Lincoln University was privileged to welcome His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales to campus today, where he gave a powerful keynote address on the state of the global environment.
During his visit, The Prince also heard from several postgraduate and School of Landscape Architecture students about their environmentally-related research and projects.
Around 300 people, including Lincoln students, staff, and representatives from the university’s partner organisations, were invited to the Stewart Building for the address.
His Royal Highness said he was “enormously touched” to have been invited to speak at Lincoln and described the institution as one he had “long admired from afar”.
“That I have been invited here today to offer a few of my own observations about the state of the global environment is a particular honour for me, but I fear it’s a worrying indication of how devastatingly serious the situation has become.”
The Prince said the planet faced a climate and biodiversity emergency and it was clear that the crisis had reached a “tipping point”.
“We still have the ability to change course but only in the next 10 years, after which there may be no going back.”
His Royal Highness suggested we should turn back to nature “with reverence and respect and recognise that we are utterly dependent upon her”.
He then referenced Albert Einstein’s comment that “we cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used to create them”.
“Solutions do exist. The crucial question is whether we can bring people, governance and markets together to focus on them.”
The Prince praised New Zealand for taking ambitious action, saying the country was offering vital leadership with its climate change target and Zero Carbon Bill.
He also stressed the need to “radically change our farming practices” and said above all, “we need to shift our thinking to move towards a truly circular economy that liberates us from the damaging throwaway society we have built”.
“I hope you will join me in this movement,” he concluded.
Lincoln Acting Vice-Chancellor Bruce McKenzie, who introduced His Royal Highness before the address, said The Prince’s visit was timely as the university was currently embarking on an $8m energy diversification project to move the campus towards renewable energy sources.
“We were incredibly honoured to host such a distinguished guest, especially given that His Royal Highness is a long-time environmentalist. We have a very strong sustainability ethic here at Lincoln as well and his words resonated with us deeply,” Professor McKenzie said.
“Our land-based history is where the future lies, so we’re passionate about the need to protect the land.
“We’re aiming to achieve carbon neutrality on campus by 2030 and are the only New Zealand university to be named in the UI Green Metric World University Rankings.”
Professor McKenzie said that sustainability was also taught across Lincoln’s academic programmes and formed a major part of the university’s research focus.
“His Royal Highness touched on farming, ecotourism, conservation and sustainable markets in his address and these are all areas that we are experts in here at Lincoln.
“It has been wonderful to showcase this to His Royal Highness today, with some of our students talking to The Prince about the work they have been doing at Lincoln in the environmental space.”
Several postgraduate students created posters illustrating their research, which they showed to The Prince of Wales during his visit.
PhD candidate Ashley Rudkevitch discussed her study on community resilience in post-earthquake Kaikoura, which was of particular significance to His Royal Highness, as he will follow up his visit to Lincoln University with a tour of the coastal town.
PhD candidates William Talbot and Camille Rousset both spoke about their strategies for reducing nitrogen losses in soil to make dairy farming more sustainable and Ed Percy discussed his PhD study on how environmental regulation could affect existing farming systems in New Zealand.
Master’s student Tom Scott presented information on his research into the use of insecticide in agriculture, while PhD candidate Hafiz Ilyas talked to The Prince about the carbon footprints of pastoral and barn-based New Zealand dairy systems.
His Royal Highness then heard from several School of Landscape Architecture students, who presented their final year major design projects.
Sophie Harrison spoke about her proposed improvements to Awaroa/Godley Head to give visitors a stronger understanding of place, particularly the World War 2 heritage of the site, and Sean Eustace discussed the problem of wildfire in the peri-urban landscape.
Amy Li’s presented details on the sea-level rise problem in the Christchurch Red Zone and Sarah Crawford talked about developments for Lake Kaniere on the West Coast.
Lizzie Matunga drew on Māori history to discuss how we can best understand our strong connections with the natural environment and Jess Mills showcased her design of an educational community hub for Ashburton.
The Prince also met three students who have won awards during their time at Lincoln University.
Gold Award winner and LUSA Vice-President, Ollie Rutland-Sims, has been a member of the Lincoln Volunteer Fire Brigade since the age of 16 and travelled to Nelson earlier this year to assist in fighting the fires that were blazing throughout the region.
Gold Award winner and PhD student, Ishaku Haruna, initiated the Project Ubuntu campaign series, which works to improve the quality of education in rural communities in north-eastern Nigeria.
Student Award winner Chelsea Yeoman is leader of the LU Climate Action Group and has inspired many other students to become actively involved in campaigning in this area.
On his departure, His Royal Highness was presented with a copy of the book, Native By Design – Landscape Design with New Zealand Plants, edited by Lincoln University Emeritus Professor Ian Spellerberg and Michele Frey, with photography by John Maillard, published by Canterbury University Press.
The Prince then greeted a crowd that had gathered near Mrs O’s to catch a glimpse of him as he left.
“It was a delightful occasion,” Professor McKenzie said.