A recent partnership between Avondale University and Pacific Adventist University (PAU) in Papua New Guinea establishes support for PNG universities to work with an Australian university.
The Research Capacity Strengthening Partnership is funded by the Higher Education Partnership grant, made available for PNG universities to apply for by Australia Awards PNG. The priority of the governments is for PNG universities to grow and be of high international standard. Due to limited international scholarships for Papua New Guineans to study within Australia, Professor Tracie Mafile’o, Research Professor and Associate Dean (Research and Research Training) at Avondale, suggests it’s within both governments best interest to cater to the demand of higher education given the population growth in PNG. “Strong universities also contribute to nation building, providing a skilled and knowledgeable workforce.”
Directly benefiting PAU, the partnership scales up the quantity and quality of research of institutions within PNG and the Pacific, ultimately bringing deeper benefits to Pacific communities. Professor Mafile’o comments, “there is a huge inequity in global knowledge production, where those in a few countries have more resources and produce/publish the majority of the knowledge. There is a need to clear space and empower Pacific peoples to lead research related to their own places and peoples, and for this knowledge to contribute to global knowledge.”
This partnership is an important connection between Avondale and our sister institutions in the South Pacific. As a university, it’s essential we build international research partnerships. “Undertaking this partnership means that we build our networks internationally and can, for example, harness those networks to set up collaborative projects” Mafile’o explains. While other Australian Universities are establishing research initiatives within the Pacific, our connection with the Pacific as a Seventh-Day Adventist University, puts us in a strong position.
The initiative’s experiential ‘learning-by-doing’ approach draws on cultural strengths, peer mentoring and collaboration. Mafile’o points out that “it is more fun to do something, rather than just be talked to about how to do something! It is human nature that we learn well by putting things into practice.”
This project is an embodiment of our motto. As an Australian university within the South Pacific, PNG is one of our close neighbours, and a direct relationship with PAU enables us to extend ‘a greater vision of world needs’ to them and the region. What we are extending is the ability to collectively conceive and create a better tomorrow. Mafile’o suggests that coloniality still effects our interactions with our neighbours in the South Pacific. “For me, this ‘partnership’ is about recognising that we need to critically front up to these dynamics and assumptions, and we need to commit to more equitable ways of engaging and relating in research. So, this project contributes to ‘a greater vision of world needs’ because it recognises the expertise and strengths that are already at PAU, by engaging PAU research champions and fostering research peer-mentoring.”
Mafile’o says “I am grateful” for the impact the project will have. The project “invites Avondale Uni to pause and consider that we are also in ‘need’ and that we can be in the learner seat, not in the expert seat necessarily. I think the partnership invites us to appreciate the mutuality of the research strengthening. We give, and we take.”