Progress report for
Learning from the Sharp End of Environmental Uncertainty in SIDS
Achievement at a glance
The 'Sharp End' partnership comprises a network of higher education institutions and professional organisations working on education, policy and research in SIDS. It is committed to engaging in policy dialogue with international and local actors, with a focus on environmental uncertainty, UN sustainable development initiatives, and how the international community can learn from the distinctive experience of SIDS.<br>
<br>Impacts of the 'Sharp End' partnership since 2014 have seen UK-based members engaged in the development of the Commonwealth Education Policy Framework ; the Commonwealth Curriculum Framework for the Sustainable Development Goals; and the delivery of sessions for the Commonwealth Conference of Education Ministers (CCEM: The Bahamas, 2015; Fiji, 2018) and Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings (CHOGM: Malta 2015, London 2018).
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<br>We have worked with partners in The University of the West Indies (UWI) and with the Caribbean Studies Association, and brought Sharp End members to a Side Event at the 2017 UN Oceans Conference, and the Venice 2017 UNESCO Conference on Ocean Literacy. Partners at the University of the South Pacific (USP) have worked with members at the Universities of Bristol and Nottingham on British Academy and USP research into the Quality of Teachers and Teacher Education in Fiji. USP partners have also worked with the Commonwealth Association of Museums (CAM) and indigenous cultures threatened by climate change to promote the role of traditional ecological knowledge in sustainability education. Our lobbying helped mobilise the Commonwealth Secretariat to set up the Commonwealth Blue Charter.
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<br>Our Institutional roots remain in the Education in Small States Research Group (ESSRG), University of Bristol School of Education, and details of relevant activities and publications may be found on the ESSRG website (www.smallstates.net). In carrying out the above work we were helped by a £5,000 grant from BAICE, the British Association for International and Comparative Education.
Challenges faced in implementation
The partnership is a largely voluntary initiative, which has benefited from the small grant from BAICE, funding from a variety of external agencies related to specific activities and events, and the financial and resources support of member organisations and universities. Maintaining the input of member organisations within SIDS has become increasingly challenging as global economic conditions have tightened and staff commitments have intensified, and this has been compounded by the impact of Covid-19 and related lockdowns. Ongoing costs, including those for the attendance at international meetings, are a challenge and the contraction of the Commonwealth Secretariat's Health and Education Division and its precarious financial position have also become a constraint. Local leadership roles have been established in some SIDS but maintaining continuity of input is difficult in contexts where staff mobility is rapid. Priority is now being given to exploring ways of decentralising overall leadership to SIDS, to strengthening support for this and to focussing attention on priorities identified by SIDS partners. One of the key opportunities for meetings of Sharp End partners is in the wings of major international meetings, some of them biennial or triennial, and many of these scheduled for 2020 (e.g. United Nations Ocean Conference, Caribbean Studies Association Conference, Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, IUCN World Conservation Congress) were postponed until 2021, rather than being run in virtual, or blended modes.Beneficiaries
Civil society networks and organisations including the UN, UNESCO and related agencies.
<br>National Governments and Ministries of Education in SIDS, such as the Maldives where we are working with numerous doctoral researchers.
<br>The Commonwealth Secretariat and other Commonwealth organisations.
<br>The two global regional universities of The University of the West Indies and The University of The South Pacific.
<br>National and International academic and professional associations such as BAICE, UKFIET, OCIES, IFCO (The Independent Forum of Commonwealth Organisations) and others.
<br>Academics, teachers and students across the SIDS' regions.
<br>Educational practitioners at all levels of formal systems and non-formal provision.
<br>Small-scale fishing communities.
<br>The populations of SIDS globally.
Actions
Keynote Addresses on education priorities for SIDS and for sustainable development specifically for policy makers at, for example, the recent Conferences of Commonwealth Education Ministers (CCEM) in The Bahamas (2015) and Fiji (2018): Prof Crossley’s 2018 BAICE Presidential Address designed to help bring increased attention to SIDS contexts in the international literature; and related peer reviewed academic journal articles by Sharp End partners as listed in wwwsmallstates.net<br>Publication of Reports for Ministries of Education and policy makers such as the Policy Brief on the Quality of Teachers and Teacher Education in Fiji produced for the Fiji Ministry of Education in 2016 (see www.smallstates.net).
<br>Engagement in UN sustainability agendas, particularly relating to ocean literacy and the UN Oceans conference.
<br>Contributions to the development of Commonwealth policy frameworks as noted above.
<br>Participation in academic networks: Caribbean Studies Association (e.g. Haiti 2016, Cuba 2018); UKFIET Conferences in Oxford (2019); BAICE - British Association for International and Comparative Education (2018); and OCIES, the Oceania Comparative and International Education Society (2020).
<br>Direct involvement in the setting up and convening of IFCO (Independent Forum of Commonwealth Organisations: www.ifco.online), a network of some 80 Commonwealth Accredited Organisations, part of the Third Pillar of the Commonwealth that engages professional and advocacy organisations across all Commonwealth nations in policy-making and in service delivery, including the 32 Commonwealth small states of which 26 are SIDS, as well as coordinating the Submission of Commonwealth Accredited Organisations to the Committee of the Whole in preparation for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings (London, 2018; Kigali, 2021).
<br>Links to UNESCO (http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/priority-areas/sids/sids-conferences/mauritius-conference-2005/themes/education-capacity-building/) contribution to the Mauritius Strategy: Sustainable Capacity Development and Education for Sustainable Development.