01 May 2023, Suva Fiji - Sixteen participants, including Australian Pacific Climate Alumni Network (APCAN) National Coordinators from Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu benefitted from a four-day Knowledge Broker Support Programme (KBSP) Training of Trainers held in Suva Fiji from 24-27 April 2023.
The Pacific Climate Change Centre (PCCC) at the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) supported the Australia-Pacific Climate Partnership through the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) to deliver the training which encouraged the community development knowledge brokers to mainstream climate change and future uncertainty into their programmes, to enhance the likelihood of long-term success.
"Access to high-quality, relevant information is key to action on climate change, but it requires collaboration and dialogue between producers of science, such as researchers, and those who can benefit by using it, including governments, community leaders, civil society, and the private sector,” said Ms. ‘Ofa Kaisamy, Manager of the Pacific Climate Change Centre.
“This exchange often needs to be facilitated and supported by a process of knowledge brokerage.”
She added: “The Australia-Pacific Climate Alumni Network is a growing alliance of Pacific regional knowledge brokers in climate knowledge and information. It is a good practice network that brings together a diverse set of Pacific players from our governments, NGOs, and civil society with the goal of improving access to climate information by orchestrating and building a knowledge broker community of practice for the Pacific.”
The Pacific Climate Change Centre and SPREP are supportive of the initiative. It is aligned with the key role of the PCCC in knowledge brokerage, which aims to improve the flow of practical information between climate practitioners, policymakers, researchers, scientists, and those implementing policies, programs, and projects and improve access to scientifically robust, practical information that is available to the right people at the right time in formats that they can use.
The Knowledge Pacific Support Programme (KBSP) collates tools, processes, and case studies to help knowledge brokers mainstream climate change and future uncertainties in their programs.
The programme is an enabling program underpinning Australia’s efforts to integrate climate change and disaster resilience across all sectors of our development assistance program as the most effective way to build resilient communities.
Among other things, its work helps us understand climate change-related health impacts to bring sustained improvements in population health; interpret climate change projections and their impacts on agriculture and tourism to build economic resilience; and design infrastructure to mitigate against energy, food, and water insecurity.