News & Blog – Page 25 – The University of Fiji

Aug 26

UniFiji a member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU)

Message from Acting Vice-Chancellor, Professor Shaista Shameem

I am delighted to announce that, after a hiatus of several years, the University of Fiji is once again a proud member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU).

The ACU is a family of universities in the Commonwealth which provides support, collegiality, relationship-building, information and sharing of best practices to its members. The ACU is the only accredited Commonwealth organisation to represent higher education globally.

Engagement with the ACU will provide the University of Fiji with opportunities to attend high level forums that include Commonwealth ministerial meetings and the United Nations. The ACU’s focus on international collaboration as the key to tackling global challenges will be helpful for the University of Fiji, particularly in these challenging times.

As an ACU member we will be part of international collaborations that address: • Global challenges • Access and inclusion • Supporting research, and •Strengthening universities.

The ACU’s focus for 2020-2021 are the topics of:

• Addressing the digital divide through inclusive practices • Enhancing student experience of international mobility in times of COVID-19 • Historical injustice and building the future campus – inclusion and equity • Designing new international partnerships for enhancing blended and online learning

• Strengthening investment in research and partnerships for the SDGs, and • Supporting universities’ contribution to sustainable societies and tackling climate change.

The ACU also links member universities with research institutions and backers for applications for grants and endowments for research and publication.

The Association works through the format of Ambassadorship and relationship-building between the ACU Secretariat and individual universities which nominate their ambassadors.

I have appointed our Executive Director Finance Planning and Development, Mr Ravineet Sami, and our student and Vox Journalist and News Presenter Ms Christal Kapoor as our Ambassadors for liaising with the ACU for projects and programmes of interest to the students and staff of the University.

Our Ambassadors will be sending out information as relevant from time to time.

Aug 09

“Our Drua Voyage”

The University of Fiji is pleased to announce a new project that will serve to forge an important collaboration involving all Schools and the Centre for iTaukei Studies of the University.

The main project –Transforming Universities for a Changing Climate Research Project- is funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council and involves a partnership between Unifiji, USP and FNU. Each university has proposed its own project and we will be working on our individual projects separately but we will collaborate on some important aspects. Fiji is just one of the countries involved in the global project; the other countries are Brazil, Kenya, Mozambique and the United Kingdom.

The second stage is Participatory Action Research. The Unifiji part of the project’s second stage was initiated by the Office of the Students Affairs Coordinator (SAC) which will lead it with assistance from senior administration and UFSA.

The Unifiji project is called:

Our Drua Voyage. Coastal Conservation Through Traditional Knowledge: The University of Fiji Attitude on the Environment.

The main elements of the Unifiji project are as follows:

(i) Using the (already available) Drua to sail to coastal villages around Saweni and some of the Mamanucas; at the same time learning how to build a Drua and sail it using traditional navigational methods (when finished the Drua will be showcased on Saweni campus as part of the University’s landscape programme);

(ii) Interviewing the coastal communities on traditional means of conservation and traditional medicinal plants and herbs;

(iii) Recording information on conserving the coastal environment and on traditional medicines, and drafting documents to legally protect such intellectual property;

(iv) Assisting communities with business plans and economic forecasts for income generation/re-generation through conservation projects;

(v) Recording traditional sources and methods of education and knowledge for future generations; and

(vi) Filming the Drua Voyage and submitting the documentary film to international film festivals/ TV and similar.

Those interested in being part of the Drua Voyage project should submit their names to the SAC.

Aug 09