The World Journalism Education Congress preconference for JERAA and the region began today and brought together Pacific journalism educators to improve the role of the Fourth Estate in the region.

Toeolesulusulu Associate Professor Damon Salesa, director of the New Zealand Institute of Pacific Research, opened the preconference, saying journalism was important for bringing the community together for people to engage in the public sphere.

“Journalism is central to the public interest of the Pacific, it protects culture and especially language,” Toeolesulusulu said.

“However the world has changed drastically, making it difficult for journalists to keep up with the scale of some of the issues affecting Pacific.”

He referred to health issues, like the Zika virus where communities are struggling to understand how the media are easing the issue.

This was an “exciting” time for educators to gather and face these issues together at the conference.

The day-long preconference was organised by the Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia (JERAA), Pacific Media Centre (PMC) and the Media Educators Pacific (MeP).

The NZ Institute of Pacific Research was the main donor for the preconference, funding five media educators from Fiji, Papua New Guinea (2), Samoa and Tonga to attend JERAA and WJEC.

The institute is a collaboration between the University of Auckland, Auckland University of Technology and Otago University.

Foreign Minister Murray McCully launched the think-tank, saying it was aimed at supporting sustainable development in the region. Photographs by Del Abcede of the Pacific Media Centre.

Launching the NZIPR

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Foreign Minister Murray McCully has welcomed the launch of a New Zealand-based Pacific think-tank aimed at supporting sustainable development in the region.

“We have identified the need for more targeted research on the Pacific, to underpin development initiatives and support Pacific decision makers,” said McCully, who launched the new institute at Auckland University’s Fale Pasifika last night.

“The New Zealand Institute for Pacific Research will work in support of Pacific governments and regional agencies, and will focus on producing the kind of hard-headed analysis that can support sustainable economic development.

“Our aim is for the NZPIR to become a centre of excellence for research on Pacific development, governance, public policy, and security issues.

“The government has provided a cornerstone investment of $7.5 million over five years to establish the Institute and develop an initial programme of research,” McCully said.

The NZPIR will be based at the University of Auckland.

The research programme will be delivered by a consortium led by the University of Auckland, and including Auckland University of Technology and Otago University.

• Pacific Media Watch’s TJ Aumua reports on the new institute
• New NZ think-tank launched to advance Pacific research

The launch of the New Zealand Institute of Pacific Research (NZIPR) at the University of Auckland last night has been hailed as a milestone for advancing student learning on Pacific issues.

The new institute has been established by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in partnership with the University of Auckland, Auckland University of Technology and Otago University as a consortium for Pacific research and engagement.

Newly appointed director of the NZIPR, Associate Professor Damon Salesa, said it was the first time the NZ government had funded a national centre of excellence in Pacific research.

“It is a remarkable opportunity not only to research but to deliver opportunities to learn and to grow our students and research, especially our Pacific students, which our consortium has counted are in the thousands.”

Salesa said the institute also created opportunities for solo researchers to engage in conversations for purposeful and transformative Pacific relationships and resolutions.

Foreign Minister Murray McCully launched the institute at the Fale Pasifika, saying the think-tank’s objective was to support sustainable development in the Pacific region.

A pro vice-chancellor of Otago University, Tony Ballantyne, said the intellectual programme of the NZIPR would connect students with “cutting edge” research on the Pacific region.

The NZIPR will also offer students supervision in specific Pacific postgraduate research, postgraduate scholarships and student internships and placements.

The Head of Pacific Advancement at AUT, Walter Fraser, said the move for a nationally recognised Pacific institute had been desired for a long time.

Informed position
He said the NZIPR was a result of two years of discussions but its launch finally gave an opportunity for institutions to advise governance with an informed position on Pacific issues.

Professor Jenny Dixon, deputy vice-chancellor of strategic engagement at the University of Auckland and chair of the new institute, said the challenges of the consortium had concerned how the three institutions would achieve a strategy and operations consensus for the new institute.

“I think we have to remember the institute will be present at a number of places, events are going to take pace at the other universities and also overseas, so it is very much a collective effort.”

“AUT, like Otago, has a large representation of Pacific students, Pacific staff. AUT has the Pacific Media Centre — these were assets the collective bid offered.”

A launch statement noted:

• The three universities in collaboration educate 75 percent of all Pacific Island university students in New Zealand, and produce 60 percent of Pacific PhDs. They also employ 90 percent of the 175 Pacific academics working in universities across New Zealand.

• The ministry is contributing $7.5 million over five-years to the NZIPR.

• Research of the NZIPR is agenda-driven by the ministry. The first five research cases of interest for the institute are: Mapping donor contributions in the Pacific, labour markets for sustainable and economic development in the Pacific, commercial potential of land in the Pacific, private-sector investment in the Pacific and the role of sovereign trust funds.

The University of Auckland, Auckland University of Technology and the University of Otago have collaborated to form the New Zealand Institute for Pacific Research (NZIPR).

The institute is funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to deliver a world-class research programme focused on Pacific development, investment and foreign-policy issues.

Drawing on further support from a range of international partners across the Pacific region, the NZIPR will advance New Zealand’s thinking on Pacific research.

The Ministry is contributing $7.5 million over five years to the NZIPR, which was launched at the University of Auckland’s Fale Pasifika tonight by Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully.

By joining forces, the three universities have created a consortium that brings together their multi-disciplinary expertise. The NZIPR will be hosted at the lead institution, the University of Auckland.

The University of Auckland’s Vice-Chancellor, Stuart McCutcheon says that the NZIPR marks a milestone both in Pacific research and New Zealand’s relationship with its Pacific neighbours.

“The New Zealand Institute for Pacific Research will be a national and global focal point for research in the Pacific region, a chance to highlight and develop innovative research and engagement,” he says.

“This is an exciting opportunity to collaborate with our New Zealand partners, and with researchers in the Pacific region and beyond, in order to offer thought leadership on Pacific research.”

Founding director
The University of Auckland’s head of Pacific studies, Associate Professor Damon Salesa, has been appointed the NZIPR director.

“The University of Auckland is honoured to be hosting the NZIPR, an innovative collaboration with AUT and the University of Otago, which also includes researchers from the Pacific and the US.

“The NZIPR is a groundbreaking initiative to develop research and understanding about the Pacific and its opportunities and challenges.

“The collaborative model of the NZIPR means it is committed to research that is anchored in the relationships that come from New Zealand’s unique position as a Pacific nation itself, a country with a rich Pacific heritage.”

AUT Head of Pacific Advancement Walter Fraser says the formation of the NZIPR consortium is a significant step in enhancing New Zealand’s Pacific research capacity.

“AUT is proud to be a key partner in producing world-class multi-disciplinary research on the Pacific,” Fraser says.

“Together, we look forward to advancing a much deeper understanding of the issues and challenges that face the communities in the entire Pacific region, so that we can collectively provide tangible, sustainable and durable solutions and recommendations for the region.

“AUT students and researchers already conduct world-leading research in and on the Pacific – across the areas of health, nutrition, media, tourism, culture, environment, and more. Our strengths in Pacific research, together with University of Auckland and University of Otago, will help ensure national policy in the Pacific is informed and effective.”

Long tradition
Professor Tony Ballantyne, pro-vice-chancellor of humanities at the University of Otago, says the university is keen to be involved in this initiative because of its long tradition of research on the Pacific.

“The creation of the NZIPR means that Otago researchers have the opportunity to bring their expertise into much more direct engagement with the complex processes that frame government policy and aid strategies.

“The institute will enable our researchers and students to build new research connections, to undertake more fieldwork in the Pacific, and to participate in a research consortium that will regularly bring leading international and national experts on the Pacific to Otago.”

The three universities educate 75 percent of all Pacific Island university students in New Zealand, and produce 60 percent of Pacific PhDs.

They also employ 90 percent of the 175 Pacific academics working in universities across New Zealand.

The consortium will work to make the NZIPR a focal point for the sharing of knowledge in the Pacific region to governments, businesses, community groups and other stakeholders.

The aim is to produce research that charts the changing shape of Pacific Island societies, the challenges they face and the opportunities for their future development.

Five-year programme
Over the next five years the three universities will deliver a five-year programme of world-class research on Pacific development.

Research projects set to start in 2016 include mapping donor contributions in the Pacific and their impact on the region, an analysis of labour markets and the skills needed to underpin economic development, and a study of the drivers and barriers to private sector investment in the region.

The three universities will also work with associated universities and organisations including the University of Hawai’i, University of the South Pacific, Australian National University and Peking University.

Visit the New Zealand Institute for Pacific Research here, and follow them on Twitter.

McCully welcomes launch of new Pacific think-tank