Sustainability in the New Zealand Wine Industry (FutureLearn)

Investigate the benefits and challenges of regenerative agriculture

Wine grapes are grown in three ways: conventionally, organically, and biodynamically. These different sustainable management systems have some similarities and some differences, and which is used will depend on a number of factors.

You’ll look at each approach, learning the key principles that set them apart and comparing their techniques, benefits, and challenges. You’ll also cover regenerative agriculture as a whole, delving into the science and principles behind it.

Discover different sustainable certifications, including the ISO 14001

Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand (SWNZ) is a certification programme created to provide a ‘best practice’ model of environmental practices in the vineyards and wineries in New Zealand.

On this course, you’ll look at the various certifications recognised by SWNZ, from BioGro’s organic certification to the ISO 14001. You’ll delve into what these certifications mean, why they’re important to the sustainable wine industry, and the process of achieving them.

Learn from the experts at NMIT

NMIT is located in the main wine region of New Zealand, with 78% of the wine grape production. Sharing their campus with government research institutes focused on the wine industry, their faculty are experts in the field of viticulture and winemaking.

What topics will you cover?

• Sustainable management systems including; conventional, organic, biodynamic and biological farming

• Compare international sustainable production protocols including accreditation and certification processes

• Assess and critique the sustainability of a wine production system
What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

- Summarise the concept of sustainable wine production

- Compare different sustainable management systems including; conventional, organic, biodynamic and biological farming

- Explore the sustainability aspects of a wine production system