Research Area
Regional Development
Regional Development
The AERU conducts research that examines how local governments can share leadership with other actors in their communities, to develop and sustain regional capabilities for wellbeing through integrated investment in different types of capital.
Professor Paul Dalziel and Distinguished Professor Caroline Saunders have developed a framework for local government action. The framework was published in their book, ‘Wellbeing Economics - The Capabilities Approach to Prosperity’, and has informed regional development studies conducted by the AERU. The regional development research examines how local governments can share leadership roles with other actors in their communities, and work to develop and sustain regional capabilities for wellbeing through integrated investment in different types of capital. The AERU conducts baseline statistical analysis of regional resources to assess the availability of different capital stocks. It obtains residents views on what outcomes are valued for wellbeing, and engages in dialogue with the business sector to gains insights on factors constraining wellbeing. It also reviews the provision of public services to identify gaps and opportunities for enhancing capabilities. This research allows the gaps and opportunities in regional capabilities to be identified, which provides a foundation for co-produced strategies to fill the gaps and take advantage of the opportunities.
Related Research
In partnership with Westpac New Zealand, the AERU (lead author Professor Anita Wreford) produced research assessing the risks and opportunities presented by climate change to New Zealand agribusiness, as well as the sector's vulnerabilities and potential responses.
Following on from the successful Integrating Value Chains programme, this research is testing whether the key characteristics identified in that programme as important for a successful value chain have validity for designing a new value chain for a New Zealand land-based export product.
Through a suite of approaches incorporating physical science, agricultural productivity models, economic approaches and social science, this project aims to fill some of the gaps in our understanding of the impacts of climate change on agriculture.
Anita Wreford was New Zealand’s only lead author of the IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Land (2019), the second Special Report to be produced in the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Cycle (AR6).
The New Zealand Government launched a National Climate Change Risk Assessment to take place in 2019 and 2020 to provide an overview of how climate change may affect New Zealand, with the AERU’s Associate Professor Anita Wreford leading the Economy domain.
The AERU was contracted by Ihi Research and Development to perform a cost-benefit analysis of the He Toki ki te Mahi initiative, and provide an analysis of the initiative's economic impact.
The AERU is co-leading a project aiming to provide decision support tools for dynamic transition for the Taranaki region's likely future with an active volcano (Mt Taranaki).
The AERU were the principal investigators for the Matrix of Drivers, a project aiming to identify all of the known drivers and issues that affect land and water use in New Zealand, funded by the Our Land and Water National Science Challenge.
In relation to the Canterbury Regional Economic Development Strategy, the AERU has prepared a report on the state of the Food and Fibre sector of New Zealand that identified key factors that characterise successful value chains.