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Deep ocean symposium
Thursday 31st October, 2024
Te Puna Vai Mārama Cook Islands Centre for Research and Te Ipukarea Society held the Deep Ocean Symposium on Thursday, 31st October, and it was a success! Thank you to all the speakers from across the globe and locally who gave amazing and insightful talks. Around 90 people attended the one-day event.
Videos of the presentations are available on our Facebook page, check them out here:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083361849696
honorary doctoral degree
Saturday 8th June, 2024
We offer our sincerest congratulations to former Te Puna Vai Mārama Research Fellow Jacqueline Evans, who was awarded an Honorary Doctoral degree from Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale in France for her tireless work fighting for the preservation of the oceans and the promotion of sustainable management of marine resources. Below is the video of Jacqui's doctoral ceremony - held on World Oceans Day, Saturday 8th June 2024.
TPVM TAKES ON 'WOW'
April, 2024
Te Puna Vai Mārama entered the Pride Cook Islands Anuanua Week World of Wearable Arts competition in April.
Pride Cook Islands, in partnership with Te Tiare Association, held a week of events and activities to celebrate love, unity, and the first anniversary of the decriminalization of same-sex marriage in the Cook Islands.
The entrants for the Wearable Arts competition were tasked with designing a wearable yet artist garment of a certain colour, whilst practicing sustainability. Each of the 6 entrants got allocated a colour of the rainbow which their garment had to match - ours was tārona (purple).
The garment, dreamt up by Prof. Heather Worth, was inspired by Netflix's Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, Jean Paul Gaultier's 1998 Marie Antoinette collection and Miss Cook Islands 1968. Fabric was sourced from op shops, and the final design even included some bamboo and old swimming pool noodles from the homes of TPVM staff.
Our entry was modelled by the beautiful Talia, who looked fabulous as she strut down the catwalk for both the judging and the official public event.
an academy for pacific science
May 2024
Te Puna Vai Mārama Senior Research Fellow, Merita Tuari'i recently attended Pacific Academy of Science Establishing Committee meeting in Auckland, New Zealand. This group of academics from across the Pacific came together to shape the foundations of the Academy, which will serve to promote, advance and enrich the study and application of science, humanities, and indigenous knowledge in the Pacific for the benefit of Pacific communities. The Academy was launched at The Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4) in May 2024.
Below are reports from the International Science Committee Meeting of Scholars in Apia, Samoa and the second meeting of the Establishment Committee in Auckland.
APIA REPORTAUCKLAND REPORT
RESEARCH SEMINAR: VALERY WICHMAN
Wednesday 28th February, 2024
Valery Wichman is the chief advisor of Te Tiare Association and an advocate for equality and giving a voice for those who cannot speak. Valery is currently the Director of Central Policy and planning office at the office of the Prime Minister. She is a lawyer by trade but has worked in the public policy space for the last 10 years, her recent notable working including the development of the Te Ara Akapapa’anga Nui 2020+ which gives a 100 year vision towards Turanga Memeitaki.
As part of TPVM's research seminar series, Valery delivered a seminar on her Masters research on Turanga Memeitaki (Wellbeing) and the Anuanua (Rainbow) community in the Cook Islands, highlighting her innovative methodology Kai Vananga-Vatavata, a method grounded in Akapapa'anga that makes spiritual space for dialogue with particular attentiveness and empathy to better provide for the sensitivities working with diverse and marginalized groups.
Meitaki ma'ata to Val for sharing with us.
how's ya health?
January, 2024
Front page news! Te Puna Vai Mārama's director, Prof. Heather Worth voices concerns over the Cook Islands' poor ranking in the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) 2023 Global Monitoring Report in a letter to the editor in the Cook Islands News.
You can read Heather's original piece here:
https://www.cookislandsnews.com/internal/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/letter-hows-ya-health/
And read the front page article, including comments from Bob Williams, Minister of Health by clicking the link below.
ARTICLE HERE
our disaster management needs to do more for diverse voices
Wednesday 1st November, 2023
After a trip to Japan as part of the Australia Institute of International Affairs, Senior Research Fellow Merita Tuari'i reflects on the gendered nature of climate and weather information services and disaster early warning systems in the Cook Islands.
ARTICLE HERE.jpeg)
where are the women at the pacific islands forum leadership?
November, 2023
Centre director, Prof Heather Worth questions the lack of women in political decision making at the 52nd Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders Meeting in Rarotonga in an opinion piece in the Cook Islands Newspaper.
ARTICLE HERE
THE 5TH PACIFIC ISLANDS UNIVERSITIES RESEARCH NETWORK CONFERENCE
4th - 6th July, 2023
The 2023 PIURN conference, 'Exploring this Sea of Islands', promises to bring together researchers from across the Pacific for three days of interdisciplinary discussion and learning, as well as the chance to explore the beautiful island of Rarotonga.
LEARN MORE
TIVAEVAE EPISTO-METHODOLOGY
Wednesday 22nd February, 2023
Threading through traditional borders to weave marginalised voice, honour local knowledge and use cultural metaphor to guide method in hard-to-reach communities.
Join us as we hear from Dr Debi Futter-Puati on the metaphor of tivaevae as a research episto-methodology and how this was applied to her research on to Pacific sex, gender and sexuality education.
