16 resilience and education professionals from across the region gathered in Fiji from February 27th to March 2nd for the first-ever benchmarking study tour titled “A benchmarking trip fostering TVET and sustainable practices to climate-resilient societies.” The event was organised by the Pacific Community’s (SPC) Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change and Resilient Building (PACRES) project, which is financed under the European Union’s Intra-African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) Global Climate Change Alliance+ (GCCA+) Programme.
With the objective to build on experiential learning, the four-day trip around Viti Levu allowed 16 delegates from Fiji, Samoa, and the Solomon Islands to share, exchange information and learn from each other’s best practices, while also learning from the different sites organised for their visits.
While welcoming the participants, SPC’s Georesources and Energy and Maritime division's (GEM) Deputy Director Mr Akuila Tawake said the pace and scale of change in the region have accelerated in recent decades, and there is a growing need for Pacific communities to build greater resilience to cope with these challenges.
The participants all presented their country papers, reflecting on the best practices from their different expert backgrounds and communities.
The delegates also learnt from lectures given by experts at SPC. These lectures included: orientation on the newly accredited Diplomas and Certificates in Resilience presented by TVET Coordinator Ms Melinda Adivincula-Mathers; the requirements set up by the Education Quality and Assessment Program (EQAP) on eligible institutions that could offer the qualifications which were shared by Professional Officer Mrs Selai Waiqainabete-Nainoca; Mr Gary Lee, the Geo-Technical Adviser also presented on Geoparks and its potential links to resilience; and training on Geographic Information System (GIS) and data analysis were conducted by Earth Observation Officer, Mr Nicholas Metherall.
While giving his reflections, Senior Curriculums Specialist at Fiji’s Ministry of Education Mr Dharnesh Raman said being part of the tour gave him a new perspective on how he should carry out his role in building TVET education in the country.
“The benchmarking exercise has taken me right to the people and I must say there is still more that is to be done and more emphasis needs to be given to resilience,” he said.
"There are certain topics that we have in our curriculum that promotes resilience, but it is not being emphasised enough, so maybe we will do the due diligence by re-training the teachers to emphasise and practice more in classrooms so teachings are based on the real-life struggle at home, and that will be my goal here” he continued.
For site visits, the participants went to Kaybees aquaculture farm in Nakasi where they learnt sustainable practices on Tilapia farming and energy production with the use of biogas. Meanwhile, at the Fiji Meteorological office in Nadi, they learnt about the importance of weather forecasting and witnessed the release of the weather balloon to gather atmospheric data.
The participants also visited the villages of Semo in Nadroga and Vanuakula in Tavua, where they met villagers who were part of interventions under the PACRES Community of Practice initiative.
“When we went to Vanuakula, we were able to see how the women were able to adopt strategies when it came to sustainable livelihood and how SPC assisted them with the 72-hour resilient kits and the livelihood training where they learnt screen printing, so they are able to depend on themselves,” said Samoa Qualifications Authority’s Principal Quality Assurance Officer, Mr Fiti Tausisi.
“Seeing how communities bounce back from natural disasters and going back to my line of work, its crucial to engage communities and those people for which the qualifications are. My takeaway is to make sure that whenever we have program developments, especially in the academic space, these are the people that should also be consulted because they are the ones facing the effects of natural disasters and their input should be taken as well,” he added.
The delegates visited Koroipita Model Town in Lautoka where they were enriched with a holistic approach that the occupants have been supported to deal with poverty, education barriers, and social issues such as discrimination, disabilities, and abuse.
In response to the event, Semo villager Remivani Baravi said, “This tour has been helpful to me, and I am ready to go out and encourage the women of Semo that they have to stand up, become self-reliant, don’t rely on others and try to get your business running so that you always have food on the table and can meet the needs of your family.”
Consequently, TVET Coordinator Ms Adivincula-Mathers said the benchmarking trip was an effective avenue for knowledge and information sharing and networking amongst the Pacific TVET and Resilience professionals.
“The delegates of the first batch (held in Fiji) proudly shared the best practices in their respective sectors and countries; discussed lessons learned and are determined with the journey to continuous improvement,” explained Ms Adivincula-Mathers.
The PACRES project is set to implement two more batches of the benchmarking trip and convene these professionals to spread the gospel of Resilience in Education and build a resilient Pacific through best practices later this year.
Media Contacts:
Alisi Vucago-Waibuta, Communications Officer, Pacific Community (SPC), Geosciences, Energy and Maritime (GEM) Division | [email protected]
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About SPC:
The Pacific Community has been supporting sustainable development in the Pacific, through science, knowledge and innovation since 1947. It is the principal intergovernmental organisation in the region, owned and governed by its 27 member countries and territories. www.spc.int
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