PIURN projects led by the University of the South Pacific:

Principal Investigator: Dr. Francis Mani This study aims to investigate air pollution in major cities in the Pacific like Suva, Lautoka and Noumea using continuous PM2.5 samplers and also bio-indicators such as lichens. Suva city is one of the fastest growing cities in the South Pacific region that has seen recent increase in traffic on the road. This study aims to provide insights into the impact of traffic and industrialization on air pollution. Apart from traffic and industrial pollution in Lautoka and Noumea there are other anthropogenic activities like sugar cane burning in Lautoka and nickel mining in Noumea that could seriously impact PM2.5 concentration and composition that could have adverse effect on human health. A detailed elemental analysis would be performed on PM2.5 aerosols using the state of the art ICP-OES instrument at the University of New Caledonia to undertake source apportionment studies. Duration: 3 years from October 2017 to October 2020. Funding: FJD$59,500.00. Partners: University of New Caledonia, University of Massachusetts.

Principal Investigator: Dr. Morgan Wairiu

The proposed research study will focus on evaluating the effectiveness of adapting strategies used to address climate change impact on atoll islands and other selected Solomon Islands communities as prioritized in the Solomon Islands National Adaption Programme of Action 2008 and align with lessons learned and experiences from implementation of the NAPAs in the four other Pacific LDCs. A detail and comprehensive evaluation will be conducted on the specific key priority areas in Solomon Islands NAPAs. This includes:

  • Managing the impact of and enhancing resilience to climate change and sea level rise on agriculture and food security, water supply and sanitation, human settlements, human health and education, awareness and information and,
  • Climate change adaption on low –lying and artificially built up islands in Malaita and Temotu provinces.

Duration: October 2017- October 2018
Funding: FJD$46,150.00.
Partner: Solomon Islands National University.

Principal Investigator: Dr. Krishna Kotra Project overview: The proposal is to investigate the quality of drinking water resources in Efate and outer six islands which were badly hit by natural calamities. This is supported by the concerns voiced by the communities about the decline in the water quality of these resources and their reports of changes in turbidity, salinity, fecal contamination, gastrointestinal aliments, etc. This was also in line with the longstanding thought to framework national standards by Govt. in Vanuatu. The proposal besides investigating the water quality is also aimed in providing training for various Govt. department staff, NGOs, USP staff/students besides community leaders. Survey, sampling, analytical interpretation, policy making sessions along with field work would be the part of the research study. Duration: 2 years Funding: FJD$43,311.00. Partners: The Papua New Guinea University of Technology, Government of Vanuatu, University of Auckland, University of New South Wales.
Principal Investigator: Dr. Sonny Lameta This proposed project concerns the interactions and mutual influences of food production from traditional Melanesian and Polynesian family gardens and quality diets, and thus community health in Pacific societies. This food production, and ultimately food security, is intimately tied up with village lifestyles and the traditional cultures and knowledge systems of our rural people, but is being jeopardized by a range of factors such as population growth, urbanization, alienation of land for other purposes and ignorance on the part of the policy making political and business elite, with a focus almost exclusively on the market. The availability of quality land per head of rural population and soil fertility are declining and this has dietary consequences leading to such issues as non-communicable diseases and poor health outcomes. There is a necessity to document and quantify these issues to inform policy makers and activists, as well as educate farmers and service providers. Duration: 2 years Funding: FJD$48,000.00 Partners: Solomon Islands National University, University of Goroka, University of New Caledonia, Caledonian Agronomical Institute.

PIURN projects led by the University of New Caledonia:

Principal Investigator: Dr. Valérie Burtet-Sarramegna Hyperaccumulators are unusual plants that accumulate particular metals or metalloids in their living tissues to levels that may be hundreds or thousands of times greater than is normal for most plants. Most reported hyperaccumulator plants are for nickel and occur on ultramafic soils that are naturally enriched in nickel, cobalt and manganese. However, many hyper-accumulators have not been studied or described yet, especially in Papua New-Guinea. The goal of the present project is to study and compare hyper-accumulating species from Australia, PNG and New-Caledonia using multidisciplinary approaches in order to gain a global knowledge of the uptake, biotransformation and distribution of Ni in hyperaccumulators; a step which is critical in understanding the processes of metal acquisition and metal tolerance. Duration: 2 years (End 2017 – March 2019) Funding: FJD$30,600.00 Partners: University of Queensland, University of Papua New Guinea, Caledonian Agronomical Institute, IRD (Research Institute for Development).
Principal Investigator: Dr. Mathieu Bunel The project aims to build a platform to access to individuals database for and by the Pacific in order to promote access to data, structure their use and disseminate the results to the scientific community. The first objective of the project is to constitute or participate with the SPC to the constitution of a numerical portal enabling access under conditions to a catalogue, as wide as possible to inquiries data on the Pacific islands region. The second objective is to structure a researcher’s community in order to promote the use and add value to studies using this local data. The creation of a dedicated website, the constitution of proper work studies and the organization of a one-day symposium aims to set out the studies realized thanks to the portal data or statistical methods or econometrical designed for data coming from small islands countries are contemplated. Duration: 18 months Funding: FJD$30,600.00 Partner: The University of the South Pacific
Principal Investigator: Prof. Géraldine Giraudeau Creation of a visible bilingual academic network in order to mutualize current researches, creation of pedagogical useful supports to disseminate the results of these researches to students, universities staff, professionals, and to the public. Duration: 18 months Funding: FJD$41,000.00 Partners: The University of the South Pacific, Université du Mans.
Principal Investigator: Prof. Jean-Marie Fotsing Interrogate and analyze agricultural practices in rural and urban area, evaluate the place and the importance of cultivated products in the alimentation to apprehend the alimentation consequences on population health and in priority on producers and their family. Focus on environmental, spatial and society’s basis, the project takes place on different fields chosen in the three partners territories. Looking for the link between demographic growth and the evolution of agricultural areas, evaluate and quantity cultivation plots and the species cultivated. Implementation of the inquiries questionnaire in order to product original data on the informal agricultural production portion in alimentary security. Duration: 18 months (June 2018 – November 2019) Funding: FJD$41,000.00 Partners: Vanuatu Ministry for Education and Training, Vanuatu Agricultural Research and Technical Centre, Divine Word University, Papua New Guinea University of Technology, IRD (Research Institute for Development).
Principal Investigator: Prof. Yves Letourneur This project will response to essential concerns about contamination levels, and the diversity of species studied will enable also to evaluate the way the pollutants integrate their selves within food chain ending to commercial interest species. Duration: 18 months (June 2018 – November 2019) Funding: FJD$20,500.00 Partners: The University of the South Pacific

Principal Investigator: Prof. Frédérique FLOUVAT

Develop a new approach to model informal settlements growth in Fiji Islands and Vanuatu, and understand the socio‐spatial organization within the settlements. This approach intend to provide tangible information and scenarios that can help engineers and urban planners to plan informal settlements water related services and to test rehabilitation strategies.

Duration: 14 months (June 2018 – September 2019)
Funding: FJD$24,855.00
Partners: The University of the South Pacific, Massey University, Ecosophy (New-Caledonia).

PIURN Conferences

The 3rd Conference of the Pacific Islands Universities Research Network (PIURN) took place at the University of French Polynesia from Monday, October 8th to Wednesday, October 10th 2018.
During three days, nearly eighty scientific papers from twelve territories and nineteen universities in the Pacific region have been presented.
Further to previous PIURN conferences held in New Caledonia (2014) and Samoa (2016), the conference aimed to strengthen cooperation and discussions between PIURN members and third parties with the view to designing new collaborative projects. This year, participants had the opportunity to discuss and debate on a general thematic: Traditional knowledge, academic knowledge and current universities’ research dynamics in the Pacific region
The conference addressed various topics:

  1. The place of women in Pacific islands economy and gender equality
  2. Current trends in Oceanian literature
  3. Language transmission in a multilingual setting
  4. The question of violence during the first contacts between Oceanians and Europeans
  5. Tourism in Oceania-Pacific: towards post-exoticism?
  6. Practices (family farming) and food security
  7. Sustainable uses of natural resources
  8. Contributions to public policies
  9. Tools development

Conference website: https://piurn2018.sciencesconf.org/

 

The National University of Samoa hosted the 2nd PIURN Conference from 19th to 21st of September 2016 in Apia. Conference theme: “Addressing the Challenges of Sustainability in the Pacific Islands”. 3 colloquiums on the following themes were addressed:
  • The evolving principles and practices in customary land tenure systems in the Pacific in the context of development pressures and climate change.
  • Pacific Regional Cooperation in the 21st century.
  • Pacific Indigenous Art form and Languages in the 21st century – the challenges of sustainability.
Conference proceedings: 2nd PIURN Conference proceedings 2016
In April 2014, the University of New Caledonia hosted the 1st PIURN Conference from 3rd to 7th of November 2014 in Noumea. The Conference theme, namely the fundamental relationships of people to the land and their natural environment theme, is key to the South Pacific island societies. The panelists addressed the concepts of ownership and belonging, as well as the «tensions» conveyed by these concepts. The event gathered academics, confirmed as well as early-stage researchers, professionals, stakeholders, community representatives from New Caledonia and from the entire South Pacific. This conference aimed at drastically fostering the dialogue between researchers, institutions, economic and political actors and local communities in a regional and comparative approach. Conference proceedings: 1st PIURN Conference proceedings 2014
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