Waikato University's Te Piringa Faculty of Law launched a new research centre on Tuesday which will tackle a variety of environmental law issues, including Maori and indigenous governance.
Professor Barry Barton, who heads the new centre, says staff will also focus on water, energy efficiency, petroleum and minerals, the coastal and marine environment and international environmental law.
He says it brings together a range of expertise which the university has been developing for some time.
"It is quite a diversity of capability and it is great to see it coming together as a centre," he says.
The centre will initiate its own research programmes and take on board suggestions for projects from the community, industry and government.
The launch at an event in Tauranga will be repeated in Hamilton on Wednesday and in Wellington on Thursday.
