Centre for Sustainable Futures

The University of the South Pacific (USP) recognises the urgent need for capable climate change experts in Pacific Island Countries. The region’s challenges, including vulnerability to climate impacts, highlight the need to enhance expertise in research, policy, and leadership.
While the University has specialised institutions, each focused on different aspects of climate change, its current fragmented structure poses challenges in effectively addressing complex climate issues. To address these challenges and capitalise on the strengths of these institutions, the University is establishing the USP Centre for Sustainable Futures to provide a unified platform.
By consolidating expertise, encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration, and fostering a comprehensive approach to training and research, the Centre will bridge gaps and ensure that the strengths of each specialised institution contribute synergistically to addressing climate change holistically in the Pacific Island Countries.
The Centre will consolidate five existing institutions into one climate finance and resilience teaching and research institute. It will also integrate the climate change-related scholarship programme and some existing programmes from other USP schools, such as the School of Information, Engineering, Mathematics, and Physics. The Centre will strengthen USP’s core role as a traditional university, conducting research to create and disseminate new knowledge through teaching, training, and publications.
This will result in an increased number of current and future Pacific climate change researchers, policymakers, and legislators. These leaders will be equipped to lead their communities in addressing the challenges of climate change and its impacts.
The establishment of the Centre is funded by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, with NZD15m allocated over a three-year commitment period from 2024 to 2026. Beyond this initial funding, the Centre is designed to be self-funded, ensuring its long-term impact on climate change research and policy in the Pacific Island Countries.
Through its structured approach and collaboration with stakeholders, the Centre aims to contribute to improved institutional capability and evidence-based decision-making in the Pacific region, fostering climate resilience and driving ambitious and innovative action on climate change.

Core Objective:
To cultivate a cohort of capable climate change researchers, policymakers, and legislators who can lead their communities in addressing the challenges of climate change and its impacts.

The Centre will create a multi-disciplinary, integrated, and strategic approach to climate change and resilience with a focus on five broad areas of sustainability:

1. Renovate an existing building to house the Centre.
2. Recruit additional technical staff to run the Centre:
   1. Visionaries – Professors (5) to head each of the areas of sustainability.
   2. Specialists – Senior Research Fellows (4+) and Postdoctoral Fellows (4) who will be responsible for conducting research and generating and disseminating new knowledge in line with the goals of the ANZICF strategy, in close collaboration with all relevant agencies of the Council of Regional Organisation of the Pacific (CROP).
   3. Connectors – The connectors (4+) will develop networks and create partnerships with national, regional, and international organisation to work together on research, teaching, and projects. They will also be responsible for the monitoring and evaluation of projects and support activities of the Centre.
3. Increase the capacity of USP support services through the recruitment of new and vacant positions.
4. Develop additional academic and vocational training courses to offer to USP students, targeting the five areas of sustainability.
5. Create a centralised research data repository called the Pacific Sustainability Data Source (PSDS), which will initially store USP research data and later expand to store Pacific research data and make it available to university students and the public. The database will complement and contribute to the SPC data hub.
6. Strengthen the convergence of sector technical areas, e.g. nexus between climate and ocean security, fisheries, and economic strategy.