Date/Time
Date(s) - Wed 16 September
13:00
Pacific Climate and Resilience Agroforestry science in the public interest, featuring Dr Suliasi Vunibola
The world is approaching interconnected climate and ecological tipping points that threaten Pacific livelihoods, food systems, and ecosystems. Responding to these challenges requires not only rapid mitigation but also positive tipping points that mobilise collective action and connect scientific knowledge with locally grounded solutions.
In this webinar, Dr Suliasi Vunibola introduces ‘Veitubuni’ as an Indigenous Fijian participatory temporality framework for advancing Collaborative Situated Science in Pacific climate-resilient agroforestry. Drawing on his Bioprotection Aotearoa research programme, this approach brings together environmental and soil microbial science, Indigenous Knowledge Systems, creative practice, and community engagement to translate scientific findings into locally meaningful knowledge and action. Indigenous creative artists, including visual and performance/composition practitioners, work collaboratively with researchers through talanoa to transform scientific evidence into accessible and culturally resonant forms. Veitubuni guides participatory processes including talanoa, workshops, and transect walks while challenging agricultural and environmental management paradigms shaped by colonial legacies. More importantly, it positions scientific knowledge as relational, place-based, and co-produced rather than detached and universally neutral.
By connecting Indigenous soil knowledge, scientific inquiry, creative expression, and community experience, Veitubuni seeks to create a positive feedback loop among knowledge, agency, and action. The webinar argues that Collaborative Situated Science can help bring science “to light”, strengthening community and agroforestry resilience while contributing to broader positive tipping points for climate action in the Pacific and beyond.
About the presenter
Dr Suliasi Vunibola is a transdisciplinary scholar specialising in Pacific studies, international development studies, human geography, ethno-ecology, ethnography with a focus on climate resilience and adaptation, sustainable land, waterways, oceans management in the Pacific, and Indigenous innovation. His work is deeply influenced by lived experiences in Pacific Island Countries and a commitment to improving livelihoods and socio-ecological and cognitive justice. He supports research impact through applied action for community self-determination and explores the nexus of Traditional Ecological Knowledge, and science within community-driven development as in agrobiodiversity through decolonised methodologies and discursive analysis. With Bioprotection Aotearoa, Dr Suliasi Vunibola is research co-lead exploring how agroforestry can strengthen climate resilience and support Pacific communities through sustainable land use.
About Rangahau Rising Webinar Series
Rangahau Rising is a webinar series showcasing emerging researchers who are asking bold questions and exploring new directions in bioprotection. Each session features an early career researcher sharing their journey, ideas, and in-progress work across a range of bioprotection topics.