Changing Climate for Quality Assured Regional Qualifications in the Pacific: An innovative collaboration (EU-PacTVET & EQAP)

The Pacific region embraces 22 countries and territories. With more than 7,500 islands over 30 million square kilometres, their combined land mass accounts for only two per cent of this area. Climate change and disasters threaten Pacific economies, livelihoods and cultures, and impact a range of sectors, including natural resources, agriculture, food security, education, public health and infrastructure. The Pacific leaders have continued to reaffirm the ongoing urgency of addressing the challenges posed by, and the impacts of, climate change as a regional priority.1 At the Forty-Sixth Pacific Islands Forum held in September 2015 the leaders of the Pacific small island states reiterated their concerns that climate change remains the single greatest threat to the livelihood, security and well-being of the people of the Pacific. Pacific Island Countries (PICs) recognise a commitment to sustainable development is a national responsibility but also realize that this cannot be achieved without a regional approach. The European Union Pacific Technical, Vocational Education and Training in Sustainable Energy (SE) and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) Project (EU PacTVET) aims to develop a quality assured regional qualification and accreditation process. This paper reflects discussions, views and validations from members of government agencies, private industry, training providers, non-government organisations, community groups, donors, and industry associations surrounding a regional accreditation strategy

Capacity development and TVET: accredited qualifications for improving resilience of coastal communities: a Vanuatu case study

For countries like Vanuatu, climate change is the most significant single threat to sustainable development, in particular due to the large proportion of the population living in coastal communities. Additionally Vanuatu is the world’s most at-risk country for natural hazards mainly affecting coastal communities (Birkmann and Welle in The world risk index, 2015). One of the key barriers to improving Pacific Island Countries’ resilience to climate change impacts is the lack of local and regional capacity and expertise resulting from the absence of sustainable accredited and quality assured formal training programs in climate change adaptation (CCA) and disaster risk management (DRM) (Jordon et al. in Climate change policy in the European Union: confronting the dilemmas of adaptation and mitigation. Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom, 2010; Martin et al. in Training needs and gap analysis. Suva, Fiji, 2015). The European Union funded PacTVET project has partnered with The Pacific Community (SPC) and the German aid agency (GIZ) Coping with Climate Change in the Pacific Region (CCCPIR) programme to support the delivery of the first accredited TVET certificate in Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction (CCDRR) in the Pacific Islands region. This TVET qualification provides outcomes based learning specifically focused on coastal communities through practical activities and field work involving vulnerable coastal areas throughout the provinces of Vanuatu. The delivery of the CCDRR course is being led by the Vanuatu government through the Vanuatu Institute of Technology and is leading regional and global developments in formal accredited TVET training for Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction

“God and Tonga Are My Inheritance!”: climate change impact on perceived spirituality, adaptation and lessons learnt from Kanokupolu, ‘Ahau, Tukutonga, Popua and Manuka in Tongatapu, Tonga

Climate change is a significant threat to health and well-being, in particular to people’s spiritual well-being, in coastal areas and communities. This paper describes the findings of a 2013 study on impacts of climate change on people’s spiritual well-being in 5 coastal communities in Tongatapu, Tonga: Kanokupolu, ‘Ahau, Tukutonga, Popua and Manuka, using a concurrent convergence parallel triangulation design. Information was collected from a group of 460 participants aged 15–75 via self-administered questionnaire, in-depth interview (IDI), focus group discussions (FGD) and key information interviews (KII). There was a statistically significant difference between people whose spirituality was affected and those unaffected (p < 0.005). People who were worried and whose physical well-being were affected, emerged as the most strongly affected (χ2(4) = 15.780, p < 0.005). The same factor was explored qualitatively using thematic analytical strategy, and concluded that climate change had affected people’s spiritual well-being, negatively. Lessons learnt from this paper will be useful for people invested in policy practice, and pastorate serving the cause of holistic Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) in Tonga: preaching, fasting and praying to God to reverse climate change and its impacts, help State and Church to adapt more effectively and comprehensively

Professionalizing the “resilience” sector in the Pacific Islands Region: Formal education for capacity building

Increasingly practitioners and policy makers working across the globe are recognising the importance of bringing together disaster risk management (DRM) and climate change adaptation (CCA). This broader Pacific understanding of climate change as a slow-acting disaster has been adopted by the European Union Pacific Technical Vocational Education and Training on Sustainable Energy and Climate Change Adaptation Project (EU PacTVET) project in introducing innovative initiatives to address wide ranging needs. A key barrier to improving national resilience to disaster risk and climate change impacts has been identified as a lack of capacity and expertise at all levels resulting from the absence of sustainable accredited and quality assured formal training programmes in the DRM and CCA sectors. A key issue is providing an accreditation and quality assurance mechanism for formal training shared across the region through the national delivery of regionally quality assured qualifications in Resilience (CCA and DRM). TVET training modules and tools developed under the EU PacTVET project will be reviewed by industry and the scientific community through the Pacific Regional Federation of Resilience Practitioners. This professional association alongside the development of regional qualifications is ground breaking and providing global leadership and will ensure the sustainability of the project’s outcomes

Assessing the impacts of climate change on domestic crop production: Experience and perception of local farmers in North Malaita, Solomon Islands.

The aim of this research was to: 1) gather farmers' experiences and observations of climate change impacts on domestic crop yields during the last thirty years (1988-2018); 2) study climatic projections (2050) and their potential impacts on Sikwafata and Malu'u's crops; and 3) understand the knowledge engaged with, and adaptations taken, to avoid susceptibility to climate change. The data was collected using the snowball approach, in which the researcher contacts informants using information provided by previous informants. A thematic analysis was performed using NVIVO 10 software. For both sites, soil samples were taken to determine moisture content. Farmers reported changes in rainfall patterns (73.5%) and temperature (44.9%), while 26.5% indicated no change in rainfall or temperature (55.1%). About 83.7% of farmers anticipate increasing temperatures and rainfall to occur by 2050, with extreme impacts on crop productivity. The majority of the gardens (87.5%) were on hillsides, while 8.5% were on the lowland, with an average of three garden per farmer. The gardens (57.0%) were on rotational sites that had been abandoned for two to five years, while 43.0% had never been rotated. In comparison to Malu'u moisture content (47.4%), Sikwafata moisture content is 66.4% higher. Furthermore, farmers are aware of adaptation measures to reduce the risk of crop failure. However, the absence of scientific information on climate change and agricultural resilience has increased the vulnerability to extreme climate-related events harming food security and nutrition. Climate change will undoubtedly intensify, resulting in a global and local drop in crop production, thus compromising livelihoods in the future

Using vocational education to support development solutions in the Pacific: An emphasis on climate change and health

In this article, author(s) reported on the results of the EU PacTVET project, which explored the use of TVET to support resilience in the region with an emphasis on climate change and health. An exploratory design was used to investigate how vocational education supports solutions for climate change and health. The results showed that vocational education plays a significant role in building safety and resilience of people in the region. Most significantly, getting an accredited qualification on health resilience and/or job in the health sector may help them to respond to climate change effectively and efficiently

Risk Management and Adaptation for Extremes and Abrupt Changes in Climate and Oceans: Current Knowledge Gaps

Perspectives for risk management and adaptation have received ample attention in the recent IPCC Special Report on Changes in the Oceans and Cryosphere (SROCC). However, several knowledge gaps on the impacts of abrupt changes, cascading effects and compound extreme climatic events have been identified, and need further research. We focus on specific climate change risks identified in the SROCC report, namely: changes in tropical and extratropical cyclones; marine heatwaves; extreme ENSO events; and abrupt changes in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. Several of the socioeconomic impacts from these events are not yet well-understood, and the literature is also sparse on specific recommendations for integrated risk management and adaptation options to reduce such risks. Also, past research has mostly focussed on concepts that have seen little application to real-world cases. We discuss relevant research needs and priorities for improved social-ecological impact assessment related to these major physical changes in the climate and oceans. For example, harmonised approaches are needed to better understand impacts from compound events, and cascading impacts across systems. Such information is essential to inform options for adaptation, governance and decision-making. Finally, we highlight research needs for developing transformative adaptation options and their governance

Addressing climate change at a much younger age than just at the decision-making level: Perceptions from primary school teachers in Fiji

This study uses an explanatory design to investigate the role of primary education in addressing climate change in primary schools in Fiji. A self-administered questionnaire (N=30) was conducted with primary school teachers from 14 primary schools in Fiji. Using frequency analysis, all teachers perceived that addressing climate change at a much younger age is more effective than just addressing it at the decision-making level. Furthermore, a Kendall tau-b was performed, and identified a significant correlation between the primary school teachers’ location and recommendations for further training on climate change (τb=.59, p<.001) and work relevance and climate evaluation (τb=.6, p<.001). The same factors (e.g. work relevancy, helping primary education adapt to climate change, etc.) were explored qualitatively using desktop review, literature search and found addressing climate change at a much younger age to be significant. These results are expected to perfect not only the role of primary education but to contribute significantly to the achievements of a climate-resilient Fiji by 2030 and beyond

Coastal protection: best practices from the Pacific

Pacific coasts are constantly changing as a result of natural processes such as tides, strong currents, rain, storm surges, strong wind, cyclones and sea level rise. With increasing human activities within the coastal areas in terms of human settlement, land use changes, flow of solid and liquid waste and coastal developments such as beach ramps, jetties, causeways, coastal protection structures, reef mining and extractions of sand and beach aggregates, there is ever increasing change along Pacific coasts. In addition, climate change and climate variability and extreme weather events have exacerbated the rate of change of Pacific coasts. The coast has been defined as the zone where the land and sea meet. The main features of Pacific coasts are dominated by coral reefs, reef ridges, inter-tidal ridges, beaches, cliffs, wave actions and mangroves. Pacific coasts are designated important areas for providing vital Pacific livelihood. The coastal ecosystems, human sett lement and other major supporting services and basic infrastructure are centred on the coastal zone. Coasts are being used for many reasons. The underlying problem is that Pacific coasts are in a state of crisis. A number of human engineering interventions over the past decade have contributed and accelerated the coastal erosion problem in the Pacific Region. The Pacific coastline is over 50,532 km long. Both natural processes and human engineering work are blamed for causing coastal erosion. This guide has been produced to inform and assist coastal experts, managers, and Pacific communities understand the various measures they can take to reduce coastal erosion

Accredited qualifications for capacity development in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation

Increasingly practitioners and policy makers working across the globe are recognising the importance of bringing together disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. From studies across 15 Pacific island nations, a key barrier to improving national resilience to disaster risks and climate change impacts has been identified as a lack of capacity and expertise resulting from the absence of sustainable accredited and quality assured formal training programmes in the disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation sectors. In the 2016 UNISDR Science and Technology Conference on the Implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, it was raised that most of the training material available are not reviewed either through a peer-to-peer mechanism or by the scientific community and are, thus, not following quality assurance standards. In response to these identified barriers, this paper focuses on a call for accredited formal qualifications for capacity development identified in the 2015 United Nations landmark agreements in DRR and CCA and uses the Pacific Islands Region of where this is now being implemented with the launch of the Pacific Regional Federation of Resilience Professionals, for DRR and CCA. A key issue is providing an accreditation and quality assurance mechanism that is shared across boundaries. This paper argues that by using the United Nations landmark agreements of 2015, support for a regionally accredited capacity development that ensures all countries can produce, access and effectively use scientific information for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. The newly launched Pacific Regional Federation of Resilience Professionals who work in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation may offer a model that can be used more widely