Massey University to take part in ERC exchange

Auckland’s super-diversity will be under the research spotlight as part of a comparative global study led by a top German research institute and involving the European Research Council.

The city in New Zealand will join Singapore, Johannesburg and New York in the study entitled ‘Capturing the Diversity Dividend’ following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the country’s Massey University and the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity in Germany. The institute has initiated a major research project that explores the nature and impacts of increasing diversification in a range of global cities.

The agreement will also expand to staff and student exchanges, with the chance to take part in an Academy of Urban Super-diversity in Berlin next April. This will involve academics, both established and new, from a range of countries and hosted by the Max Planck Institute and the ERC at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences.

Commenting on the research project, Professor Paul Spoonley, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Massey University, said: “The Max Planck Institute is one of the leading contemporary centres of diversity research. Professor Steve Vertovec of the institute has contributed significantly to an understanding of super-diversity globally. This opportunity to exchange people and ideas with such a centre of excellence is an exciting new development.”

Vertovec added that New Zealand “provides an exceptional case for international comparison”. The project will receive NZ $5.5m (~€3.5m) in funding from the New Zealand Government to assist Auckland in being part of the project.