The Secretary-General of the Pacific Islands Forum Dame Meg Taylor saluted three publications of the Pacific Theological College as timely for building a new Pacific.
Dame Taylor launched the three publications;
- Reweaving the Ecological Mat Framework – An alternative framework for development that centralises the wellbeing of people and the natural environment.
- Ecological Economic Accounts – Towards Intemerate Values – It is an alternative measurement of wealth to the Gross Domestic Product. It looks beyond assigning natural resource dollar values.
- From the Deep – Pasifiki Voices for a New Story,’ – A collection of visions by Pacific Islanders of what they would like to see in the Pacific region post-COVID19
She said the books contribute critical information for the 2050 Strategy of the Blue Pacific.
The regional Strategy aims to protect and secure the lives and prospects of Pacific peoples.
‘The books offer a new development paradigm which places the interests of our heritage and our culture and our people at the heart of our development,’ she said.
The three books are a creation of the Reweaving the Ecological Mat project (REM).
REM is coordinated by the Institute for Mission and Research of PTC.
The launch event was held on September 17 at the Japan ICT Theater at the University of the South Pacific.
Professor Konai Helu, known as the Mother of Pacific Education, performed her poem ‘Lagakali’ that reminisces connections with nature.
The authors of the three publications also attended the event. They shared the dream behind the publications.
They said the Pacific Islands region needs a new development framework that places people’s wellbeing at its centre.
Wellbeing for Pacific islanders is one that is intimate with nature.
The current development model is capitalist and profit-driven. It works to maximise profit from natural resources. This results in devastations to ecology at unprecedented levels and the denial of an intimate connection to nature.
The three publications are available on the PTC open access publications website.
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