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Teaching & Training - Pacific Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development (PACE-SD) |
The USP-EU Global Climate Change Alliance project that started last year this will allow Capacity building via Post Graduate Diploma. New courses will be developed within this project on aspects of climate change not yet covered. A range of optional courses will also give students the opportunity to study scientific, socio-economic and cultural aspects of climate change. Some courses will combine face-to-face or distance learning with on-site wokrshops and case studies.
EU Scholarships - For information pack, please email Hilda Sakiti Waqa on hilda.sakitiwaqa@usp.ac.fj
Postgraduate Diploma ildan Climate Change program: An AusAID funded programme that builds capacity of Pacific students to understand the concept of climate change and to be future climate change experts in the Pacific. PACE coordinates the core course of the programme that is EV 414: Climate Change impacts and adaptation , EV 415: Climate Science, EV 424: Disaster Risk Management and EV 425: Environmental Impact Assessment/Strategic.
EV 425: Environmental Impact Assessment/Strategic Environment Assessment (EIA/SEA) course: In collaboration with United Nations University (UNU), Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University (RMIT University) and United Nation Environment Programme (UNEP), PACE-SD has developed this targeting environmental managers in the Pacific. This course is also offered for the Post Graduate Diploma in Climate Change programme. The course is only offered in the 2nd Semester and is coordinated by PACE.
Courses to be offered in the near future:
Integrated Waste Management Course: In collaboration with SPREP, PACE has been undertaking informal training courses, short and long, as a capacity building component of a major French project on Waste Management in the Pacific.
PACE staff has also been involved in a Post graduate unit ES 405/SC405: Field & Lab Technique Environment Studies students' related projects. Two of such student supervised by PACE were the only baseline studies of solid waste problems and management issues for USP Laucala campus and Fiji National University, Samabula campus. The USP baseline study provided background information that led to the development of Greening USP Campus, which became the platform of Waste Management activties of PACE.
Community Workshop on Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation in the Melanesian Region (
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Pacific Island Community-based Climate Change Adaptation Programme (PICCCCAP). This programme will be offered in three phases. There will be some direct teaching, interspersed in most sessions with activities. The objective of this training course would be to implement the trainer of trainer program on skill building and elements of climate change adaptation. The course will also include field visits to provide practical in field and in the community experience in applying the principles and skills learned during the module.
USP-EU Global Climate Change Alliance (GCCA) Project
The USP-EU GCCA project instigated in 2011 and has a component on capacity building that covers the non-formal training on climate variability and climate change impacts in the region. This includes capacity building workshops and training of trainers program to improve the knowledge and skills of the climate change practioners in the region. This knowledge and skills will focus on climate change related topics, but also on practical management skills, such as project management, written and oral presentation, reporting, monitoring and evaluation of project, conflict management,etc. There sill be two sessions of the non-formal training programs will be carried out on within the duration of the projects. The topics and skills will be determined by the needs and demands from the practioners. For more information email Dr Helene Des Combe descombe_h(at)usp.ac.fj
Human Rights and Climate Change: The added value for the South Pacific course was organised by the Centre and the International-Lawyers.org. This course was supported by EU-GCCA as a program to improve the skills and knowledge on climate change and its impact.
The 10 day course was designed for young academics and professionals. This course aims to familiarise participants with international human rights law and mechanisms, and the links between international climate negotiations and issues and concerns on human rights in the context of threats due to climate change and sea level rise across the South Pacific. The course also seeks to identify practical approaches to influence decision-making on climate change at all levels, thereby using human rights as tools to facilitate just and effective responses.
Fiji Training & Capacity Building workshop on Climate Variability and Change in Pacific Island Coutnries: Impacts, Vulnerability and Adaptation will be held at the USP Laucala campus, Fiji from the 22 November to the 03 Decemeber, 2010. This workshop aims to enhance the local human resource capacity in finding ways and means of managing risks that climate change poses for freshwater availability, food( including fisheries) productivity, coastal erosion, salt water intrusion, tourism, human heath etc.
For those that are interested within Fiji and our neighbouring Pacific Islands please send in your application to Mr Sumeet Naidu or Ms Keshmil Rani on email.The deadline for submission is on the 10 October 2010. About 2-3 participants from each Pacific Island Country would be selected for the purpose.Applications must inlcude CV including working experience, a statement on purpose of interest and career benefits.
Kiribati Training & Capacity Building workshop on Climate Variability and Change in Pacific Island Countries: Impacts, Vulnerability and Adaptation will be held at USP's Tarawa campus from the 20-27 October 2010. The eight day intensive workshop will be conducted by PACE-SD as part of the AusAID funded Future Climate Leaders Project activity that covers issues on climate change impacts, vulnerability and pathways for adaptation in Pacific Island Countries and examine community-based strategies to adapt to climate change.The workshop aims to enhance the local human resource capacity in finding ways and means to managing risks that climate change pose for freshwater availability, food(including fisheries) productivity, coastal erosion, salt water intrusion, tourism, human health etc.
The workshop targets 20 - 25 participants that are working in Kiribati especially those from the Goverment, NGOs, Community Leaders and other stakeholders. If your are interested please submit your application to Mr Summet Naidu or Ms Keshmil Rani on email. Your application must include your CV including working experience and a statement on the purpose of interest and career benefits. The deadline for submission is on the 10 October 2010.
APN funded Global Change & Coral Reef Management Capacity in the Pacific; Engaging Scientist and Policy Makers in Fiji, Samoa, Tuvalu and Tonga is a joint capacity building programme with the Institute of Marine Resources. It include a seminar in Fiji that was held in June and in Samoa, Tonga, and Tuvalu in the month of August, 2010. The main aim of having the seminars in each country is to bring Pacific Leaders in each country together with scientist and experts on the sustainable management of coral reefs, using most recent information.
PACE-SD also supports the United Nation Decade on Education for Sustainable Development (UNDESD) ( 2005 - 2014) that is to integrate priniciples, values and practices of learning in order to address the social, ecnomic, cultural and environmental problems we face in the 21st Century. United Nation Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) is the leading agency in promoting education for sustainable development (ESD).
As a result of the Pacific's commitment to UNDESD, in 2006 Regional Education Ministers discussed and endorsed the Pacific Regional and USP (through PACE) was part of the regional working group that developed the Pacific Education for Sustainable Framework and the Pacific ESD action Plan.
Therefore, PACE-SD and its partners is implementing the USP-ACCU and USP Edulink NIU project.
The EduLInk NIU project is a three year EU funded programme that was implemented in 2009 and it brings together the three main universities in the Pacific; University of the South Pacific (USP), University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) and National University of Samoa (NUS) in mainstreaming Education for Sustainable Development in the Pacific.
The Pacific Youth Environment Network (PYEN) annual meet was held at the Marine Centre, Lower campus, Suva, Fiji from the 30 November to 3 December 2009. The annual meet was funded by the United Nation Enviroment Programme (UNEP). Youth participants were from the Solomon Island, Tonga, Cook Islands, Tuvalu,PNG, Vanuatu and Fiji. The theme for the annual meeting was Pacific Climate Leaders: Learning, Creating and Acting. This initiative aims to develop the Pacific Youth on their leadership skills, project management skills and creative thinking to facilitate climate solution projects in their local communities. Participants were able to share their experiences and ideas on climate change issues in the Pacific and streghthen local and regional network for collective actions. The forum was an interactive discussions, group work and field visits to environment project sites.
ESD Youth Leadership and Governance Forum was held in September 2009 at the Statham campus, Fiji. The main objective of the forum was to raise awareness of United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development ( UNDESD), help develop their attitudes, skills of good leadership and governance and ehnance their understanding of the principle of good governance & practice of sustainable development among youths. The participants were selected from the the various cultural groups that were affiliated to the University's student association. The forum was sponsored by the New Zealand Aid agency
The 2008 Pacific Future Environment Leaders Forum was held in Suva, Fiji from 12 to 14 March. 35 individuals from 10 countries in the Pacific were selected on a competitive basis to participate in the Forum. The countries that participated included: Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia (Pohnpei), Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Participants were young professionals working within government, NGOs and the private sector. This initiative aims to build the capacity of young Pacific islanders to facilitate adaptation projects to reduce vulnerability to climate change in their communities. Through providing the skills, support, and seed funding, this initiative will empower ‘future leaders’ to build partnerships and momentum within their communities to foster adaptation to climate change. The Forum was jointly coordinated by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), USP/PACE-SD and the Oceania office of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and funded by the British High Commission.
Pacific Islands Community based Conservation Training course: This is a very popular training course for conservation managers and practitioners so far PACE has trained Pacific people through team teaching involving mainly Institute of Applied Sciecne, International Centre for Protected Landscape (ICPL), South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and PACE staff. Recently ICPL, IAS and PACE have been awarded a major Darwin Initiative project funding for the development of two additional conservation courses, with special focus on Distance learning.
Pacific Island Training Institute on Climate Extremes Events Training 2004 - 2006: This was three year Asia Pacific Network (APN)for Global Change CAPaBLE funded project. It was cconducted a collaborative effort of exprtise and capabilities from USP, East-West Centre (EWC), and the New Zealand National Institute of Water and Atmospheric research (NIWA) and additional funds were from U.S National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminstration (NOAA), EWC, NIWA and USP and host of the regional and international organisation. The overarching goal of the Training Institute was to enhance the regional network of scientists, forecasters, disaster management officials, and resource managers skilled in the development and use of climate information to enhance the resilience of Pacific Island nations in the face of current and future patterns of climate variability and climate-related extreme events.
The Climate Change Vulnerability & Adaptation Assessment Training: PACE has been coordinating this programme since 2001. Developed for capacity building to finalise the first national communication to UNFCCC, the program has now outlived its initial purpose. However, the region badly needs a climatology and climate change course to address which; the Centre is currently developing such a course.
API Training Course: This course, designed for advanced professionals and students interested in environmental studies, planning, resource conservation and management, was conducted through in-class video teleconferencing and asynchronously through the use of an e-course management system in partnership with six other partner universities in the Asia pacific region. This pilot may serve as a model for the delivery of some of the regional training in future using USPNet.
Education for Sustainable Development: Having committed ourselves to the promotion of education for the sustainable development through the WSSD Type 2 and UC-SIDS initiatives, USP became an integral part of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UNDESD) launched in March 2005. As part of this, the University has been identified by UNESCO/UNU as a Regional Centre of Expertise (RCE) for the promotion of Education for Sustainable Development and after negotiation with UNESCO-ACCU. USP is also a Centre of Excellence (COE) for ESD. USP is one of the founding members of the University Consortium of small Island developing states launched in Mauritius. PACE coordinates USP’s engagement in all of these ESD initiatives.
Endorsing the view that through education and awareness building comes planned decision making, action and the code of behavior necessary for the conversation and sustainable use of natural resources and the protection of intellectual property rights, USP has been actively pursuing an education policy which incorporates formal, non-formal and informal programs for its environmental education and awareness building. Considered a Centre within the University, PACE-SD also is driven by the same ethos.
