Brisbane, Queensland
June 13, 2007
The New Zealand Prime Minister,
the Rt. Hon. Helen Clark, this afternoon in Brisbane announced a
new trans-Tasman partnership to solve complex problems in
agriculture.
She announced that
AgResearch— a New Zealand Crown research institute — and
The University of Queensland
(UQ) had agreed to jointly fund a new Chair in Systems Thinking
and Practice.
Known as the AgResearch Chair in Systems Thinking and Practice,
the position will be established in the School of Natural and
Rural Systems Management, based at UQ's Gatton campus, 80 km
west of Brisbane.
The Chair will travel to New Zealand several times a year as
part of the partnership, working with AgResearch researchers and
with key pastoral industry players and policy agents. An
international search will commence shortly to recruit the Chair.
AgResearch Chairman Rick Christie said the issues confronting
agriculture on both sides of the Tasman were complex and
required an approach that looked at the whole environment in
which farming occurred – not just the physical environment, but
also the rural community and the economic situation.
“They are all intertwined. In the past decades New Zealand has
dealt with each separately to the detriment of farming,” Mr
Christie said.
The Chair will take a wide, comprehensive view on how to best
propel research that brings together environmental, social and
economic realities of farming and the rural community. This
person and the researcher network they operate within, will
consider the farm, agribusiness and the rural community as a
single, complete system.
University of Queensland Vice-Chancellor Professor John Hay, AC
said the University welcomed the collaborative arrangement which
took an imaginative approach to leveraging the research and
education strengths of both institutions.
Professor Hay said there was a natural synergy between the two
organisations which would help provide international leadership
in this area.
The AgResearch Chair in Systems Thinking and Practice will
support both organisations in achieving an outstanding
international reputation. The aim is to benefit Australian and
New Zealand rural communities and national economies; to refine
systems theory and methods to better solve complex problems in
farming and agro-ecosystems, and to build an appropriate systems
culture and capacity in both organisations.
Mr Christie said both AgResearch and The University of
Queensland agreed that systems thinking and its application
would be important to sustaining natural and managed ecosystems.
Head of the School of Natural and Rural Systems Management
Professor Ockie Bosch said the new Chair would develop systems
theory, help develop systems research and supervise PhD students
to accelerate the development of the next generation of systems
thinkers.
“We see an interdisciplinary approach as the only way to deal
with complex management problems to help build a more
sustainable future,” Professor Bosch said.
The Chair will have a strong relationship with AgResearch's
Agriculture and Environment S&T Group. The Group undertakes R&D
primarily to ensure the ongoing global competitiveness and
vitality of New Zealand's pastoral industries, by providing
profitable and sustainable production systems and supply chain
management, and facilitating the adoption of these, while also
developing strategies for protecting our pastoral systems from
diseases, pests and weeds.
AgResearch General Manager of Agriculture and Environment Peter
Benfell said UQ was the logical choice for this partnership. “I
believe UQ's systems research is of international standing and
at the leading edge in Australasia. In addition, they have a
very strong education programme that will up-skill our
researchers and provide us with access to first-rate
post-graduates.”
He said the position would assist AgResearch to deliver on its
2020 Science strategy and associated five “big ideas.” These
include doubling the dairy industry's value while halving its
costs and impacts, doubling the value of the meat and textile
industries while halving their costs and impacts, reducing the
risk of pests and diseases getting a foothold and managing those
already existing, maintaining strong relationships between
agribusiness and communities, and securing scientific and
commercial opportunities beyond food and textiles.
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