it takes us. Join us on facebook for regular updates

Regular Okeover Community Garden Working Time
Fridays 12:00-5:00 pm (note new starting time). All welcome! Come along and help out in the community garden, and take home your share of fresh produce harvested that day as your reward. See the Community Garden Volunteers Page for more information.

Dovedale Regular Community Garden Working Time
Regular working times are Thursdays 12-4.30pm
All welcome! Come along and help out in the community garden, and take home your share of fresh produce harvested that day as your reward. See the Volunteers Page for more information.

Tai Chi Classes
Every week day through winter at 4pm. Free Tai Chi classes are held every weekday at 4pm outside the Music building during term time, thanks to the Confucius Institute at the University of Canterbury. Everyone is invited to these classes, experience or no experience and beginners are always welcome! Note: If it is raining the classes, if not cancelled, will be in the foyer of the South Arts Lecture Theatre A4-A9.

Past Events

Fracking Event: Do not believe scare stories about fracking. It is far worse.
Info night about fracking with Green MP David Clendon, Reuben Hunt, Karen de Lautour, and Bruce MacIntyre in association with the UC Sustainability Office. Monday, October 3, 7.30pm. A5 lecture theatre, University of Canterbury. Please register your interest with sharon.mciver@canterbury.ac.nz

Earthquake Response Workshops: Future Proofing
While the workshops are now over, find the PDF notes from the workshops here. They are full of advice and information gathered on the four topics most relevant to helping us future-proof our lives following the February 22nd earthquake.

Fair Trade Fair, Friday May 20th 10:30am-2:30pm
The Unviversity of Canterbury is celebrating Fair Trade Fortnight 2011 with a Fair Trade Fair on Friday, 20 May, 10:30am-2:30pm in C Block lecture theatre. Come along for coffee, cake, talks, stalls and of course the amazing Fair Trade Bake-off! Keep checking here for more details.

Eco-My-Flat 2011 Registrations are now closed, click here to sign up!
The popular eco-my-flat competition where student flats compete to eco up their homes was due to start on February 28, but has been postponed until the second and third terms. Now running from May 9 to August 12, in response to recent events, the 2011 competition will incorporate an element of survivalism with an extra workshop added on preparing emergency kits and collecting and storing water. We’re hoping that our resourceful flats will not only excel in the area of emergency preparation, but will be able to teach us a thing or two as well!

One of our first tasks once we were allowed back into our office, was to notify our wonderful eco-my-flat sponsors about the postponement, and it was a real lift to our spirits to receive such an overwhelming response of support from these eco-friendly businesses. Check out our sponsors’ page at www.sustain.canterbury.ac.nz/ecomyflat/sponsors.shtml

And if you or someone you know is interested in participating in eco-my-flat please go to www.sustain.canterbury.ac.nz/ecomyflat. Click here to read more about eco-my-flat.

Eco Office Network: UC Eco Office Certification Workshop, with Matt Morris: Friday 29 April, 12-1pm at the Okeover Community Garden.
Read more about the Eco-Office Programme here.

Pizza and Homebrew Party: Thursday 21st April 2011, 3-6pm, Okeover Community Garden
Seeing as the Pizza Party planned as part of UC Explore (Feb 24) was unable to go ahead, we’ve decided to join forces with the ABC Brew Club to celebrate the end of this particularly challenging term with a Pizza and Homebrew party in the Okeover Community Garden on Thursday, 21 April from 3-6pm. Because that week is a short one (before Easter) the party is planned as part of the regular weekly Working Bee (2-5pm). All are welcome – pizza bases will be provided, but please bring a vegetarian topping to share.

UC Simplicity Network Meeting: Monday 11th April 2011 from 12noon - 1pm, Okeover Community Garden
With Okeover House currently being used for alternative office space, all Community Education Courses for Terms One and Two have been cancelled, including the Voluntary Simplicity Workshop planned for 31 March. However, the good news is that the regular lunchtime gathering planned for 11 April (12noon-1pm) at the Okeover Community Garden will still go ahead, so come and join the discussion on the theme Simplicity and Crisis.

UC Explore: Thursday 24th February 2011, 10am - 1:30pm, C-Block Lawn & multiple other venues
This event was cancelled due to the February 22nd earthquake, however we are still having the Pizza and Homebrew party - scroll up for the event info.

UC Sustainability Symposium: Monday 28th February 2011, 1-4pm, Coppertop (Commerce)
This event was cancelled due to the February 22nd earthquake.
The Summer Sustainability Scholarship students were geared to report their findings back to the Sustainability Community in late February. This event was to have involved members of the Senior Management Team and to have provided an opportunity to have an open discussion on the sustainability direction of UC, as well as to learn more about the specific projects worked on by our students. Our intention is to hold this event, possibly in a different format, later in the year. We will keep you posted about any developments. You will be able to access the final reports of our students on our website at http://www.sustain.canterbury.ac.nz/research/catalogue.shtml

Development Symposium: Wednesday 16 February 2011, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m, Rooms 009 & 011 (Commerce Building)
The Development Symposium brings together those who are working in Developing Nations, studying, researching or have an interest in Development. The Symposium will be opened by Christchurch Deputy Mayor, Ngarie Button and UC Vice-Chancellor Dr Rod Carr. Following which, University of Canterbury Staff, Postdocs and Postgrads will present work from any area of study, research, or region, practical and/or theoretical. The idea is for us to know about each other’s work and identify whether there is enough interest to encourage research collaborations, inclusion of course content, networking, collaborative fund applications and so on. The UC Development Network officially begins from this point.
Click here for more information.

Simplicity Network Final Meeting for 2010 (Tue 14 December, 12 - 1 pm, Okeover Community Garden)
The UC Simplicity Network provides an opportunity for the UC community to learn from each other some strategies for simplifying life. This will be a nice pre-Christmas-madness opportunity to relax and eat lunch with like-minded people, and to talk through what has come up for us in our simplicity journeys this year.
Visit http://www.sustain.canterbury.ac.nz/simplicity.shtml for our website.

Dovedale Community Garden Working Bee, Thurs December 9th, 12noon - 2:00pm
The Dovedale Community Garden site needs some volunteers to dig in and help establish this amazing new garden! Everyone is welcome, come and be a part of creating this new space! You can find it behind Facilities Management on the Dovedale campus. For a temporary map of Dovedale campus and where to find the garden (circled in red), click here.

Love Your Coast Launch, Wed December 8th, 10:00am- 2:00pm
Love your Coast is a movement that is set to unite like-minded organisations across
Aotearoa/New Zealand: working together to protect our coastlines. Sparked by young kiwis, Love your Coast launches this December with a series of huge coastal clean-up events planned! Click here to read the Introduction to Love Your Coast (PDF 200KB).
To get involved in the UC's efforts and to help do your bit join us on Wed 8th Dec at 10am where we will meet on the corner of University Drive and Ilam Road and clean up as much of the uni waterways between Waimairi Road and Clyde Road as we can! Sacks and gloves will be provided. Email helen.tulett@canterbury.ac.nz for more information.

UC Summer Sustainability Scholarship announced!
Three scholarships are on offer this summer for students contemplating 300 level study or above in 2011. The projects are on eco-friendly cleaning products for UC, UC's Food Issues, and the University as a Transition Town. Applications close 29 October 2010.

UC Eco-Survival Week! (Monday 11 Oct - Friday 15 October)
UC Sustainability Office has decided to end the year with an Eco Survival Week, held from Monday, 11th to Friday, 15th October. Featuring talks, workshops, cooking demos, a clothes swap, and the Awakening the Dreamer symposium, Eco Survival Week will also include a week long Permaculture Course. Click here to see the full list of events.

Recreational Walking in Urban Environments (Friday 24 September, 4:00 pm, Our City Otautahi, corner Worcester Blvd and Oxford Tce)
Tom Beard, urban designer at Wellington City Council, talks about how the built and social environments in our cities can make walking fun, enjoyable , and interesting.  Come an enjoy this quirky talk and think about how we might design our urban places so that we can move beyond driving to "go for a walk", towards cities where walking is always a pleasure.

Academic Seminar: Security Without Nuclear Deterrence (Friday 10 Sept., 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm, Virtual Europe Room, Commerce Room 402)
Rob Green uses his twenty years’ military experience to promote alternative thinking about security and disarmament, and to help build bridges between the military and the peace movement.

Simplicity Network (Tue 10 August, 12 - 1 pm, Okeover Community Garden)
The UC Simplicity Network provides an opportunity for the UC community to learn from each other some strategies for simplifying life. For the next informal gathering Jane Cooper is getting a team together for a session on ‘SimplicITy – how does information technology fit with living simply?
That night four members of the Network are presenting a workshop at Community Education. This Simplicity Workshop is free and features Dr Jane Cooper (Philosophy), Dr Gareth Pritchard (History), Rev. Tom Innes (UC Chaplaincy Team), and Dr Matt Morris (UC Sustainability Office).

UC Gardening Group: Basic fruit tree pruning (Wed 28 July, 12:10 - 1 pm, Okeover Community Garden, cancelled if wet)
Lily White returns this week to take us through the basics of fruit tree pruning. Lily is an experienced permaculturist and organic gardening educator.
The group is for keen gardeners who want to meet up with other keen gardeners, and for those who want to be keen gardeners. Bring along your lunch and your ideas, and let's see where it takes us.

Permaculture Workshop

Permaculture is a special form of organic gardening with a focus on working with nature instead of against it to develop healthy garden ecosystems. The great thing about this kind of garden is that it maintains itself! Run by permaculturists Kate Henry and Nicole Buhrs. Hosted by Kakariki and sponsored by the UC Sustainability Office.

Eco-my-flat winners announced
Congratulations to Tauawhi for winning Most Inventive Flat, and the Supreme Flat Award, and the Frew-frew Flat for taking out the Most Eco'd Up Flat award. Find out more about the competition or check out all the competitor blogs.

Earth Night Party (Sat 5 June, 8pm onwards, New Common Room, Ilam Apartments, Homestead Lane (off Ilam Rd, over the road from the UCSA car park))

UC Gardening Group - Sewing a Green Manure Crop (Wed 12 May, 12-1 pm, Okeover Community Garden)
Award-winning organic gardening designer Carl Pickens will show us how to sow a green manure crop for winter and explain exactly what that means.
The group, which meets weekly on Wednesdays, is for keen gardeners who want to meet up with other keen gardeners, and for those who want to be keen gardeners. Bring along your lunch and your ideas, and let's see where it takes us.

Academic Conference: British High Commissioner speaks on the EU and climate change (Fri, 14 May, 2 pm, Commerce 402 (Virtual Europe)
Staff of the National Centre for Research on Europe are delighted to announce the upcoming seminar by George Fergusson, British High Commissioner to New Zealand.
The seminar, entitled "Climate Change - the European Union in the Right Place at the Right Time", will be held in Virtual Europe (Commerce 402) on Friday May 14th. In the interests of reducing the Centre's carbon footprint, this seminar will be video linked with the Commissioner in Wellington.
All are welcome; please arrive at 2pm to be seated.

Public Talk: The Future of Transport (Fri 30 April, 9 am - 12 noon, Waiau Room, Ecan, Kilmore St.)
Speakers: Steve Abley (Abley Transportation Consultants), Robert Woods (Ecan Programme Manager Transport) and Dr Simon Kingham (UC), followed by discussion.
The focus will be on sustainability
More Info: contact Tom on mimas@xtra.co.nz.

Frocks on Bikes Tweed Ride (Sun 2 May, 2.20 pm , Meet EITHER outside the UC Central Library OR Riccarton House)
Take part in Frocks on Bikes Tweed Ride and bike in style to the Boatshed Cafe for refreshments.

UC Gardening Group - How to Save Seeds for Beginners (Wed 28 April, 12-1 pm, Okeover Community Garden)
Well-known organic and permaculture gardener Lily White will lead this practical session on saving your own seeds. Feel free to bring along any seeds (or anything else from your garden) that you may want to share.
The group, which meets weekly on Wednesdays, is for keen gardeners who want to meet up with other keen gardeners, and for those who want to be keen gardeners. Bring along your lunch and your ideas, and let's see where it takes us.

Green Minds Meet Up (Tue 27 April, 5.30 pm, at the Foundry)
If you're a green minded person wanting to meet up with other green minded people then come along to the Foundry on the last Tuesday of every month and meet up with other members of the UC Sustainabiliy Community. For more information contact Lisa or sign up to the UC Sustainability Community.

Academic Seminar: A tale of two midges: reconstructing climate change in Patagonia (Thur 22 April, 4 - 5 pm, Geography Building Room 406)
Speaker: Dr Peter Langdon

Academic Seminar: Atmospheric Science and Sustainable Mobility: An Industrial Perspective (Mon, April 19, 11 am, Room 531, Chemistry)
Speaker: Timothy J. Wallington
Timothy is an Environmental Research Scientist at the Ford Motor Company in the US. His research interests are in atmospheric chemistry where there are two main issues he is working on: First, the formation of photochemical air pollution (smog) in urban areas; second, the human contribution to global climate change.

Academic Seminar: Ecosystem size and disturbance effects on stream food web structure and Nitrogen cycling and retention in stream ecosystems (Thur 15 April, 12 - 1 pm, Seminar Room 456 von Haast Building)
Post-doctoral fellows, Drs Pete McHugh and Jon O'Brien, will present short seminars (20 minutes) featuring their past, present or future research endeavours, highlighting the depth and breadth of research conducted within the School.

Public Talk: A new development paradigm for sustainable societies(Thur 15 April, 7 pm, School of Engineering, Lecture Room E1)
Speaker: Tim Taylor (Lund University, Sweden). A key challenge is to shift how societies perceive and pursue progress. A broader conceptualisation of development is necessary, one that represents socially equitable and ecologically sustainable improvements in wellbeing.  Such a shift in our understanding of progress would provide the foundation for a transition to societies that are ecologically, economically and socially sustainable.

Geography Seminar: The beinificial effects of pavements on urban trees (Thur 1 April, 4 - 5 pm, Jobberns Room Geog 406)
Geography seminar. Justin Morgenroth (New Zealand School of Forestry) on "The beneficial effects of pavements on urban trees".

Simplicity Gathering (Okeover Community Garden, Tue 30 March, 12-1 pm)
Professor Peter Wenz (University of Illionois at Springfield) is teaching philosophy at UC this semester and is a veteran writer and spokesperson on environmental justive issues. Peter will lead a discussion of "How Much Should I Do to Heal the World."
In other words, how can we who live in industrialised countries make ethical consumer decisions without impairing our own flourishing?

UC Sustainability lunchtime seminar (Fri 12 Feb, 12-1 pm)
Commerce Room 002
A talk by Bronwyn Hayward:   “Living the Good life?  Comparing the aspirations and sustainability of lifestyles of young New Zealanders and UK citizens”
This seminar reports on two online surveys conducted on behalf of the United Nations Environment Programme in 2009. The surveys examine the lifestyles, attitudes and aspirations of 18 to 35 year olds in the United Kingdom and New Zealand. Conducted after the fiscal crash , a significant proportion of young respondents in both nations offered strong images of self-sufficiency as part of their vision of an ‘ideal life’.

Simplicity Gathering (Tue 9 Feb, 12-1 pm)
Okeover Community Garden or, if wet, Shelley Common Room in the UCSA
Dr. Gareth Pritchard, lecturer in the History Department will lead a discussion on 'what is simplicity?'
All staff, students and others are welcome.
For more information contact Matt Morris at UC Sustainability