11/09/2026
🌊 Moana Women Rising: A Samoa Workshop for Women Teachers 🌺
Last weekend, Friday 4 and Saturday 5 September 2026, the Faculty of Business and Entrepreneurship at the National University of Samoa (NUS) was pleased to host Moana Women Rising, a two-day Samoa workshop for women teachers and educators, held at the Niule’a Building on campus.
Part of Moana Voices Across the Water, an initiative of the Australian Pasifika Educators Network (APEN), the workshop created a space for Pacific women educators to share first-person stories and lived experiences of climate change, climate loss and the ways these changes are reshaping daily life, food and water security, communities and the wellbeing of learners.
Grounded in Pacific climate justice, talanoa and storytelling, the two-day workshop invited participants to reflect on their own experiences and develop their stories in forms that felt right for them; whether written, spoken or performed. Participants also explored how storytelling can be brought into their own classrooms when teaching writing, storytelling and climate-related topics.
A key principle of the workshop was “Your Story, Your Choice.” Each participant retained control over where and how her story could be shared, including the option to contribute to the printed and digital anthology, allow the story to be presented internationally, or keep it within the workshop. No story would be shared, presented or attributed without the participant’s explicit agreement.
By the end of the workshop, participants worked towards a completed draft story, a stronger connection to the wider Pacific climate justice movement, a storytelling technique that could be taken into their classrooms and new relationships with Pacific writers, educators and storytellers.
The workshop was facilitated by an inspiring group of Pacific educators, researchers and storytellers, including Fale Tumanu, Tanuvasamanaia Christine Afoa, Tofa Amanda Moors-Mailei, Bronwyn Williams and Lamauta Dr Vaoiva Natapu-Ponton, with support from the Tagata Moana Writers Hub and APEN.
The Faculty of Business and Entrepreneurship was honoured to support and host this important initiative in Samoa, helping to anchor the project on the ground and support local coordination, protocol and participant logistics.
We acknowledge and thank APEN, Tagata Moana Writers Hub, Women’s Environmental Leadership Australia (WELA) and all the facilitators, participants and partners who contributed to making Moana Women Rising possible.
🌏 Pacific women’s voices, knowledge and stories matter; particularly in conversations about climate change and the future of our communities.
