The Guiding Principles of ESD in the Pacific

Convinced that building capacity for making decisions that consider the long-term future of economy, ecology and equity, many would argue, is essentially an educational enterprise, in all our ESD work in the Pacific we would strive to: i) treat Pacific people and communities ethically, in their participation in any research or educational projects, ensuring their maximum benefit from the projects; ii) that whenever and wherever possible we will strive to promote Pacific cultures and languages in reporting activities that involve Pacific peoples; iii) that real benefits should be provided to Pacific communities, which may involve co-authorship of documentation arising from the projects; and iv) that we contribute to community education and capacity building through provision of new knowledge and skills to community members.

These relate to several recent documents including i) the USP Pacific Arts and Culture Policy; ii) the USP Research Strategy (which has Pacific Knowledge Systems as a priority area); and the 2005 UN Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights. It would also contribute to other international concerns such as those relating to cultural diversity; promotion of a culture of peace; and the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Mainstreaming ESD at USP

One of the major objectives of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UNDESD) is to mainstream ESD into all levels of education by taking measures equal to the task. In many situations, this involves a re-orientation of curricula to incorporate ESD themes to provide a holistic learning environment. A modern graduate must have a good blend of disciplinary knowledge and multidisciplinary exposure to appreciate the interconnectedness of the three pillars of SD. In the Pacific schools and universities, the idea of ESD has been incorporated for a long time but not necessarily under the same label. Our traditional knowledge and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) are essentially the result of sustainable island living. The declaration of DESD by UN gives an opportunity to recommit, revitalize and add value to several of these initiatives.

As a university, which operates among scattered island countries of the Pacific with a diverse range of educational needs, we have been placing a lot of emphasis on formal, non-formal and informal delivery approaches to facilitate learning. USP has an excellent track record of promoting Distance and Flexible Learning (DFL) and we have developed considerable capacity in this area over the last three decades.

In this context, the pioneering work done by DFL approaches of USP for the last three decades or more warrant special attention. There are 14 centres throughout USP region with 3 centres in Fiji and the rest in the capitals of the rest of USP member countries. There are sub-centres in Tonga, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands. The USPNet links the main USP centres and the USP campuses. USPNet is an USP-dedicated VSAT telecommunications network funded by the Governments of Japan, New Zealand and Australia, together with the USP member countries. For USP's distant students (DFL), USPNet provides for the opportunity to participate in audio tutorials, (conducted from any campus), communicate by e-mail with a lecturer/tutor or another student; access the World Wide Web, watch a live video broadcast of a lecture from any of the three campuses and take part in video conferences (and tutoring) with the Laucala Campus in Suva.

Over 200 credit courses are now on offer through DFL mode of instruction each semester, representing all the disciplines from the three campuses of the university. Using primarily print-based materials, supplemented in some cases by audio and video cassettes, video broadcast, audio & videoconferencing and supported by WebCT, citizens of the region are able to study in their own countries and at their own pace. A program of tutorial visits by campus based lecturers is also provided for some courses contingent on the needs of students in the various Centres. Full and varied Continuing Education programs using non-credit but skill development oriented training also form an integral part of USP's informal and non-formal approaches to providing educational services.

Overall Objective of the Project:

The major objective of the proposal is to build education based capacity, using innovative curriculum development and delivery approaches, to promote sustainable development in the Pacific Island Countries.

Project Summary:

This is an innovative ESD capacity building project that is designed to implement various activities in the areas of:

1. Teacher Education
2. Sustainability Education and
3. Community Empowerment

The project will employ both formal and nonformal/informal approaches in promoting the objectives working closely with all the relevant stakeholders.

Resulting from the USP ESD Colloquium of November 2005, the Asia-Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO (ACCU) plenaries at USP in September 2006 and other discussions both public and private, it was agreed that the USP COE will focus mainly on three major ESD components for the next five years: (i) Teacher Education and (ii) Sustainability Education and (iii) Community Empowerment.

COMPONENT 1: Teacher Education

Under the USP (ACCU COE Pacific), the SOE has identified teacher education as its main thrust. By this, we specifically refer to the preparation of teachers as well as the sustaining of their education/knowledge bases and pedagogy through capacity building initiatives. Further, resource materials will also be developed to be used by teacher educators and students.

COMPONENT 2: Sustainability Education

Though the Pacific island countries are not a major contributor to the global sustainable development problems, they are challenged beyond their wits by the impacts of those. Therefore, the HRD must factor in innovative approaches to develop capacity to understand, anticipate and act on the basis of the threats. This requires a reorientation of thinking in order to empower everyone, young and old, to act in locally relevant ways.

Given the importance of capacity building for the sustainable management of environment and natural resources in the Pacific Island region, USP has been offering a number courses and Programs in a variety of fields. While these training programs are of excellent quality, most of them are highly disciplinary in nature and can be pursued only by those with the necessary pre-requisite. Courses with multi (trans) - disciplinary and cross-cutting foci are relatively few. At present, most of the environment courses at the postgraduate level are offered through on-campus teaching, restricting their regional access. There is thus an urgent need for additional new courses and programs in areas relevant for environment and SD at USP.

Bearing this in mind, it is proposed that a substantial value addition be made to the existing training programs and those in the pipeline. The following five focal areas have been identified, mainly focusing on postgraduate training, an area where the outputs are expected to make a direct contribution to national level sustainable development initiatives:

1. Postgraduate Diploma in Sustainable Islands and Oceans Development (PGD SIOD)
2. Postgraduate Diploma in Environmental Sciences
3. New Master of Laws (Environmental law)
4. Interactive multimedia system: i-browser
5. Resource material preparation

COMPONENT 3: Community Empowerment

This is an area that has enormous potential for development in the Pacific for the promotion of ESD at the community level and this field requires a great deal of focused attention. USP is the regional leader in this area and has been very active through its Continuing and Community Education Program. Continuing Education at USP is undertaken by various Faculties which work hand in hand with outside agencies, NGOs, and communities to deliver continuing and community education programs. CCE is the holistic teaching and learning approach that responds to the needs of the Pacific communities.

CCE provides a very inclusive service to the population it serves by offering learning opportunities to various levels of learners who are not traditionally served by schools and universities. While providing bridging courses, CCE also facilitates community empowerment to adapt to the socio-economic challenges. As part of this project, an innovation that will be brought into this area will be to weave environment and SD thinking into the whole fabric of CCE to reorient the curriculum and related outputs.

The University of the South Pacific The University of the South Pacific is the premier provider of tertiary education in the Pacific Region. Established in 1968, the University serves 12 Member Countries: Cook Islands, Fiji Islands, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. The University also has agreements with more than two dozen international Universities. A strong distance education programme supported by the USP's Regional Campuses and their sophisticated satellite communications network, USPNet, delivers academic courses, in a flexible and user friendly way, to almost half of USP's total student body of about 21,000 throughout the 12 Member Countries. Other students study face to face full or part-time at the University's three major campuses at Fiji, Vanuatu and Samoa. The graduates find employment in a variety of sectors in both private and public sectors and many have risen to key positions, including national level leadership. The University has developed a strong track record of research, particularly in the areas of Business Management, Education, Politics, Pacific Studies, Marine Studies, Agriculture, Science and Technology, Environment & Sustainable Development and Eco-tourism. In the thematic areas discussed above, USP has a number of on-going active projects/initiatives some of which are listed below: Basic Education: (i) PRIDE: Pacific Regional Initiative for the Delivery of Basic Education. This a major regional project to promote basic education in Pacific Islands, funded by EU and NZ (ii) RPEI USP/IOE Rethinking Pacific Education Initiative which focuses on similar concepts as ESD. RCE-Pacific Initiative: This is a major project to promote all aspects of DESD. Community Outreach/Training: Major community based conservation programme, funded by Darwin Award, Special Programs: Offered by different USP divisions such as: Marine Studies Programme, Department of Land management, Tourism Programme, Pacific Institute for Advanced Studies in Development and Governance, School of economics and Pacific Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development. Climate: Climate change vulnerability and adaptation assessment, Training and research; paleoclimatological studies. Outreach activities: Environmental outreach activities to schools and village communities

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