The University of Melbourne and the Pacific Climate Change Centre (PCCC) officially launched their Australia Awards Fellowship Initiative on 6th November 2023. A team from the Pacific Climate Change Centre led by Mr. Sefanaia Nawadra, Director General of SPREP and the Manager of the Pacific Climate Change Centre Ófa Maási-Kaisamy attended the launch event at the University of Melbourne.
The partnership between the PCCC and the University of Melbourne for this Australia Awards fellowship initiative is a A$493,947 grant which has been utilised to fund fellows from Indo-Pacific to attend a six-week programme hosted by Melbourne Climate Futures, the University’s climate change research initiative, and the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health.
The initiative strives to develop leadership potential and stimulate lasting change by empowering a global network of talented individuals through high-quality education experiences in Australia and overseas. Fifteen (15) fellows from Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam are beneficiaries of the program and are currently in Melbourne to attend the fellowship.
“SPREP through the Pacific Climate Change Centre is pleased to partner with the University of Melbourne in this initiative, as it will strengthen the PCCC Community of Practice comprising a cohort of climate change practitioners working in government, non-government organisations, and the private sector across the Pacific,” Sefanaia Nawadra, Director General of SPREP.
The fellowship program on “Advancing climate, health, and equity outcomes through local action in the Indo-Pacific program” is an immersive climate and health leadership, capacity development, knowledge exchange and networking initiative. The program has been designed by the University and the Pacific Climate Change Centre to equip Fellows with additional skills, networks, and resources to drive action on climate, health, and equity priorities in their respective countries across the Indo-Pacific.
Each week, Fellows will undertake activities relating to climate change and health evidence and practices, training, mentoring, knowledge exchange, as well as dedicated time for the development of an individual climate policy/practice output based on the Fellow’s local needs and priorities. Cultural learning experiences to understand and engage with Australia’s First Nations history and perspectives, and unique natural environments, are integrated throughout the program.
At the end of the program, Fellows will present a climate policy/practice output to the Fellowship cohort, mentors, internal and external partners. Beyond strengthening public speaking and presentation skills, this will facilitate bidirectional knowledge exchange between the cohort and feedback from the group will strengthen each Fellow’s capacity to implement their output upon returning home.
“This programme will establish a supportive, collaborative regional community and equip regional policy makers with practical knowledge to boost the development of healthy and equitable climate policies and programmes in their home countries, improving climate resilience and outcomes across the whole Indo-Pacific region,” said Professor Kathryn Bowen, Deputy Director, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne.
Mrs Ófa Kaisamy said “This collaboration builds on existing efforts by PCCC and the University of Melbourne on climate and health capacity-building. It will create a regional community of policy makers and researchers whose knowledge of climate and health will support better outcomes for populations in their respective countries.” She also confirmed that PCCC will host a three-day workshop in Samoa in early 2024 to explore how participants have applied skills developed during the fellowship to their practice.