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The University of Melbourne and the Pacific Climate Change Centre (PCCC), hosted by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) have secured nearly half a million dollars in funding from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) to improve regional health and climate outcomes.
The A$493,947 grant, which is part of the Australia Awards Fellowship initiative, will fund 15 fellows to attend a six-week programme hosted by Melbourne Climate Futures, the University’s climate change research initiative, and the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health.
The University and PCCC have already selected 15 fellows from the Indo-Pacific region to complete the programme, titled ‘Advancing climate, health, and equity outcomes through local action in the Indo-Pacific’, in November 2023.
The practical programme is designed to increase fellows’ expertise, advancing their efforts to improve climate and health outcomes upon returning home.
“This programme will establish a supportive, collaborative regional community and equip regional policy makers with practical knowledge to boost the development of healthy and equitable climate policies and programmes in their home countries, improving climate resilience and outcomes across the whole Indo-Pacific region,” said Professor Kathryn Bowen, Deputy Director, Melbourne Climate Futures; Professor of Environment, Climate Change and Global Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne.
In addition to climate, health and equity training, each of the fellows will prepare a research output, such as a policy brief, with the support of a local mentor.
A three-day workshop will be held at the PCCC in Samoa in early 2024 to explore how participants have applied skills developed during the fellowship to their practice.
“The PCCC is pleased to partner with the University of Melbourne on this programme, as it will strengthen the PCCC Community of Practice comprising a cohort of climate change practitioners in Samoa working in government, non-government organisations, and the private sector across the Pacific,” said Ms Ofa Kaisamy, Manager, Pacific Climate Change Centre.
“Former participants of the JICA-funded, PCCC-implemented project for capacity-building in the region (CBCRP) were considered for the fellowship as it aligns with their current work and priority areas and provides professional development to enable them to implement learnings and affect change in their respective countries.”
This collaboration builds on existing efforts by PCCC and the University on climate and health capacity-building. It will create a regional community of policy makers and researchers whose knowledge of climate and health will support better outcomes for populations in their respective countries.
