UC Connect: Change our politics, not the climate

Award-winning international expert on sustainability and climate change, Professor Bronwyn Hayward will discuss why climate issues matter now more than ever in her upcoming public talk at the University of Canterbury.
As part of the Tauhere UC Connect public lecture series, Professor Hayward will share her knowledge and expertise in her talk, Change our politics, not the climate, at 7pm on Wednesday 27 September in a free public event.
“Climate issues have risen rapidly in public understanding, and even though the cost of living and clickbait election policies have dominated public debate, the decisions we make now will impact communities for thousands of years,” she says.
“A 100-year time horizon, let alone a 1000-year one, is not something we often think about in a three-year election cycle, but children born this year will experience three to four times as many extreme climate events in their lifetime than voters aged 60 or older. This is an election for our children and grandchildren – their lives may depend on our votes this year.”
About the speaker
Dr Bronwyn Hayward MNZM is a Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Canterbury and the Director of Hei Puāwaitanga: Research group for Future Generations, Sustainability and Civic Imagination. She was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for contributions to sustainability, youth and climate change in 2021.
Bronwyn has served as on the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) summary writing team for Assessment Round 6, Coordinating Lead Author for the IPCC Cities & infrastructure chapter (2022), and was a lead author for the IPCC Special Report on 1.5degC (2018). She leads a study funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council with Surrey University and five other partner institutions tracking how cities can support young people to flourish in low carbon ways.
She is a co-PI of Mana Rangatahi, a Deep South NSC-funded project to support young Māori and Pacific leadership in a changing climate. Recent books include Sea Change: Climate politics and New Zealand (Bridget Williams Books, 2017) and Children, Citizenship and Environment #SchoolStrike Edition (Routledge London, 2021). She has served as a trustee for the SPARK Foundation & Give A Little and was a Kiwibank Local Hero in 2019, as well as the 2021 Women of Influence Award Supreme winner and Environment category winner