Partnerships for influence and impact
carboNZero at a business expo. Image – Cissy Pan.
In the decade and a half since its inception, Landcare Research has earned an enviable reputation as a very good environmental science organisation. A key goal, as we continue to evolve, is to achieve greater influence and impact with our research. Partnerships are critical to that development and the organisation is focusing on a strategy to better understand and interact with its customers.
Foundation for Research, Science and Technology (FRST)
As the source of almost half of our research funding, FRST has always been our most important partner. During the year we strengthened our relationship with a focus on seeing the Foundation more as an investor, rather than a provider of funding. FRST had considerable input into our revised science and technology strategy to ensure we are better aligned to the Foundation’s strategic direction.
Customer surveys
The key to improving partnerships is first to understand them. In June 2007 we undertook an independent review of our relationships with our four largest non–FRST customers – Department of Conservation (DOC), Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF), Ministry for the Environment (MfE) and Animal Health Board (AHB). This year we took that review a step further by polling 21 important regional council, Māori and business contacts. Both reviews reflected positively on Landcare Research. Eighty percent of 2008 survey respondents rated our performance as excellent or very good (71% in 2007). About 90% of participants in both surveys rated our staff as ‘highly professional’. The opportunity to improve strategic alignment with our customers was evident in both surveys. While we have very good personal relationships with our key customers at senior level, and many staff and customers have an excellent operational–level rapport, the surveys showed we can better match our research capabilities with the needs of our customers.
Māori partnerships
Research that supports Māori economic development and the management of their natural resources is one of our cross–cutting science themes. This year we developed a five–year Māori Strategy primarily aimed at developing long–term relationships. This commitment led to Landcare Research being accorded preferred supplier status by Te Puni Kokiri. Our partnership focus was also evident in our FRST–funded Māori and Environmental Decision Making Project and our role in the Massey University–led Iwi Futures Project. Landcare Research’s ability to partner with Māori is also being enhanced by the strengthening of our bicultural capability.
Commercial partnerships
Effective partnerships were also evident in many of our commercial successes. The complex and transdisciplinary nature of modern research necessitates partnering with science organisations that have complementary expertise. One of the best examples was the combination of Landcare Research’s expertise in greenhouse gas accounting with HortResearch’s expertise with fruit to secure two MAF carbon footprint contracts for the kiwifruit and wine industries.
carboNZeroCertTM programme
The carboNZero team has the goal of being one of the world’s leading greenhouse gas (GHG) certification schemes. In 2008 the programme took a significant step towards that objective through a licensing agreement with a UK–based verification organisation, Achilles Information, which has 32,000 customers in 24 countries. The potential significance of the Achilles partnership is evident in the fact that the companies in the pilot programme have a combined carbon footprint that is greater than New Zealand’s Kyoto Protocol deficit. Rapid domestic growth in the programme mean 40 New Zealand organisations have been certified as carbon neutral, while more than 200 other organisations are contracted to become certifi ed. Reinforcing the importance of reducing emissions, and recognising that a lot of organisations want to measure and reduce their carbon footprints but do not aspire to be carbon neutral, we developed CEMARS (Certified Emissions Measurement and Reduction Scheme). CEMARS offers the credibility of the carboNZero programme without the final step – the purchase of carbon credits to offset unavoidable emissions.
DNA–based diagnostics
In recent years the Landcare Research Ecological Genetics Laboratory in Auckland has developed a range of DNA–based diagnostics services valuable for organisations protecting biosecurity and biodiversity. The challenge has been to undertake the work in addition to our busy research schedule. This year we created EcoGene, a new customer–focused entity, to provide four services: species identification, mammal pest monitoring, genotyping and disease screening. To provide a timely service, EcoGene is separate from the laboratory’s research arm, although links are maintained for the development of new applications. EcoGene has been well received by customers such as DOC and MAF here in New Zealand, and was successfully launched in Australia at the Australasian Vertebrate Pest Conference in Darwin.
Wildlife tracking
This was a record year for Sirtrack, Landcare Research’s wholly owned specialist in wildlife tracking solutions. Sales were up 37% with considerable growth coming from North America, Australia and Europe in particular. Critical to that sales growth were three products: GPS Argos (which enables GPS location information to be transferred via satellite), Micro GPS (a tiny, 22–gram GPS unit), and Fastloc (a GPS unit designed for difficult applications, such as the tracking of marine mammals). Sirtrack was formed by wildlife researchers and it continues to excel by having a very good understanding of the needs of its customers. With an ongoing focus on product development, the Havelock North business is dividing its efforts between enhancements to existing products, developments of new species applications for the latest GPS technologies, and development of new products.
Environmental management systems (EMS)
Landcare Research is the market leader in EMS but for several years our Enviro–Mark®NZ and EnviroSmart® programmes have been provided at a significant cost to the organisation. This year we restructured both programmes and achieved the dual goals of providing the best possible solutions to members and financially breaking even. While we remain responsible for the EnviroSmart technical content, the programme management and administration has been devolved to the eight regional and local councils we partner with. Membership of Enviro–Mark NZ grew by 50% during the year.
International capacity development projects
Through aid–funded networks, Landcare Research actively shares skills and experience with developing countries, particularly in Asia and the Pacific. In the Mekong Region we are assisting with a phytosanitary–capacity–building project to help develop expertise to combat crop pests. In Fiji we are sharing our geographic information system (GIS) expertise to help sustainable–land–use decision making in the sugar cane belt. Through the South Pacific Agricultural Chemistry Laboratory Network we are assisting nine laboratories in five South Pacific countries to enhance the quality of their soil, plant and water analysis. Biodiversity and biosecurity in the South Pacific is being enhanced by our work to improve the capacity of the South Pacific Regional Herbarium in Suva, as well as the expertise in molecular systematics at the University of the South Pacific.