Progress report for
Pacific Islands Universities Research Network
Achievement at a glance
The Pacific Islands Universities Research Network (PIURN) has installed positive dynamics in the region and has proven to be a reliable partner and a catalyst in terms of research cooperation and regional integration.The third PIURN Conference took place in October 2018, in Tahiti (French Polynesia) - https://piurn2018.sciencesconf.org/. This major event brought together 130 participants, from 15 universities and 11 Pacific Countries and Territories.
The conference marked an opportunity for PIURN to established two new institutional collaborations: one project with the Vanuatu Ministry of Education and Training to support the creation a trilingual national university: English, French and Bislama. The network signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Pacific islands Development Forum (PIDF). - https://piurn.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/MOU-WITH-PIDF-EN-signed-parties.pdf
In 2020, the National University of Vanuatu was established and became the 14th member of PIURN.
PIURN dramatically deepened science collaborations between members through a dozen of scientific and collaborative projects, aligned with the UN SDGs, demonstrating the commitment of the network to build a better future for the Pacific.
The University of New Caledonia been granted 1.3 million euros from the European Commission Horizon 2020 Marie Curie program for establishing the FALAH ‘Family Farming, Lifestyle and Health’ scientific network, together with PIURN members (USP, Solomon Islands National University) and Vanuatu institutions. This multidisciplinary project, aligned with the SGDs, will explore the impact of climate change on food security and practice of the Pacific population’s health - https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/873185.
Significant Pacific Fund seed funding is now secured to establish a regional Innovative training network (ITN SUDPAC) on environment and sustainable development. The objective is to support the design of a regional Master and to foster connections between the PhD schools in the region, with the view to directly serve the SDG agenda, with a focus on the region’s specific challenges and objectives.
Challenges faced in implementation
There are disparities in the network, due to the size and resources of the different universities. The member universities have their own stories and governance, with real gaps in terms of research capacities or funding capabilities. Some universities are national, others are regional institution. They were created at various stages. PIURN has to work around these differences and unite the members around the regional priorities and common goals.When it comes to organize regional event, a lot of hurdles can jeopardize the implementation. Indeed, regarding the 3rd PIURN conference, the organization was challenged by visa and transportation difficulties. The Pacific Region faces many obstacles, whether they are natural (distances, insularity), administrative (difficulties to get visa) or financial (flying costs). The Pacific Region is also home to multiple languages.
In order to realize a successful and long-term collaborations, the actors have to know and understand each other. Lack of knowledge between the countries and territories can make the creation of research projects a slow process.
Funding scientific projects is also a real challenge in the region. Call for proposals are really competitive and scarcely accessible the Pacific Islands countries. Raising money to finance research projects for the Pacific Islands Countries and Territories and mobilizing the staff and students of local universities is a challenge
Beneficiaries
The beneficiaries are the regional tertiary institutions (universities), the professors, researchers and the students working on the project. PIURN also works to ensure that research collaborations address the specific needs of the Pacific population. More largely, PIURN aims at meeting the training needs of future leaders and practitioners of the Pacific Region.
Actions
All the research projects aim to positively impact the population as they are all aligned with the SDGs. The projects work on priority challenges in the Pacific as measuring the pollution in the sea, analyzing and improving the dynamics in informal settlements, studying the national drinking water standards, evaluating the effectiveness of National Adaptation Programme of Action on climate change…The network also reinforces research quality and capacity in the region through strengthening postgraduate training and enhancing the universities’ curriculum (masters, PhD), with the will to create a regional educative program. PIURN also promotes local scientists and supports the Pacific students. As for an example, UNC and USP are now funded under the ERASMUS + international program to support exchanges of PhD students between the two universities.
PIURN also wants to deepen the relations with regional organizations to combine expertise and capacity and to increase its positive impact on the Pacific society.
More on : https://piurn.org/pacific-island-universities-research-network-news/