DIRECTORY OF RESEARCH CAPABILITIES IN THE PACIFIC DELIVERABLE 1.1. STATE OF THE ART - PREPARED BY ILM [ and IRd ] PACE-Net Plus is a project funded by the European Commission to reinforce EU-Pacific cooperation on Science, Technology & Innovation. Grant Agreement no.: 244514 PACE-NET + III Directory of Research capabilities in the Pacific > 2 The pace-net plus challenge Many societies around the world face challenges in the areas of health and wellbeing, food-security, agriculture and marine resources management, and the impact of climate change. In the South Pacific, some of these challenges are compounded by geographic and socio-economic issues unique to the region. Scientific research, technological development, and innovative approaches all play important roles in assisting Pacific nations to address these challenges. The opportunities for European and Pacific researchers to collaborate are many and diverse. EU policy and scientific strategies aim at reinforcing these collaboration opportunities, notably through Horizon 2020, the European framework programmed dedicated to Research and Innovation. Strengthening bi-regional dialogue in Science, Technology and Innovation (ST&I) is a key step in achieving increased EU-Pacific collaboration towards these societal challenges. In the view of mutual benefit for Europe and the Pacific region,a P CE-net Plus aims to: • Support EU-Pacific policy dialogue in Science, Technology and Innovation issues • Reinforce EU-Pacific ST&I cooperation, focusing on 3 major societal challenges • Encourage the coordination of European actions and policies targeting the Pacific by promoting the implementation of joint actions • Enhance cooperation on innovation issues, by helping to bridge the gap between public and private sectors • Strengthen Pacific-EU research cooperation partnerships, by promoting Horizon 2020 and other programmes within the Pacific research community, and communicating Pacific opportunities to European researchers. One of the tasks in the project was to update the information already collected in the previous project about key stakeholders, including experts, research organizations, industry, academia, policy makers, professional organisations, civil society and think tanks. This task and others, such as identifying potential areas for enhanced cooperation in the various challenges addressed by PaCE-net Plus and implementing a “Technological surveillance” (for monitoring, reporting, prioritizing and disseminating information of current or upcoming forums, conferences, seminars, workshops related to this societal challenge) were to allow a “Broadened circle of reflection”.a ll information, resources and contacts collected are and will be used to identify priority cooperation areas and common challenges, and identify possible joint activities and innovation niches to strengthen and make better use of ST&I competences in the socioeconomic development of Oceania countries. We hope that you will find these “country files” useful, along with the survey and the bibliometrics analysis conducted in the framework of PaCE-nET Plus. PACE-NET + III Directory of Research capabilities in the Pacific > 3 Contents THE PaCIFIC REGIOn 4 aMERICan SaMOa 17 COMMOnWEaLTH OF THE nORTHERn MaRIana 28 COOK ISLandS 37 FEdERaTEd STaTES OF MICROnESIa 47 FIJI ISLANDS 59 GUaM 73 KIRIBaTI 85 MARSHALL ISLANDS 95 naURU 104 NIUE 112 PaPUa nEW GUInEa 119 SaMOa 143 SOLOMOn ISLandS 158 THE REPUBLIC OF PaLaU 171 TOKELaU 180 TOnGa 187 TUVaLU 197 VANUATU 206 FREnCH POLYnESIa 216 nEW CaLEdOnIa 229 WaLLIS and FUTUna 248 AUSTRALIA 252 NEW ZEALAND [ AOTEAROA ] 291 Coordination: Kijojiken Chung [ILM] & Fadhila Le Meur [IRD] n Editing: Kijojiken Chung [ILM] & PACE-Net Plus partners n Photos: ©photos from IRD and SPC for PACE-Net n Graphic conception and layout editing: Christine Bourgois [Cédille], Noumea n 2015 Hawaii Northern (US) Mariana Islands (US) Marshall SOUTHERN Guam(US) ASIA Islands Pacific Ocean Palau Federated States Date line of Micronesia Nauru Papua New Guinea Kiribati Solomon Islands Tuvalu Tokelau Samoa Timor Sea Wallis & Futuna American Samoa Coral Vanuatu Cooks Fiji (NZ) Sea New Caledonia Niue French Polynesia (FR) Tonga (NZ) (FR) Pitcairn (UK) Australia Norfolf Islands (AUST) Great Tasman Australian Sea Bight New Zealand Tasmania THE PACIFIC REGION PACE-NET + III Directory of Research capabilities in THE PACIFIC REGION > 5 dESCRIPTIOn The Pacific region stretches over a vast area and is one of the most biologically and culturally diverse regions of the world. The Pacific ocean covers a full one third of the Earth’s surface which means that environmental developments there will have a significant impact on a global scale, such as the future of the world’s fisheries and climate change. The Pacific region population is around 38 million, with the majority in Australia and New Zealand, the remaining population is scattered around the numerous islands making up the region. There are three major groups of people in the Pacific islands, the Melanesians, the Polynesians and the Micronesians. Pacific countries vary considerably in terms of geography, for example, australia’s land area is about 7.6 million km² while Tokelau’s is only about 12 km². This disparity exists in other areas as well (political statuses, demographic or economic characteristics). The majority of Pacific islands countries are faced with major challenges. Many Pacific Island countries are exposed to a large range of natural disasters such as tropical cyclones, tsunami, erosion etc. Given that these populations depend mostly on their environment and its resources, such disasters tend to affect their food needs but also their economy (the region’s most frequent economic activities are fisheries, tourism and agriculture with subsistence agriculture occurring on most of Pacific islands). This environment dependence is also the main reason why, sustainable management of natural resources was set as one of the region’s priorities. Remoteness is also an issue for pacific island countries. Intra and extra egionalr communications are difficult and this isolation from large high-income markets is a barrier to economic development for the majority of them. as regard to the Health area, the pacific region is exposed to several vector-borne diseases such as dengue fever, but the pacific population suffers of numerous non communicable diseases as well (diabetes, cardiovascular diseases etc.). Good governance, gender equality, education etc. are also some of the major issues that most of the pacific islands must address. > Sources: http://geography.about.com/od/specificplacesofinterest/a/oceania.htm Human Rights in the South Pacific: Challenges and Changes http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:52006DC0248:EN:NOT BRIEF FaCTS Land area 8, 499,927 km² Population 38.336 million (including 23 million in Australia and 4.24 million in New Zealand) Number of countries 25 (22 Pacific Island Countries and Territories, Australia, East Timor and New Zealand) Infant mortality rate Mean=17.69/1,000 live births; Average min.=4.64; Average max.=39.52/1,000 live births Age of the population Mean= 31.23% under 15 years old; Min.= 19.3%; Max.= 42.4% under 15 years old Life expectancy Mean: Male= 69.07 years; Female= 73.76 years; Min.: Male= 59.7; Female= 67.5 years; Max.: Male= 79.5; Female= 84 years GDP per capita Min.= € 741.8; Max.= € 42,513 Monthly minimum wage Min.= € 0.38; Max.= € 10.68 per hour (there is no minimum wage law in Tonga) PACE-NET + III Directory of Research capabilities in THE PACIFIC REGION > 6 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS Relationships/links with Europe The overall European Union relationship with the 15 Pacific aCPs (african Caribbean Pacific) Countries – Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, nauru, niue, Palau, Papua new Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu and the 4 Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) – French Polynesia, new Caledonia, Pitcairn and Wallis and Futuna, are respectively defined by the 2000-2020 Cotonou Partnership agreement and the 2013 Overseas association decision. The 2012 Renewed EU-Pacific development partnership defines more specifically the relations between the two regions. It aims to promote coherence between development, climate action and other EU policies, such as trade, environment, fisheries, research, on the one hand, and human rights and democracy support on the other; to adapt delivery methods of EU Official development assistance (Oda) and scaled up climate change financing in the Pacific, to stimulate the Pacific OCTs' successful regional integration; to define with Pacific countries a positive agenda of issues of common interest at the Un and other international fora, to join forces with like-minded partners to address key human rights issues and to help consolidate democratic processes across the region. It reflects the growing environmental, political and economic importance of the Pacific region. Since 1975, the European Union and the Pacific aCP countries have a long-standing relationship based on the legacy of a shared history, common values, economic and trade cooperation. On the European Union side, the revised Cotonou agreement and the European Consensus on development provide a new basis and impetus for EU-Pacific relations. On the Pacific side, the Pacific aCP countries are today experiencing a number of important challenges in terms of vulnerability, poverty and weak governance. The adoption of the