Six successful Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury (UC) conference bids were celebrated last night at the Tourism New Zealand Business Events National Awards in Wellington.
UC people recognised last night at the Tourism New Zealand Business Events National Awards held in Te Pae Tongarewa national museum, Wellington.
The six UC-led international conferences recognised at the awards are estimated to bring $9 million to the Canterbury region by 2025.
The Tourism New Zealand Business Events National Awards recognise the contribution of the nation's key industry leaders and academics to business events in Aotearoa New Zealand and were presented at Te Papa Tongarewa national museum.
The successful conference bids cover diverse subjects such as the computer's role in tertiary learning, fluency disorders, climate adaptation, early modern studies, and international media. The UC-hosted conferences are due to take place in Christchurch from 2023 to 2025.
UC Assistant Vice-Chancellor Engagement Brett Berquist was pleased to see the University so well represented at the awards.
"Hosting international conferences brings so many reputational and economic benefits to the city and region while growing the knowledge economy as well," he says. "We are fortunate to have such a superb new conference venue in Te Pae Christchurch ready to provide an outstanding delegate experience in our shining city.
"At the University of Canterbury our researchers are working to overcome society's challenges, and conferences make it possible to share knowledge, generate new ideas, and expand networks and collaboration opportunities with international partners."
The University works in partnership with Tourism New Zealand and ChristchurchNZ to identify talent and opportunities that showcase the best of what Canterbury has to offer the world in research leadership, innovation, and collaboration.
"Business events are extremely important to New Zealand's tourism industry, attracting high-quality visitors to New Zealand," Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive René de Monchy says.
"Conferences provide an opportunity to share knowledge, forge business relationships, and showcase local talent, tourism experiences and our unique culture."
UC-led conferences coming to Christchurch
- International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction 2022, led by Associate Professor Christoph Bartneck
- Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education annual conference 2023, led by Associate Professor Cheryl Brown and Associate Professor Kathryn MacCallum
- Australian and New Zealand Association for Medieval and Early Modern Studies 2024, led by Dr Chris Jones and Dr Madi Williams
