We work alongside the Zealandia urban ecosanctuary, with researchers and students from many schools and faculties supporting management through research.

Our partnerships have focused across a range of topics, from understanding the breeding ecology of species such as tuatara or toutouwai (North Island robin), to bringing mātauranga Māori into the visitor experience. This breadth of work both helps enhance biodiversity management for conservation, and increases our learning about how people live with nature in the urban environment.

Our Wellington Faculty of Science is proud to be a sponsor of the Innovative Young Minds programme that works to encourage young women to explore careers in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and high-tech manufacturing (STEM).

Run by the Hutt City Council, the programme brings 40 young women together for a week to take part in a range of experiences including a hosted visit to Victoria University of Wellington.

The New Zealand School of Music is home to two gamelan ensembles, playing traditional Indonesian percussion-based music. Known as a ‘gong orchestras’, the instruments used in gamelan are mainly bronze percussion but can include a fiddle, xylophone, and vocals.

The University partners with Gamelan Wellington, the Indonesian Embassy, and the local Indonesian community to stage performances, travel on cultural exchanges, accompany puppet shows, and provide community and school workshops in gamelan music.

Since 2013, our new graduates, current students, and staff have been working with the Wellington City Council to plant more than 11,000 trees around Wellington’s Town Belt. The annual event, known as Growing Graduates, aims to enhance the landscape and help create a lasting connection between students, the University, and the city.

The contribution from the University and our alumni is helping support the city council’s target of planting two million trees by 2020.

Our Wai-te-ata Printing Press works in partnership with community groups to restore, reuse, and showcase Chinese heritage types through its Chinese Scholars’ Studio.

Their work with the Dominion Federation of New Zealand Chinese Commercial Growers has seen the restoration of New Zealand’s only surviving Chinese language printing typeface, once used to print newsletters and journals for market gardeners.

We’re the naming sponsor for the annual Victoria University of Wellington Corporate Challenge run by Volunteer Wellington. Each year, more than 800 employees from businesses and government agencies around Wellington spend a work day out in the community giving help where it’s needed. We provide funding and volunteers to help run the challenge and the awards night.

We value our contribution to the life of the city and the Corporate Challenge provides even greater opportunity for our students to understand corporate social responsibility and get involved in volunteering.

We work in partnership with iwi and other Māori organisations on a range of different community projects.

Through these partnership projects, we're helping to protect New Zealand's natural environment, supporting the arts and creating more study opportunities for Māori.