ODN Capacity Building Programme

The Oceania Development Network (ODN), the regional affiliate of Global Development Network (GDN) held a workshop on ‘Enhancing Research Capacity of Young Researchers’ at the Laucala Campus of the University of the South Pacific on April 12-13, 2010. This workshop was part of ODN’s Series of Workshops held in institutions around the Oceania region to build the capacity of ODN-funded researchers that won its annual Regional Research Competition. Attending this workshop were the six winners of the 2008 Regional Research Competition, the four winners of the 2009 Regional Research Competition as well as a group of USP postgraduate students.

The keynote address was delivered by Professor Patrick Nunn, the Pro Vice-Chancellor of Research and Innovation at the University of the South Pacific. Professor Nunn spoke on the importance of USP’s role as a regional institution to be at the forefront of developing a research driven culture in the Pacific region. This was followed by papers from resource persons, Dr Mahendra Reddy (Fiji National University) and Professor John Overton (Victoria University of Wellington), who spoke on Research Methodologies and Analysis of Research Findings, while Professor Pamela Thomas (Australian National University) and Professor Vijay Naidu (University of the South Pacific) presented on Research Presentations and Report of Research Findings.

The third part of the Workshop consisted of an impressive round of presentations by the ODN funded researchers. Their research topics covered such diverse areas as cyclones, cash crops and capitalism - the potential for niche agriculture in a period of deepening systemic change in Samoa; management problems of Vaisigano and Fuluasou catchment areas; women’s knowledge of sustainable land use in Fiji and Samoa; attitudinal constraints to the mainstreaming of Education for Sustainable Development in Samoa; impacts of climate change on tuna stock in the western Pacific ocean; the impacts of labour market reforms in Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu; social contract expectations in services in the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu; the use of novel DNA based techniques for identifying marine micro-organisms in the Suva harbor; Australian and New Zealand aid to farmers: a comparative study of Samoan and Fijian agricultural exporters.
The second day of the workshop covered two parallel sessions on research methods and data analysis, and research reporting and presentation allowed intensive interactive discussions among participants. The feedback on the sessions was very positive.

Since 2003, GDN has been awarding annual grants to ODN as part of its capacity building program on Regional Research Competitions. The World Bank, AusAID and NZAID have supported the capacity building and networking activities in the region.

Source: USP media