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This year’s Conference, Navigating Development in Troubled Waters, will provide our network of practitioners, academics and students with the space to explore contemporary development matters and navigate a course through challenging times together.

We’ll be asking:

• what does it mean to navigate development in unprecedented times?  Global pandemics, natural hazards, climate change, widening inequalities – how is development adapting?
• with so many opportunities to bring Indigenous perspectives to development, is development really decolonising?
• what does it mean to be at the halfway point to the SDGs?
• how is democracy across the Indo-Pacific faring and what role does development play?

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Programme

Session Details

Here’s our exciting line-up so far.

1. PhD student presentations
2. Masters student presentations
3. Labour mobilities during troubled times
4. Implementing the SDGs at the local level – challenges and successes
5. Re-imagining and re-building resilient health care systems in the Pacific
6. Climate im/mobility regimes and climatic poverty traps
7. International Non-Government Organisations (INGO) legitimacy in a time of decolonisation
8. Pacific perspectives on ‘doing development differently’
9. Decolonising development studies
10. Change and continuity in New Zealand Aid in the last 5 years
11. Indigenous and local signals of change: receding taillights or indicators of a new direction?
12. Tackling obesity in the Pacific whilst developing a sustainable and healthy food system
13. Is it possible to decolonise data?
14. Local Pacific businesses’ challenges and solutions to sustainability
15. Exploring climate change in the Pacific: loss and damage, adaptivity and resilience in the face of Covid-19
16. The role of libraries and their organisations in supporting work toward the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals
17. The return to tourism: getting the balance right for Pacific peoples
18. Decolonising sport for development and peace: opportunities and challenges
19. Embedded research in development agencies: What it lets you see and what you can’t say.
20. Addressing underage sexwork, sex tourism, and child trafficking in a COVID world
21. Unsettling settler-colonialism and Eurocentrism: Decolonial praxis to reimagine development 
22. Yielding and wielding power: showing up to decolonisation
23. Partnering for decolonisation: an exploration of skillsets needed to walk the talk.
24. Remote learning during COVID-19 lockdown: Equality, inequality, and the reality of digital development from the Global South
25. Roundtable: Partnerships for Teaching Development Studies 
26. Career pathways in development
27. Gender, ‘empowerment’, and change
28. Navigating Pacific development
29. Enterprise/ing development
30. Perspectives, Power, and People: Navigating alternatives to development
31. COVID-19, localisation and participation: Evolving development contexts
32. Navigating crisis, conflict, and change

More detail on each session follows:

Labour mobilities during troubled times

This session invites papers on temporary, circular, seasonal, or other types of labour mobilities, with the aim to explore a variety of perspectives on the experiences of migrant workers when facing challenges. These ‘troubling times’ can relate to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has impacted many seasonal and other circular labour migrants. We are also inviting papers that present on other challenging experiences, that could be addressing: labour migration as a tool to mitigate climate change exposure, migrant worker well-being and limited access to health services or pastoral care, exploitative circumstances, limited access to certified training, border closures, refusal of economic migrants along borders, volatile remittances, and any other troubling circumstances. Researchers, development practitioners and policy makers working on labour mobilities and migrant workers, are invited to explore troubling examples by engaging with the impacts of the challenges on migrants’ abilities to be mobile, to continue their support to home communities, and what effect these challenges have on migrants engaged in labour mobilities.

Implementing the SDGs at the local level – challenges and successes

The United Nations Agenda 2030 is a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the natural environment and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030. The Sustainable Development Goals are the blueprint to achieve this call for a better and more sustainable future for all. While this universal agenda has been spearheaded by United Nations at an international level, local initiatives have long been addressing the issues connected to the SDGs in a myriad of diverse and innovative ways. Despite the intense focus on the global, regional and national level of implementation, Agenda 2030 also recognizes the essential role of local action and contribution to achieving the SDGs.  Although the SDGs are conceived as applying to all nations, it is also essential that we acknowledge that regions and countries will need to implement significantly differentiated and context-specific actions to achieve the objectives of Agenda 2030. “Despite the need for global outcomes, most implementation will be local” (Smith et al. 2018:1483). This session is about hearing the stories of those engaged with implementing the SDGs at a local level. The UN acknowledges the ambitious nature of the SDGs, and recognizes that implementation at the local level is fraught with challenges and obstacles. The aim is to create a space where we can share these challenges, obstacles but also the successes and opportunities experienced. Papers should be practically orientated – we want to hear about your experience, your story so that we can learn from each other and inspire and motivate each other to keep pressing forwards.

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Re-imagining and re-building resilient health care systems in the Pacific

The Covid-19 pandemic has challenged health systems worldwide. In the Pacific border closures and other measures slowed the spread of the virus but once it arrived the consequences significantly tested health system capacity. While some might see this as a devastating blow the pandemic has also forced Pacific Island nations to face the problems with current models of healthcare, including the inequities in these systems and the resulting health security risks. However, as Pacific nations have navigated this unprecedented challenge, examples of adaptive practices, creative responses and an emergent leadership point to the potential for the pandemic to become the catalyst for new futures in healthcare. In this panel we will explore how the pandemic has affected Pacific health systems, and responses to the current crisis that could contribute to a reimagining of healthcare systems in the Pacific, asking how Pacific nations are adapting to the (post-) pandemic world, and how they can build resilience to not only navigate future crises (including pandemics, climate change, natural disasters and political instability) but also to re-build equitable and sustainable health systems.

This session will be a collaborative one between the USP hub and the University of Auckland, with speakers at both locations. There are two submitted abstracts from our research team: Re-imagining health care in Fiji: Exploring resilience and sustainability in the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond part 1 (Sharon McLennan) and part 2 (Api Movono, Isoa Siliasau & Apolosi Vosanibola). This session is open for abstracts.

Climate im/mobility regimes and climatic poverty traps

Through the concept of climate im/mobilities, this session aims at highlighting multiple forms of human movement in the context of a changing climate. We welcome contributions that explore the politics of climate im/mobilities, scrutinise climate mobility regimes and discuss implications for climate mobility justice. We are interested in empirical contributions that advance our understanding of micro-mobilities and climatic poverty traps as well as voluntary immobility in at-risk areas and resistance to externally imposed relocation policies. Together, we want to reflect on the plurality of climate im/mobilities and their politics in different sociocultural contexts.

International Non-Government Organisations (INGO) legitimacy in a time of decolonisation

Recurring questions about inclusion, representation and neo-colonialism in International Non-Government Organisations (INGOs) have not been adequately answered. This has led to a ‘legitimacy gap’ where accountability to the global north is perceived to take priority over the development principles of agency and self-determination for the global south. To redress the gap INGOs are striving to better align their governance structures with their values, including the adoption of new models of power sharing and localisation. It remains to be seen, however, whether
it is possible to reform long-established INGO structures and behaviours.

This session seeks to explore the barriers and enablers of change within INGOs, with a particular focus on power relations and partnership practices between the global north and south. Do localisation processes and governance reforms position INGOs for greater legitimacy? Does everyone share a common interest in ceding power? And can reform in any form address the legitimacy gap for northern NGOs in a time of decolonisation?

The panel will be chaired by Dr Glenn Bond, an experienced INGO practitioner who recently completed a PhD entitled From Hubris to Humility: Localisation and Legitimacy for International NGOs. He contends that the infrastructure of international development has historically sought and rewarded hubris among northern INGOs, celebrating displays of confidence and certainty. This emphasis is at odds with the devolution of power, however, which necessarily assumes humility from the north. He argues that to address legitimacy gaps INGOs will need to intentionally engage with the decolonisation discourse, to honestly accept the implications of legacy infrastructure on their current practices, and to institutionalise organisational values above organisational survival. Dr Bond hopes to share the session with speakers and stories that complement or challenge these contentions.

Pacific perspectives on ‘doing development differently’

‘Doing development differently’ (DDD) is about working collaboratively to find solutions to deliver change and real impact. It’s about building trust, empowering people and promoting sustainability. But to what extent does DDD harness indigenous perspectives of development into problem analysis and programme design to better map and navigate troubled waters? Where has indigenous-led DDD worked well and perhaps not so well? What lessons can we learn moving forward?

Decolonising development studies

Development Studies programmes at universities contribute to educating the workforce for development agencies in Aotearoa, the Pacific and beyond Oceania. However the very notion of development has been critiqued as perpetuating colonial and neo-colonial thinking and practice, and of perpetuating racial stereotypes and bias. Here in Aotearoa Development Studies is taught in the context of neo-liberal universities wrestling with the imperative to be Te Tiriti-led. This panel brings together scholars currently teaching at Development Studies programmes in Aotearoa universities and beyond to explore these challenges and what it means to decolonise the teaching of Development Studies in this context.

We ask 1) how are Development Studies programmes adapting their teachings to navigate development in unprecedented times; 2) how are these teaching programmes attempting to decolonise and/or indigenise their teaching and knowledge creation processes and to address issues of cultural exclusion and disadvantage associated with colonial legacies that privilege Western epistemologies, and 3) what is our role as development educators in relation to Te Tiriti, and towards decolonisation efforts within our own universities, our nation, and beyond?

Indigenous and local signals of change: receding taillights or indicators of a new direction?

To measure progress in achieving improvements, parties use two types of indicators. First, indicators are taken from a list that reflect the knowledge and value system upon which most international development programmes are based – e.g. the 231 standard indicators to measure progress to achieving the SDGs in all countries, from Aotearoa to Zimbabwe. Second, parties in this programme explore indicators that measure, say, food security in terms that have been and will be meaningful to local or Indigenous communities, reflecting the knowledge and value systems of these communities.

The first set of indicators can be taken ‘off-the-shelf’ and follows the tracks laid for development-as-we-know-it. The second set of indicators are rooted in communities’ histories, but not always visible nor easily used in carefully managed and budgeted development programmes. Caritas and MFAT see the He Oranga Taurikura programme as an opportunity to bring Indigenous perspectives to development – one of the conference questions. However, identifying Indigenous indicators for development and connecting them to the management of a programme that brings together international parties and local communities raises a number of practical (e.g. data collection, sources, baselines) and epistemological challenges (to what extent does measuring, for example, food security equal defining food security?)

In this session, representatives of local organisations involved in the He Oranga Taurikura programme share their initial experiences in identifying and using Indigenous or local indicators for development in a programme co-funded by international partners. This opens a conversation with the audience about the scope for decolonising development programmes.

The session will conclude with some reflections on Caritas’ work with Tangata Whenua in Aotearoa New Zealand and how te ao Maori perspectives also inform their work both here in NZ and overseas.

Tackling obesity in the Pacific whilst developing a sustainable and healthy food system

Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs) are facing a health crisis with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) accounting for more than 80% of deaths. A leading driver of this unacceptable situation is obesity. This is partly caused by changing dietary practices arising from the global food system, which is dominated by processed foods high in starch and sugars. This situation is compounded by the complex nature of the food system created and delivered across a range of private and public actors; and related environmental factors such as urbanisation and most notably climate change. Tackling this issue is beyond the sole domain of health.

This panel describes the learning so far from a research programme which was funded by MFAT and began in 2017 with a focus on youth-led, healthy food enterprises in the Fijian context using Participatory Talanoa methodology and extended to incorporate whanau and food environments and systems (currently funded by HRC). This panel will briefly map our research journey and invite a talanoa about the challenging way forward.

Is it possible to decolonise data?

Most of the early-career jobs in the development industry in Australia focus around Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E). M&E uses the principles of quantitative and qualitative areas of knowledge: demographics, economics, anthropology and sociology, to mention a few. This panel emerged with the idea of questioning how the application of these disciplines with specific data collection techniques and trajectories into the objectives of development is facilitating or not the decolonisation of development work. These questions align with the problem of decolonising development work that appears to be central in the topics of this conference. Does inclusivity mean that the shape of data is less colonial? Is it possible to speak of a postcolonial dataset? Are these incompatible epistemological positions?

Local Pacific businesses’ challenges and solutions to sustainability

Local businesses are an integral part of Pacific societies and have faced a myriad of challenges over the last five years just to survive let alone increase their sustainability. Yet, local Pacific businesses are overcoming challenges, not only becoming more sustainable themselves but contributing to the economic, cultural, social and environment sustainability of their communities. In this interactive session, participants will hear from three visionary leaders of Fijian small businesses, learning how they have overcome challenges to founding and growing viable small businesses that inspire and serve others. Initial presentations from the speakers will be in a panel format, followed by a discussion where participants and the speakers collaboratively explore how the academic and development communities can work with local Pacific businesses to enhance sustainability for people, businesses, communities and societies in the Pacific.

Speakers:

Sachiko Soro is one of the magic makers of the VOU dance company. Sachiko dedicates her life to providing sustainable and fulfilling career paths for Fijian artists. VOU currently employs over 50 people, and is the most internationally toured dance company from the Pacific. VOU now runs their own venue the VOU HUB, allowing an artist led platform for cultural practitioners.

Salote Waqairatu Waqainabete is the co-founder of Landscaping Solutions Fiji and professionally an Aquaculturist. Landscaping Solutions Fiji (LSF) aims to provide all urban Fijian homes with quality landscaping services and products to ensure that families enjoy their gardens and are able to grow their own food. LSF is the market leader in chemical-free solutions for soil health and invests in Fijian children and youth through outreach to secondary schools and employment for semi-skilled young people.

Maria Ronna Luna Pastorizo-Sekiguchi is the Founder of The Greenhouse Studio, an award-winning, multidisciplinary, Fiji-based creative studio, and Greenhouse Coworking, Fiji’s first full-service virtual and in-person coworking community. https://www.greenhouseco.work/ exists to empower MSMEs, consultants, start-ups, organisations, and teams, who need support, connection, and opportunities through their coworking community. GCo envisions people from around the Pacific converging and collaborating to solve the region’s biggest challenges.

Exploring climate change in the Pacific: loss and damage, adaptivity and resilience in the face of Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted systems worldwide, diverting attention away from climate change and other development agendas while imposing severe shocks to island economies. In the Pacific, the Covid19 pandemic provides a taste of the complex realities of shocks and the complex loss and damage sustained from such severe worldwide perturbations. While some might see this as a devastating blow, the pandemic has also forced countries to reflect on what can be done in terms of preparation for future shocks. More importantly, there is heightened awareness about the costs incurred paving the way for further thinking on future climate change-induced events. In this panel/session, we explore responses to the pandemic and how Covid has impacted on climate change conversations. Specifically, it seeks to focus on the issue of loss and damage, asking how Pacific nations can build resilience not only to navigate future crises (including pandemics, climate change, natural disasters and political instability) but also to mitigate against these perceived losses.

The role of libraries and their organisations in supporting work toward the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals

Libraries play a vital role in the development of modern societies. The different kinds of libraries around the world are committed to provide and facilitate access to relevant information and technologies that sustain our development and livelihood. They collect, organize, and enable access to information in order to develop more informed, tolerant and successful societies.

Information is crucial to social, economic and national development.  Progressive and integrated national development through these unprecedented times relies on updated and new information. To access the required information, library services play an essential role.

It has been seen through experience that libraries actively support many SDG’s, principally Goal 4 Education, but also others relating to social, economic and environmental development. They directly and indirectly support and encourage the promotion of literacy (basic literacy and digital literacy), advocate for equitable access to information, mediate information to fight poverty, improve the life chances of their communities, improve health, promote equal rights and justice, and give their communities the tools to develop democracy and reduce corruption.

In this session, we will comment from the library sector perspective on the UN’s own assessment of the relative lack of progress toward the SDGs, and suggest what the library sector can do to strengthen community resilience, with a focus on Oceania.

The first half of the session will consist of presentations, reporting on success stories, challenges, and impact assessments of the role of libraries in developing our societies. The moderator will question the panel, establishing links between their presentations. The second half of the session will be devoted to moderated debate between audience members and panel. The session organizer Winston Roberts will moderate this session. The presentations will be designed to stimulate debate.

The return to tourism: getting the balance right for Pacific peoples

In the absence of tourists due to COVID-19, Pacific Island nations are thought to have been dealt a “severe blow” that has undermined their wellbeing (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD, 2020). However, our research from 2020-22 has suggested that despite the hardships, many Pacific peoples living in places normally reliant on income from international tourists have adapted effectively in the face of tough challenges, and many report improvements in their wellbeing.

Our broader research project seeks to put the South Pacific at the forefront of developing future tourism in a way that benefits both people and planet. Thus in this session we will present our findings from surveys and interviews on people’s wellbeing prior to and after the return of tourism in Fiji, Samoa, Cook Islands and Vanuatu, and then ask our panel of experts to comment on these findings and their implications for future directions of tourism in the Pacific.

Decolonising sport for development and peace: opportunities and challenges

This panel discusses over a 75 minute session how Sport for Development and Peace can be decolonised – what are some of the opportunities and challenges from the perspective of Indigenous people, and what is the role of the accomplice (Whitinui, 2022) of Indigenous people in this space. Panellists will speak from their positionality as Indigenous or non-Indigenous persons and areas of knowing, for example, as a feminist sport sociologist.

Embedded research in development agencies: what it lets you see and what you can’t say

There is increasing appreciation of the importance of organisational culture and authorising environments in understanding the success or failure of development outcomes. Honig (2018) describes political authorising environments as a ‘shadow’, affecting and controlling decision making in development agencies. Looking beyond the role of overt political imperatives, Gulrajani (2015) finds that organisational behaviour is the ‘product of micro-behaviours, attitudes and cultures interacting with macro-level structures’. Embedded researchers can, therefore, gain a more plausible understanding of organisational cultures and authorising environments from a position of relative proximity by ‘undertaking explicit research role’ at universities while being granted ‘greater access to the host organisation with benefits for collecting data and research funding’ (McGinity and Salokangas 2014).

Amidst the growing discourse on localisation and bicultural identity, and related shifts in bilateral aid policy, this roundtable discussion focuses on the experiences of three embedded PhD researchers associated with different development agencies. Caitlin Finlayson’s research with Oxfam Aotearoa occurred during a time of deep reflection and public scrutiny globally, and found that a strong connection to place, and developing meaningful organisational values can help an INGO engage well with the contemporary challenges it faces. Glenn Bond’s research with CARE emphasised the inconsistencies between the infrastructure of international development (which has historically rewarded hubris), and the shift towards localisation (which necessarily assumes humility from northern INGOs). Ujjwal Krishna’s ongoing embedded role in the Developmental Leadership Program (DLP), working with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), focuses on how research can influence international development policy and programming.

When host organisations accommodate embedded researchers, they are inviting them to ‘ask difficult questions, granting access to see multiple perspectives as they traverse the hierarchies inevitable within such institutional apparatuses’ (McGinity and Salokangas 2014). Such researchers are able to ‘get under the skin’ of the organisation and provide inputs from a unique perspective, yet they face challenging questions around ethics, positionality, flexibility, reflexivity, and independence. Having navigated political shifts and cultural sensitivities as an insider/outsider in their respective organisational contexts, Caitlin, Glenn, and Ujjwal will also highlight the limits of embedded research as a methodology to study development agencies. As the panellists reflect on how embedded, long-term engagement allows key drivers of change and inertia to be observed and made visible, they will also discuss what their findings contribute to the global #shiftthepower dialogue.

Addressing underage sexwork, sex tourism, and child trafficking in a COVID world

The commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) is a growing concern exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, both globally and in Aotearoa. CSEC includes issues such as online child sexual abuse material, survival sex and the trafficking of minors. Although positive advancements continue to be made regarding these issues, many misconceptions continue to exist, and a lack of awareness continues to create significant barriers to keeping children and young people safe. Drawing from ECPAT research in the Pacific region, insights from development experts, Tangata Whenua and the learnings from a trafficking survivor turned advocate, this session aims to both raise awareness and generate discussion on these concerns and their impact on community development.

In this collaborative session, facilitators will generate discussion on the following:

• What is commercial sexual exploitation of children?
• Is it a present threat within Aotearoa and the Pacific region?
• CSEC/trafficking legislation, policies, and the SDGS.
• What are the driving factors and implications for victims and survivors?
• How do we address this as development practitioners?

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Unsettling settler-colonialism and Eurocentrism: Decolonial praxis to reimagine development 

As the language of ‘localisation’, ‘decolonisation’, and values-based, Te Tiriti­-driven approaches take root within international development spaces within Aotearoa, much of the rhetoric has focused on ‘shifting the power’ from ‘here’ to ‘there’.  ‘Localisation’ debates often explore the nature of ‘there’ but what to what extent has the sector reflected on the hegemonic settler-colonial or Eurocentric ideologies which often inform the ‘here’?  To understand what decolonisation in development might look like, we also need to see the many faces of colonisation and resistance.  Drawing on the unique and varied experiences of four presenters – this session will explore development’s role in perpetuating or unsettling settler-colonialism, Eurocentrism, and the possibilities within Indigenous-led development futures.

The four presentations include:

i) Drawing on personal narrative by sharing a particular colonisation experience in development, telling the journey of navigating the violent reality of conflicting worlds with conflicting values, ways of being and knowing, and the spiritual journey of healing to find forgiveness and reclaim power. (Siaan Mackie – Patuharakeke, Ngāti Wai, Ngāti Whātua)

ii) Exploring how contextual meanings and local aspirations lead to the (re)production and maintenance of imperial legacies, and how deconstructing the Eurocentric notion of development can lead to the reimagining of new notions of relational, situated, and decolonised African development (Oluwafemi Olajide).

iii) Examining the (often unreflective) settler-colonial ideologies and hidden colonial logics which inform aid and development in Aotearoa, and how we reconcile development’s purported focus on reducing inequality and injustice with the pervasiveness of settler discourse which continues to erase a history of violence, dispossession, and resistance (Angela Wilton).

iv) Challenge the external compass navigation of development studies which does not adequately recognise that Māori are international leaders in navigating imposed colonial systems, and yet government and sector priorities, policies and practices can perpetuate the opposite of development and advancement; instead development can expand its perspective and scope to acknowledge the role of Indigenous practitioners including Māori (and) development. (Katerina Pihera-Ridge -Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Ngāti Whakaue, Ngā Puhi, Ngāti Hinerangi, Raukawa me te Czech Republic).

Yielding and wielding power: showing up to decolonisation

As practitioners in international development, most of us will have read (or authored) guidance and analysis on what decolonisation means at structural and systemic levels within our sector. But how many of us have genuinely paused, reflected, and (importantly), shared with our colleagues on what decolonisation means at a personal level,  through exploring our own racial identity, and what this means for our work in international development? (While the structural and systemic work has to be done, this won’t make a difference unless we commit to the highly sensitive and challenging work we need to do at an individual level to really shift power).

The Yielding and Wielding Power Toolkit (available here: Course: Yielding and Wielding Power Toolkit (learnwithacfid.com)  is a collection of question sets and short ‘how-to’ guidance for practical options for individuals and organisations to further the decolonisation and locally led agendas. Every tool shares a path for Yielding Power (for white development practitioners and organisations) and a path for Wielding Power (for black and brown development practitioners and organisations). It was developed by four Pacific Islanders and two white Australians who, over a 20 year period, developed the trusted relationships needed to have genuine conversations within a multiracial team around shifting power.

We know that discussions are taking place within racial groups regarding how race is experienced in the workplace, but it is very rare for colleagues within a multiracial team to have open / transparent conversations with each other (due to significant and deep cultural barriers – Pacific belief systems around hospitality, white fragility/ white saviour belief systems etc). This session will provide an overview of the Yielding and Wielding toolkit, before participants self-select to join one of two smaller group conversations (one group for brown/black colleagues; another group for white colleagues). These group conversations provide a safe space for practitioners to reflect on their own racial identity and explore what this might mean for shifting power within their work. Participants then join together in plenary for facilitated cross-racial conversation and synthesis.

Partnering for decolonisation: An exploration of skillsets needed to walk the talk

Genuine processes of decolonisation require new systems and processes for collaboration between the colonising and colonised worlds and individuals. ‘Partnership’ is a fashionable concept in international development, particularly since the establishment of SDG 17. It seems that almost all implementing relationships, whether they are contractual/transactional, or collaborative/partnership in form and intent, are badged as ‘partnerships.’ The term can be used to disguise business as usual, i.e., ongoing replication of existing power dynamics and business processes: providing a veneer of collaboration and good intent which makes it even harder for the formerly colonised to call out poor development practice from former colonisers. Genuine partnerships will have to grapple with decolonisation, in an explicit way, looking at the organisations involved in the partnership, the individuals around the partnership table, and the systems and structures around the partnership. A particular skill set is required to design processes to take partnership groups through the discussions above, to broker those discussions in a productive way, and to ensure that partnership groups emerge from the discussions with a practical and agreed way forward for the function of the partnership.

Partnerships which will contribute in a genuine way to the process of decolonisation require:

• Genuine conversation about power and control, and the project/program management processes that embed power and control.
• Explicit discussion about race and culture within partnership groupings, and the way race and culture impact partnership dynamics.
• Exploration of what mutual benefit and mutual accountability look like in practice within a partnership which is intended to contribute to decolonisation.
• Openness to developing new ways of working for all project/program management processes, which are fit-for-purpose for decolonising partnerships, rather than driven by the needs/preferences/habits of more powerful partners.
• Establishing partnership behaviours which all individuals and organisations must be accountable to, and strategies for addressing behaviour which doesn’t abide by the agreed principles.

Remote learning during COVID-19 lockdown: Equality, inequality, and the reality of digital development from the Global South

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted education globally with school lockdown, changing learning modalities in many countries. Remote learning has become a global norm and brought similar challenges and struggles throughout the world but the situations faced by Global South rather differed in some aspects. This session explores the reality of remote learning in small developing countries and discusses how remote learning has both amplified inequalities in education and provided new opportunities using e-learning platforms. We are interested in empirical contributions that advance our understanding of the critical areas of developmental gaps and effective measures to reduce inequalities in e-education and digital development between the Global North and South.

Roundtable: Partnerships for Teaching Development Studies 

One of the aspirations of many Development Studies degrees is to expose students to the practical aspects of working in various fields of international development. At the same time, there is an increasing trend towards Development organisations of various kinds looking to enhance their engagement with university staff and students. In this roundtable session, we will reflect upon the potential and challenges associated with incorporating a greater level of engagement between students undertaking postgraduate Development Studies courses and partner organisations working in various Development fields, by drawing upon the initial experiences of undertaking these research and teaching collaborations at two New Zealand Universities. 

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Keynote Speaker: Hon Nanaia Mahuta

Keynote Speaker: Uma Kothari, Professor of Migration and Postcolonial Studies

Plenary Speaker: Louisa Wall, Ambassador for Gender Equality (Pacific)/Tuia Tāngata

Keynote Speaker: Doris Sasau, Development Practitioner

DevNet Dinner: Performance Poetry by Professor Selina Tusitala Marsh

Below is a map of the venue and parking services:

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From your DevNet2022 conference committee: Jesse, Bex, Regina, Angela, Tracy and Api.

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