Pacific Scholars

Leading from the Frontline: A History of Pacific Climate Diplomacy

Pacific Island states have, for decades, considered climate change a threat to their security. In 1991, island leaders declared global warming and sea level rise as serious environmental threats, and that their ‘cultural, economic and physical survival’ was at risk. Pacific Island countries have since played a disproportionate role in United Nations climate negotiations, working as a diplomatic bloc to shape new rules and to drive multilateral cooperation to reduce emissions. Pacific Island states have also sought greater recognition of climate change as a security threat. This article considers the history of Pacific climate diplomacy. It explains how Pacific Island countries have played a key role in the global response to the climate crisis and outlines the history of regional climate politics in the Pacific Islands Forum. We also focus on recurring tensions between Pacific Island states and Australia with regard to ambition to tackle climate change.
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Privileged to collaborate with Wes Morgan and Fulori Uluilakeba who pushed this publication through.This article is based on years of research, including field research at the annual UN climate negotiations, at the UN in New York, and at regional ministerial and leaders' meetings in the Pacific.

I am grateful to the community of negotiators and Pacific leaders who have allowed us into their world to capture their stories. This is our attempt to piece together the history of climate negotiations from the world of negotiators.

But there is more. This is part of ongoing research in Pacific Climate Diplomacy and Oceanic diplomacy Department of Pacific Affairs Linking community and individuals to regional politics and international politics - the Pacific are continuously shaping the future agenda on climate change.

We hope this article will be useful for scholars, researchers, students, government officials, climate negotiators and civil society organisations who are thinking about Pacific island countries and global climate diplomacy.

We think this history is particularly important to tell now, as Australia prepares to co-host the UN climate talks (COP31) with Pacific island nations in 2026.

The full article is available here as an open-access publication here:

Leading from the Frontline: A History of Pacific Climate Diplomacy Pacific Island states have, for decades, considered climate change a threat to their security. In 1991, island leaders declared global warming and sea level rise as serious environmental threats, a...

Call for Abstracts (due 1feb2024)
“Our Ocean, Our Home: Climate Resilience for a Blue Pacific”

Fourth Pacific Climate Change Conference

Organised by

National University of Samoa, Pacific Climate Change Centre hosted at the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington 21-23 May 2024 Apia, Samoa

4th POPCCC 2024 – National University of Samoa Call For Abstracts Menu Call For Abstracts Save the date 21 - 23 May 2024, Venue-NUS Samoa. Call for Abstracts “Our Ocean, Our Home: Climate Resilience for a Blue Pacific”Fourth Pacific Climate Change ConferenceOrganised byNational University of Samoa, Pacific Climate Change Centre hosted at the...

Teacher education and inclusive education in the Pacific - Call for Expressions of interest

Call for Expressions of Interest (closing 22 September 2023)
Positions related to Building Teaching Capacity for Inclusive Education (BTCIE)

A consortium of the University of Auckland - Waipapa Taumata Rau
and the Institute of Education - USP at The University of the South Pacific are preparing an application to deliver the programme Building Teaching Capacity for Inclusive Education. If successful, the programme will run for three years in Cook Islands, Fiji, Niue, Tonga and Vanuatu.

We welcome expressions of interest in two kinds of roles:
- Inclusive Education Fellows in the Institute of Education
- Inclusive Education In-Country Leads in each of the countries in the programme

Pacific Islands citizens are particularly encouraged to submit an expression of interest. These roles will need to be based in one of the participating countries.

Job descriptions for the two kinds of roles are attached.
Your expression of interest should include:

- A cover letter or resume stating the role you are interested in and outlining your interest, skills and qualifications for the role
- Your CV which may also be included in our proposal

If our proposal is successful, we will contact you again when we are able to formally advertise positions.

This call for expressions of interest closes on 22 September 2023 at 4:30pm.

Please send your expression of interest to
Prof Ann Cheryl Armstrong
BTCIE Regional Coordinator
[email protected]

Inclusive education in country leads: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1F9HSgaAWlSH7gH9Gc_EGGBz6HMdvn2w5/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=106849130354828516916&rtpof=true&sd=true

Inclusive education IOE fellow: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SqzALPyb2t7j8EHxOY73UkmQOJ6OjQWg/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=106849130354828516916&rtpof=true&sd=true

PD_IE Fellow USP.docx Position Description: Inclusive Education IOE Fellow Position Title: Inclusive Education IOE Fellow Location: Cook Islands. Fiji, Niue, Tonga or Vanuatu (1 FTE continuing and .5 FTE for duration of project) Overview University of Auckland (UoA) and the University of South Pacific (USP) ar...

Associate Professor Yvonne Underhill-Sem, University of Auckland Waipapa Taumata Rau, has been awarded the Metge Medal for intellectual leadership on gendered social relations and development studies.

2022 Metge Medal: Understanding gender relations in Pacific communities

Oceania Comparative and International Education Society - OCIES 50th Annual Conference Thursday 10 and Friday 11 November.

https://vuw.zoom.us/j/9224486755

For more information contact Pine Southon [email protected]

Revisioning education in Oceania and beyond: Walking backward into the future, together

On behalf of the OCIES, the Victoria University of Wellington (VUW) and the Fiji National University (FNU) are delighted to co-convene the milestone 50th Annual OCIES Conference in November 2022. This year’s conference is organised in two parts, as follows:

Part 1: Virtual conference: 10-11 November 2022, free registration (hosted by VUW; NZ afternoons of the dates)

Part 2: Face-to-Face conference: 21-23 November 2022, registration fee required (hosted by Fiji National University at the Lautoka campus, Fiji).

The Call for Abstracts for the conference is now open. The deadline for submitting abstracts is 21 October. Please click here for information about the Abstract requirements. To submit an abstract complete the online form here.

Registration will open very shortly, and further information about the programme, Lautoka accommodation options, and the field trip will also be shared on this page soon. If you have any questions regarding the conference, please contact Mrs Pine Southon [[email protected]]

OCIES 50th Annual Conference, November 2022 - Revisioning education in Oceania and beyond: Walking backward into the future, together On behalf of the OCIES, the Victoria University of Wellington (VUW) and the Fiji National University (FNU) are delighted to co-convene the milestone 50th Annual OCIES Conference in November 2022. This year’s co...

Waka Resource Production - Institute of Education (IOE) 1. ECCE – Nauru Book 3 2. ECCE – Nauru – Book 4_adapted from Book 2 3. ECCE Teacher Guide – Nauru ECCE – ESD Wordless Big Book 1 ECCE – ESD Wordless Big Book 2 ECCE Teacher Guide – NIUE ECCE Teacher Guide – TONGA ECCE Teacher Guide – TUVALU

Why isn't my Professor Māori or Pasifika - Diversity and Inclusion Week

Date and time
Thu., 22 September 2022

10:00 am – 11:00 am NZST

All of New Zealand’s eight universities have policies and strategic frameworks relating to Māori students and academic staff. Most refer to acknowledging the Treaty of Waitangi, validating the importance of Māori leadership, and integrating te reo Māori and mātauranga Māori into the syllabus. Yet these policies, which use the language of inclusion for under-represented groups, including Pasifika, fall well short of the goals and principles they publicly endorse. In the paper, Why isn't my professor Māori? and Why isn't my professor Pasifika? Dr Tara McAllister and Dr Sereana Naepi address these shortcomings and challenge New Zealand's universities to move beyond tokenistic attempts at "inclusion" and "diversity", and to begin dismantling the structures that continue to marginalise Māori and Pacific people.

The session will be facilitated by Professor Carla Houkamau. It will explore the impetus and impact of Tara and Sereana's research, the need for systematic change to address the dearth of Māori and Pasifika scholars in Aotearoa/New Zealand and how Universities can genuinely address their obligations to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Bio's

Dr Tara McAllister (Te Aitanga a Māhaki) is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Science in Society at Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington. She holds a PhD in freshwater ecology from the University of Canterbury and is an interdisciplinary scholar with expertise spanning freshwater ecology to racism in the tertiary sector.

Dr Sereana Naepi, who has Fijian and Pākehā whakapapa, is a Social Scientist and Lecturer in the UoA Faculty of Arts. She has a BA (Hons) and an MA from Auckland University and a PhD from the University of British Columbia in Canada. In the course of those studies and, more recently, her research and lecturing back in Auckland, she’s focused on questions about the inequity for Pacific students and staff in tertiary education.

This event is proudly supported by Te Mana Pakihi and Commerce o’ Pasifika.

Why isn't my Professor Māori or Pasifika - Diversity and Inclusion Week This session will discuss the important kaupapa of increasing Māori and Pasifika academic representation in universities.

Pacific Attitudes Survey: Samoa

Leach, Michael; Barbara, Julien; Mow, Loana Chan; Vaai, Sina; Mudaliar, Christopher; Amosa, Patila; Milo, Louise Mataia; Tauaa, Susana; Imo-Seuoti, Taema; Heem, Vernetta

Description
The Pacific Attitudes Survey: Samoa is the first large scale popular political attitudes survey conducted in the Pacific region. Comprising 181 questions set out in 26 thematic modules, it covers a broad range of topics including attitudes to democracy, national identity, tradition, leadership, governance, development and international relations. The survey took place in late December 2020 and January 2021, and was conducted in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and in the lead up to what would prove an historic election.

Open Research: Pacific Attitudes Survey: Samoa Digital Collections

FOR ZOOM LINK EMAIL: [email protected]

The Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI) produces data showing how well countries are respecting human rights.

Join HRMI Pacific co-Leads Seuta'afili Patrick Thomsen and Sam Manuela as they release the 2022 Rights Tracker data focusing on Pacific region data.

These data focus on 5 themes relevant to Pacific nations, including:

The climate crisis
Indigenous sovereignty
Indigenous lands
Cultural rights
Violence

Join us on zoom to find out what experts in Pacific nations said about human rights in their home.

Date and time
Wed, September 28, 2022

10:30 AM – 12:00 PM NZDT

Human Rights in the Pacific - Data Launch How well are governments in the Pacific respecting human rights? Join us as we release the 2022 data on human rights in the Pacific.

Led by Line: Inaugural lecture by Professor Selina Tusitala Marsh

About this event

In this lecture, Selina explores a praxis she calls ‘Led by Line’, a literary framing device that weaves together bloodlines, written lines, spoken lines and drawn lines to nourish and beautify decolonial spaces between storylines, bodylines and landlines. Drawing upon the lines from her taulima and tualima (Samoan women’s hand tattoos) Selina’s anti-linear exploration focuses on her work as a Pasifika Artist-Academic and her episte-mythological practice of re-storying and re-storing Pacific myths in order to address our current environmental crises.

About the speaker:

Selina Tusitala Marsh (ONZM, FRSNZ) is the former Commonwealth Poet, New Zealand Poet Laureate and acclaimed performer and author. In 2019 she was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to poetry, literature and the Pacific community. In 2020 Selina was inducted as a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand. Selina lectures in the English Department at the University of Auckland where she teaches Pacific Literature and Creative Writing. Selina has performed poetry for primary schoolers and presidents (Obama), qu**rs and Queens (HM The Queen, Elizabeth II). She has published three critically acclaimed collections of poetry, Fast Talking PI (2009), Dark Sparring (2013), Tightrope (2017). Her graphic memoir, Mophead (2019), won the Margaret Mahy Supreme Book in the 2020 NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults and won the PANZ Best Book Design for 2020. Its sequel, Mophead TU: The Queen's Poem was shortlisted for the NZ Book Awards (2021). She has just completed Mophead: KNOT Book 3 and is working on a genre-bending graphic poetry anthology on first wave Pacific women poets from 16 Pacific Island nations.

When: Thursday 15th September 2022, 6 - 8.30pm

Where: Fale Pasifika, 20-26 Wynyard Street City Campus University of, Auckland 1010

Drinks & nibbles will be served at the Fale

Led by Line: Inaugural lecture by Professor Selina Tusitala Marsh Led by Line: Inaugural lecture by Professor Selina Tusitala Marsh

Melbourne Climate Action Scholarship

The Melbourne Climate Action Scholarship is offered to students from Pacific Small Island Developing States who intend to pursue a University of Melbourne graduate coursework or research degree in the fields that address the effects of climate change in the Pacific. The scholarship was established by the University of Melbourne as part of a joint initiative with the University of Cambridge, University of Toronto, University of Montreal, and McMaster University which received the endorsement from HRH Prince of Wales, a life-long supporter of sustainable causes and climate-change action.

Total value: $120,000 - $210,000
Applications close: 31 October, 2022

Melbourne Climate Action Scholarship Melbourne Climate Action Scholarship

Dear colleagues,

You are cordially invited to the Asia-Pacific Stats Café series on Up-taking data use and increasing statistical literacy in the Pacific to be held on Monday, 12 September 2022 from 09.00-10.30h Bangkok time (UTC+7).

If you are interested in joining, it would be grateful if you could register through this link: https://forms.office.com/r/n4tZsdS85b

To join the meeting, please click https://bit.ly/3cthcxm

Kind regards,

ESCAP Statistics Division

Contemporary trends in Pacific media and potential implications for society

Thu., 26 May 2022
12:30 pm – 1:30 pm AEST

PLEASE NOTE: This event is a hybrid event and will take place both in-person and online.

Speaker: Dr. Shailendra Singh, Head of journalism, University of the South Pacific.

Handicapped as they are by various structural weaknesses, Pacific media nonetheless play a crucial role in good governance and efforts to address corruption. Pacific media are characterised by resource constraints, small audiences, limited advertising markets, dependence on the state for revenue and lack of research. Typically, journalists are young, inexperienced, and trained ‘on the job’. In some countries, they face hostile governments. While the media survived these risks in the past, there are new challenges to reckon with. The adverse financial impacts of the digital disruption and COVID-19 have exacerbated pre-existing vulnerabilities. Pacific media are also caught in the geostrategic contest between China and the West. This seminar looks at these winds of change and their potential implications.

About the Speaker

Shailendra Singh has a doctorate from the University of Queensland. He is an experienced Pacific journalist previously with The Fiji Times; The Review and Pacific Business; fijiLive.com; associate editor of the Daily Post. Dr Singh is a member of the advisory board of the Pacific Journalism Review. His main research interests include media for democracy, media development and conflict reporting, with a Pacific focus.

Contemporary trends in Pacific media and potential implications for society Dr Shailendra Singh looks at contemporary trends in Pacific media and potential implications for society and governance

The Executive Committee of the Pacific Circle Consortium is pleased to announce the 46th Annual Pacific Circle Consortium Conference, Educational Resiliency in the Pacific Circle. The conference will be online on 27-30, July 2022 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. As an international conference, please note that the dates and times are Pacific Time. Please visit the Conference Program page to identify the conference times within your own timezone.

This virtual conference is focused on increasing knowledge and action to
· share practice and research efforts and findings as it relates to education during and after the COVID pandemic
· broaden participation in Pacific Circle education and continue developing and supporting K-20 Pacific Circle educators;
· share and discuss inclusive and culturally responsive curriculum resources and strategies; and
· build community with K-20 Pacific Circle educators and scholars.

The conference emphasizes how a network of Pacific Circle teachers, practitioners, and scholars can work together to build opportunities for the next generation of students to address a wide variety of complex problems in the Asia-Pacific. The Pacific Circle Consortium finds it central to our beliefs that the people of the Asia-Pacific have a forum to discuss educational problems and celebrate successes that are representative of the world we live in.
Registration is open at the conference website [https://sites.google.com/pacificcircleconsortium.org/46th-conference-2022/].

Early registration rates are available until 10 June, 2022. If registering by 10, June 2022, registration rates are as follows:
· Regular Registration is $100 USD
· K-12 Teacher Registration is $85 USD
· Student Registration is $80 USD
· One-Day Registration is $40USD
· Two-Day Registration is $80 USD

If registering after 10, June 2022, registration rates increase by $25 USD for each category.

The Call for Proposals is also now open. Proposals are being accepted until June 3, 2022, 8pm your local time.
There are three types of sessions for which proposals will be considered:

1. PRACTITIONER-FOCUS SESSION (1-4 presenters suggested) (60 minutes): Presenters will engage attendees in curriculum and instructional activities to be implemented with students. These sessions can also be designed to promote a variety of discussions (e.g., equitable recruitment practices, inclusive and culturally responsive pedagogy, curriculum and instructional resources etc.).

2. PANEL SESSION (4 panelists and 1 moderator max) (60 minutes): Topics are focused on current issues impacting Asia-Pacific education, teachers, and students.

3. SCHOLAR SESSION (1-4 presenters suggested) (30 minutes): Presenters will share research findings related to education in the Asia-Pacific. Emphasis should be placed on findings that can lead towards practical change in K-20 educational settings, both formal and informal.

For questions or assistance with completing the proposal or registration forms please contact Program Chair Truc Nguyen at [email protected]

https://sites.google.com/pacificcircleconsortium.org/46th-conference-2022

46th Annual PCC Conference Educational Resiliency in the Pacific Circle

Reconceptualizing Security in the Pacific and the Boe Declaration

Leituala Kuiniselani Toelupe Tago
PhD Candidate, Department of Pacific Affairs, ANU

Leituala Kuiniselani Toelupe Tago’s doctoral research seeks to reconceptualise security in the Pacific region towards shaping a regional security framework that is not only fit for purpose but one that is embedded in Pacific philosophies and epistemologies. To do this, Leituala’s research will explore the responsiveness of the Boe Declaration on Regional Security as it is applied to addressing one of the biggest security threats that the world and the region has ever experienced, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. It will employ an indigenous methodology to analyse security at different levels using case studies from Sāmoa, Fiji and Kiribati. Furthermore, the research will engage an inclusive, people-centred, and gender-responsive approach, to mobilize diverse perspectives from various population groups ensuring deeper engagement with Pacific people on the topic. The subsequent results will include a sharing of lessons and applying learning across countries and cultures in the Pacific, to advance security as a collective and as sovereign nations, towards framing a decolonized regional security framework that is relevant, responsive and one which resonates with our Pacific people.

Time
May 4, 2022 10:30 AM in Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney
Register here for zoom link: https://anu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0ud-qoqTkqGNWnTLFyvfnjWnC5O9-NWAcg

Exploring Men’s Perspectives and Experiences of Masculinity, and prevention of violence in Papua New Guinea and Fiji

Mercy Masta
Conciliation Resources Australia

The dominant discourse on masculinity in the Pacific is that it is a problem which must be fixed. As a social problem, Pacific masculinity manifests in high rates of anti-social behaviour, including high rates of violence against women and children. Consequently, masculinity and men and boys have become objects of policy concern for government and non-government agencies. Notably, while masculinity and the behaviour of men and boys have attracted policy attention, the views and voices of men have not always been included in this conversation.
This thesis addresses this absence. It explores voices of men in Papua New Guinea and Fiji to paint a picture of lived experiences of Pacific men and the factors that shape and influence their notions of masculinity and manhood. It also explores men’s responses to gender-related initiatives that support men and boys to promote gender equality and anti-violence. The research addresses the lack of Pacific Island men’s voices in gender and masculinity research and aims to contribute insights to strengthen and improve policies and programs addressing gender and gender-based violence in the region.

Time
Apr 28, 2022 11:00 AM in Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney
Register here for zoom link: https://anu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_dnFpNIK4QeCuhyRsAzrrPw

Hollywood in the Pacific: Developing sustainable screen industry in the Pacific

Speaker: Eliorah Malifa

Current global screen industry practices continuously take from the Pacific in a manner that is not mutually beneficial (Pendakur, 1990). Between 2015 and 2020, a number of blockbuster Hollywood productions were shot in the Pacific (Adrift, 2018; Jurassic World, 2015; Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, 2018; Jurassic World: Dominion, 2022). Offshore television projects are slowly becoming commonplace in the region. With the exception of Aotearoa (New Zealand), Australia and Hawaii, there is not enough local skilled crew in Pacific countries to supplement these productions. This thesis draws on the knowledge of practitioners and stakeholders to Pacific screen, to envisage potential infrastructure for a regional screen industry. This infrastructure will be modelled to rebalance current global screen structures, and create mutual benefit to the global north and south of screen. In this instance the south is representative of the Pacific. This research aims to make a fundamental contribution to scholarship around screen, as a sector of the creative and cultural industries in the Pacific. Regional dialogue on creative and cultural policy, has stalled with the last Regional Cultural Framework reporting published in 2018. Movement on the Cinema Pasifika report has not continued since 2016, with the postponement of the Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture (FestPAC) 2021 Hawaii, at which official meetings of the Council of Pacific Arts and Culture (CPAC) would usually take place. This thesis will reinvigorate and focus these conversations, towards an industry whose stakeholders are actively seeking regional connections, creating ad hoc capacity building opportunities, cultivating career longevity; and innovating channels for cultural maintenance.

Time
May 2, 2022 11:00 AM in Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney

Register here for zoom link: https://anu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZItcOqrrzsoHdaJbIn46yMproMcJC9RWrYq

Moana Jackson; Te matai o te ture - he mangai, he kauwhata!

E te tōtara haemata, te rākau tapu o te wao nui a Tāne. Te uri ō Hawea, ō Poporo, ō Hinerupe, ō Rongomaiwahine, ō Ngāti Kuripakiaka, e tangi-momotu nei te ngākau mōu. Takahia atu rā, te ara whanaunga a o mātua tīpuna, haere, okioki atu - ki tua o Paerau.

Kua ngū tō reo whakatenatena i te Ture. Kua ngū tō reo whakatinana i tōna kupu. Waiho mai ko ō mātauranga pūrakau hei tikitiki mō tō iwi Māori. Haere i runga i ngā Maunga kōrero, ngā pae Maunga a ō tupuna e moe nei i te whenua, rātou kua whetūrangitia, rātou kua ngaro ki te pō.

Mahue mai tō whānau, tō iwi māori, me tō rangatiratanga hei whakaruruhau mō mātou katoa. Kia noho mai tō mana-motuhake hei korowai i a mātou me ō mātou mahi katoa.

E te rangatira ō tawhito, e moe, e moe, haere rā koe, e oki.

Today we pay tribute to Moana Jackson, of Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngāti Porou, who passed away this morning.

He left a profound legacy through his work as an advocate, facilitator and educator for Te Tiriti o Waitangi, human rights and social justice.

He played an important role in the drafting of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. He worked for criminal justice reform and the dismantling of racist structures in the justice system. Through his work on Matike Mai, he brought about a vision for constitutional change in Aotearoa New Zealand.

His contributions have paved the way for us all, to a better understanding of how we can grow forward as a nation, uplifting human rights and Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

As Matua Moana said, "we are not alone in our struggles, we stand in the light of our tupuna".