ANU Pacific Institute

Yumi Togeda SINU and ANU. We are grateful to learn and share with Solomon Islands National University .

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The ANU Pacific Institute was honoured to host in our Talanga Roundtable Series - a Te Maroro, bringing together our academic community alongside Pasifika and iKiribati communities in Canberra for an engaging roundtable with Hon. Ruth Cross Kwansing MP, Kiribati’s Minister for Women, Youth, Sport and Social Affairs.
This rich discussion created a unique space to connect directly with Pacific leadership at the forefront of gender equality, youth empowerment, social development, and climate justice. Minister Cross Kwansing shared insights into Kiribati’s policy priorities, including advancing women’s rights, strengthening social protection systems, and expanding inclusive opportunities for young people and vulnerable communities.
As a regional Climate Gender Champion, she highlighted the critical importance of gender-responsive approaches to climate adaptation—especially for low-lying atoll nations facing the frontlines of climate change. The roundtable also reflected on Kiribati’s successful election to the UN Commission on the Status of Women, underscoring the growing influence of Pacific voices in global gender leadership.
Key themes from the discussion included:

Strengthening education and leadership across the Pacific
Engaging men and boys as active partners in advancing gender equality
Addressing intergenerational trauma and fostering community resilience
Supporting women’s political participation and inclusive governance
Recognising the vital contributions of Pacific diaspora communities

The ANU Pacific Institute remains committed to fostering dialogue and collaboration across academia, policy, and community to advance gender-transformative and climate-responsive futures for the Pacific.

The ANU Pacific Institute engages with Samoa
Samoa workshops, February 2026.

To support capacity building in the South Pacific, Professor Ofer Zwikael from the ANU College of Business and Economics delivered workshops on 'Making an Impact Through Resilient Projects and Programs' in Samoa.

Managers from the government and private sector who attended the workshops learned about social and environmental value co-creation from government and donor projects, project owner dynamic capabilities and project management skills development.

The workshops, hosted by the National University of Samoa, supported capacity building and demonstrated the Australian National University's capabilities and involvement in the South Pacific region.

The South Pacific nations are rapidly developing. As a result, the number and size of development projects in the region grow as well. To achieve the successful implementation of these projects and support the economic and social development of the region, project management capabilities should be developed. These include skills, knowledge, processes, tools and techniques that an individual or organisation possesses.

The region has benefited from limited project management capabilities development, much of it paused during the pandemic. Australian involvement in the region focuses on financial, Defence and Police support.

To implement this action plan in the Pacific region, the ANU Pacific Institute will organise more workshops in key Pacific countries.

The workshops were delivered to both government departments and private sector organisations.

The ANU Pacific Institute engages with Samoa | ANU Pacific Institute ANU Pacific Institute member delivers capacity-building workshops in Samoa.

A privilege to share and from each other - Pacific scholars unit. Our Partners from the National University of Samoa were generous with time and knowledge sharing led by Dr Bernadette Amosa (NUS), Muliagatele Asi (NUS) and Professor Ofer Zwikael (ANU) - under a special grant from Pacific ANU Institute to lead a project management capacity workshop in Samoa

Professor Zwikael will be leading similar workshops in Fiji and Solomon Islands in the coming months.

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Please register and join us for the upcoming public symposium on Thursday, 23 October 2025 titled: 'Reimaging the Humanities through Indigenous Creative Arts: Ocean and River currents of Relational Wellness' at the ANU.

You can register via Humanitix here: https://events.humanitix.com/reimagining-the-humanities-through-indigenous-creative-arts-ocean-and-river-currents-of-relational-wellness

Event description:

How do we maintain ethical relations in the face of a huge range of local, national, regional and global challenges? What do our communities, ancestors and the earth teach us in the present? How do Indigenous peoples maintain networks of knowledge sharing for individual and collective wellbeing? We live in times of national and global attacks on the humanities and higher education across the university sector. This has impacted the psycho-social, and environmental wellbeing of students, scholars, professional and academic staff while depleting institutional knowledge and the capacity for critical and ethical thinking, analysis and genuine service and care. Funding is often redirected toward disciplines that are deemed as pragmatic or entrepreneurial to support agendas for resource extraction, security, technology and particularly Artificial Intelligence.

This public symposium brings together Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, South Sea Islander, Pacific Islander and Indigenous scholars, artists, activists and creative practitioners to discuss their own approaches to ethical collectivity, wellbeing and relationality in the academy. How can we nurture and sustain ourselves, our students, our colleagues and our communities, within and beyond colonial institutions? How can we continue to nurture generative and caring spaces, and have critical and complex conversations about our collective histories and futures? How do we allow room for healing and rematriation grounded in solidarity with local, regional and global work to protect our communities, lands, seas and skies? How can Indigenous creative praxis and the arts support these efforts?

Keynotes include:

Associate Professor Christine Taitano De Lisle (UCLA) and Dr Leanne Betasamosake Simpson (Dechinta Centre).

Panellists include:

Dr Juliann Anesi (UCLA), Judy Watson (independent artist), Sana Balai (UQ), Dr Julie Gough (TMAG), Kim Kruger (VU), Dr Rea Saunders/ r e a (UoM), Dr Eugenia Flynn (RMIT), Fiona Cornforth (ANU) and Dr Melinda Mann (CQU).

*Morning tea, lunch and evening refreshments are included. This symposium will be delivered face to face with an edited recording available in the future.

About this event:

This event is part of the ARC Discovery Indigenous project “Re-Imagining Humanities through Indigenous Creative Arts” IN220100080 — Flinders University, Australian National University, and the University of Melbourne.

It is hosted by Professor Katerina Teaiwa and Talei Mangioni of the School of Culture, History and Language, College of Asia and the Pacific at the ANU.

The ARC project is led by chief investigators Associate Professor Ali Gumillya Baker (Flinders), Professor Simone Ulalka Tur (Flinders), Associate Professor Natalie Harkin (Flinders), Dr Faye Rosas Blanch (Flinders), Professor Katerina Teaiwa (ANU), Dr Lou Bennett AM (UoM) and Dr Romaine Moreton (RMIT). It is supported by research assistant Talei Mangioni and filmmaker Ellen Hodgson.

Reimagining the Humanities through Indigenous Creative Arts: Ocean and River Currents of Relational Wellness RSVP on Humanitix - Reimagining the Humanities through Indigenous Creative Arts: Ocean and River Currents of Relational Wellness hosted by ANU School of Culture, History & Language. Lotus Hall (Auditorium), Australian Centre on China in the World , The Australian National University, Building 188, F...

We’re proud to announce the launch of the Papua New Guinea Dictionary of Biography: Volume One—a landmark collaboration between the University of Papua New Guinea and the ANU Department of Pacific Affairs, coinciding with PNG’s 50th Anniversary of Independence. 🇵🇬

This volume contains nearly 30 biographies—written by Papua New Guinean authors—highlighting diverse “nation makers,” from grassroots leaders to academics, teachers, and activists. The project challenges conventional ideas of leadership and shines a light on community-based contributions to nation-building.

👉 Read more here: https://shorturl.at/fzfGq



ANU Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs Asia & the Pacific at ANU

Pacific Ocean Commissioner Dr Filimon Manoni this week joined The Lord Howe Rise and South Tasman Sea Research Symposium in Sydney, Australia.

Dr Manoni was part of the Ocean Governance Panel that discussed legal frameworks, challenges and opportunities for the high seas.
He was joined by Dr George Carter Australia National University's Director of Pacific Studies, Dr Aline Jaeckel of ANCORS and Pepe Clarke of WWF. The panel was moderated by Browen Golder of Deep Sea Conservation Coalition.

He was supported by Senior Adviser Peni Suveinakama.

The symposium was organised by the High Seas Alliance, World Wildlife Fund Australia and Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative.

Australian Association for Pacific Studies Conference 2025 Warm Pacific Greetings! The Australian Association for Pacific Studies biennial conference is an opportunity to create and sustain critical conversations and collaborations across the transdisciplinary field of Pacific studies.

This email landed in my inbox yesterday and it’s the icing on the cake after a brilliant week of work at the PNG National Archives. This inscription is recognition of almost 60 years of work by a tiny team with big heart and an even bigger network of collaborators, contributors and champions across the Pacific and around the world. It also acknowledges the significance of Pacific cultures, histories and languages, and shared histories between Australia and the Pacific, which are too often overlooked in Australia. Formalities to follow in 2025.