The New Zealand Biotechnology Strategy explicitly identifies sustainable development as a guiding policy principle and the need to foster community awareness of and engagement in biotechnology. Challenges from society to ensure that the biotechnology industry is ‘sustainable’ have impacted upon the industry and drawn attention to issues of identity, communication, stakeholder relationship management and public engagement.

The research in this project critically examines the discourses of sustainability as they pertain to biotechnology and agricultural futures.  The intention is to analyse a range of perspectives related to how the advent of a new and potentially pervasive technology challenges conceptions of sustainability, but also how sustainability is co-opted by different stakeholders in order to promote a particular position on the future of that technology in an agricultural economy.

For more information contact: Sally Davenport

Research Team:

Sally Davenport
Bill Doolin
Michael Elmes
Shirley Leitch
Judy Motion
Fiona Te Momo