Tag Archives: European Union

“ECOPAS (European Consortium for Pacific Studies) is a new multidisciplinary project in the social sciences and humanities (SSH) funded by the EU’s 7th Framework Programme (Dec. 2012 – Dec. 2015). It is designed to provide coordination and support to research and policy communities on issues connected to climate change and related processes in the Pacific Islands region, in order to define better options for sustainable development.

ECOPAS aims to restore the human dimension to climate change. The Pacific is notable for the discrepancy between the contribution of its small economies to global climate change, and the severity of climate change effects experienced by its peoples. Linkages developed by ECOPAS between research networks and policy interfaces will contribute to more context-sensitive EU external action, and will set a future research agenda for social science and humanities in the Pacific. ECOPAS is the first-ever network to develop extensive, durable collaboration in the social sciences and humanities between European and Pacific scholarly institutions, as well as between research institutions and local, national and international political agencies. While the emphasis of ECOPAS is on developing a long-term strategy for SSH research on the Pacific, strong links are also forged with climate research in the natural sciences, both at Pacific and European institutions institutions.

Built on seven interrelated and complementary Work Packages, the ECOPAS Work Programme aims to define and strengthen the potential of European research in the Pacific by creating a platform and portal for knowledge exchanges, a long-term plan for capacity building both in Europe and the Pacific, and a strategic plan for Pacific state and non-state involvement. The close involvement of major Pacific institutions, and the linkages with diplomacy and regional organisations developed by ECOPAS, will provide for a process of policy reorientation informed by Pacific perspectives and experiences. ECOPAS participants are four European university centres of excellence on Pacific research, in Norway, France, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands (BPS – Bergen, CREDO – Aix-Marseille, CPS – St. Andrews and CPAS – Nijmegen), and two major Pacific institutions of research, education and policy (the University of the South Pacific – Fiji and the National Research Institute – Papua New Guinea).

The ECOPAS web site is at: www.pacific-studies.eu. For further information, contact ECOPAS Coordinator (Professor Edvard Hviding) or ECOPAS Administrator (Ms Eilin Holtan Torgersen) at ecopas@uib.no.”

This post reproduced from the latest PaceNET Newsletter. 

“A meeting of vice-chancellors and senior level representatives of interested universities and stakeholders was held at the University of the South Pacific (Suva) from 5-7 November 2012 to discuss the formation of a network of universities from the Pacific Island countries and territories to support intra- and inter- regional knowledge creation and sharing, and to prepare succinct recommendations for the development of a regional Science, Technology and Innovation (ST&I) Policy framework.

Recognizing the benefits of a regional science and technology framework to strengthen national and regional agendas, the delegates discussed the capacity of universities to contribute to a collaborative network which would help foster research links and strengthen the policy processes in the region. Potential identified benefits from establishing a universities’ research network included a capacity to:

• Generate new knowledge for addressing priority challenges in the Pacific region.
• Share physical and intellectual resources to facilitate quality research.
• Strengthen scientific research content in the curriculum and in teaching.
• Develop shared research training initiatives.
• Collectively work with regional and international organizations to strengthen the quantity and quality of research conducted in fields of major importance.
• Protect and build on local and indigenous knowledge systems in research programmes.
• Provide ST&I policy advice at the regional and national level.

The meeting resolved:

To successfully implement these resolutions, the meeting agreed to:

1. Appoint Jito Vanualailai, Associate Professor and Director of Research, University of the South Pacific, as the Interim Coordinator of the network.
2. Appoint Anne Rouault, Head of Research Administration, University of New Caledonia, as the Assistant Interim Coordinator of the network.
3. Form a PIURN secretariat that will be hosted by the University of the South Pacific for three years in the first instance.
4. Establish a PIURN working group of ten prospective university representatives to formulate the terms of reference and operational structure for the network in partnership with relevant national, regional and international organizations.

The working group is expected to report to prospective member universities within a 6-month period. For more information, contact: jito.vanualailai@usp.ac.fj“ [Note: This test is taken from the PACE-Net website and the PIURN initiative is supported by the PACE-NET+ programme of collaboration between the European Union and Pacific Islands countries and territories.]