28 August 2023, Honiara Solomon Islands – Solomon Islands has applauded the successful conclusion of a two-day Knowledge Brokerage workshop attended by national stakeholders in Honiara from 10-11 August 2023.
The workshop, conducted in both Pidgin and English, helped the participants understand the knowledge brokerage function of the Pacific Climate Change Centre (PCCC), provide examples of relevant knowledge products and/or processes for building (climate) resilience in the Solomon Islands, and to present both the PCCC Partnership Framework for Knowledge Brokerage and Climate Knowledge Brokers Community of Practice.
The Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, and Disaster Management (MECDM) Deputy Secretary Technical, Mr Chanel Iroi, said the workshop was extremely useful for Solomon Islands.
“In the region, including the national level, there are initiatives to support knowledge brokerage and to better understand the skills which are needed to fulfill this role,” he said. “The workshop will further strengthen the capacities of practitioners in the Solomon Islands working on information, knowledge management, and climate change to support all levels of governance to find the information that is most suited to the national context.”
Knowledge brokerage is a cross-cutting function of the PCCC in that it aims to not only connect the producers and users of climate change information, but also to ensure that relevant information reaches the end user in a timely manner and in user-friendly formats. The importance and relevance of knowledge brokerage in the Pacific region is fast becoming apparent as users often have to make time-sensitive, critical, and/or life-saving decisions in relation to weather and climate change.
The workshop follows the PCCC Sub-Regional Knowledge Brokerage Workshop held in Nadi, Fiji from 1 – 3 May 2023, and the first national training on knowledge brokerage. The workshop in Honiara was a deep dive into knowledge brokerage concepts and definitions, with discussions around how information is turned into knowledge, and how that knowledge then impacts decision-making and action.
Participants had time to reflect and understand how and why their decisions and actions were shaped by the context, culture, and systems in the Solomon Islands. Presentations were made by the Solomon Islands Meteorological Service, MECDM Communications, and APCAN on a preliminary analysis of national-level knowledge brokerage activities.
From a regional perspective, the PCCC presented on the Partnership Framework for Knowledge Brokerage and the Climate Knowledge Brokers Community of Practice (CoP) set to be tabled for endorsement at the SPREP meeting in September 2023.
The Manager of PCCC, Ms ‘Ofa Ma’asi-Kaisamy, said: “We commend the Government of Solomon Islands for their leadership to host the first in-country training on knowledge brokerage, and hope that these two guiding documents and principles can be replicated at a national level. We will support MECDM in the next steps, especially for the Climate Knowledge Brokers Community of Practice.”
The PCCC Partnership Framework for Knowledge Brokerage and Climate Knowledge Brokers Community of Practice were well received by the participants, with interest in exploring how these could further be developed at a national level.
The Deputy Director CCD, MECDM, Ms Sharon Tohaimae-Haruhiru, appealed to participants to drive the national CoP in strong partnership with the Solomon Islands National Coordinator for APCAN to better understand and coordinate efforts not just across Government, but also with NGOs, CSOs, FBOs, and the private sector.
The Deputy Director, Climate Change Division, MECDM, Mr Henry Tufah, said: “We (MECDM) would be happy to act as the Secretariat for the National Climate Knowledge Brokers Community of Practice noting that this must be people-driven to better coordinate knowledge brokerage activities. We realise that there are many activities happening on the ground, and we want to try and capture best practices and lessons learned as much as possible.”
The discussions from the workshop will be used as the baseline for the establishment of a National Climate Knowledge Brokers Community of Practice as well as the validation of the adaptability of the PCCC Partnership Framework for Knowledge Brokerage for PICTs.
The workshop was made possible with funding support from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAT) and in partnership with experts from SPREP and the Australia Pacific Climate Alumni Network (APCAN). For more information, please contact [email protected].