By Pam Wood, Curriculum Manager, Primary Industries, NMIT
This article was first published in the Global Citizen newsletter
NMITs Viticulture and Wine School has been working with the Ningxia University of Agriculture in Yinchuan City, Ningxia Province on a joint project for the past three years.
In late 2019, two cohorts of students visited Marlborough for short study tours in viticulture and wine, and in horticulture. Ningxia students and staff felt warmly welcomed by the NMIT team and the local community and they were able to visit many local vineyards, wineries and horticultural operations.
The students fell in love with Makana Chocolate and returned to China with overladen bags due to the chocolate and wine they had purchased whilst here. As NMIT staff, we thoroughly enjoyed our visitors and many long term friendships have been formed.
It was the intention to follow the study tours with a more formalised arrangement to share the delivery of our degrees, however unfortunately COVID-19 arrived as the students returned to China and clearly we have had to push pause on moving forwards over much of 2020 and 2021.
However, we are delighted that we have reconvened our working party and are now well down the pathway to finalising a new agreement which is currently being presented to the regional governor and the Deputy Director, Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges in the Ministry of Education, China for consideration. We have support from the Office of the Mayor in Marlborough, along with NMIT and the Ningxia University.
Our proposal is to deliver the NMIT Bachelor of Viticulture and Wine in partnership with the Ningxia University – one third taught on site in China by their staff, one third taught in China by our NMIT staff, and the final third taught on the NMIT Campus in Blenheim.
Learners will complete the essential winery placement in China, but will take on their vineyard industry practice hours in Marlborough, during their first spring in order to appreciate the very different context of growing in NZ compared to the growing methods in the Ningxia region where the vines are buried below the ground for winter and are dug up each spring ready for the growing season.
The Chinese Ambassador visits NMIT
We are enthusiastic to see this arrangement gain the necessary approvals and hope to send our first cohort of staff to China in September 2022, which means the first students will arrive in Marlborough in spring 2024 – potentially a great partnership that will provide a wonderful learning experience for the Ningxia students along with a valuable learning and teaching experience for our staff who go to China for their teaching blocks.
We are thrilled with the timing of the redevelopment of our Budge Street campus and believe this project will assist in bringing new students to the campus.