Module 1 : Orientation

In our orientation session, we really wanted to spend some time building a foundation for this fellowship. We introduced ourselves, our teams, we collected some data and we went over our goals, our hopes and our fears for the Pacific Pawa Up Fellowship series.

Module 2 : Pre-Training

Our pre-training session was an opportunity to look back at some of our history, our DNA, we heard from our Council of Elders and drew from those stories some lessons that are true to guiding our work today. We also spent some time going over our different structures and some of the resources and tools we can use to assess the health of our teams and why doing that especially at points of re-calibration are so important.

Module 3 : Organizing and Engagement

What does organizing in our communities looks like? During this session, we took our cohort through container agreements to set themselves up for success throughout this journey. We also got to hear stories from 350 Pacific Organizer, George Nacewa and our Council of Elder, Youth Representative, Brianna Fruean on their experiences as organizers in their communities. We pulled lessons from their stories and participants broke out into groups to discuss key takeaways that could apply to their communities. 

Module 4 : Strategizing

Campaigns are a powerful way of strategically building group capacity and developing experience. At the same time, campaigns win solid victories for social justice. In this module, we got to hear from our 350.org Pacific Campaigner, Joseph Sikulu on his experience on a campaign that helped shape the person he is today and taking lessons from those experience to be able to effectively strategize for future campaigns. This was an opportunity for the cohort to identify various tactics that make a campaign successful and exercise how to effectively strategize using paper plates challenge to build a campaign plan.

Module 5 : Storytelling

Our world truly is defined by the stories we tell. We create stories to help ourselves, and those around us, understand the world we live in. In this module, we got to understand why leadership storytelling is so important in the work we do, we learnt about our Life Map and shared a number of elements that we’d consider when drawing up our Life Map. We also got to hear from Arianne Kassman who showcased her Life Map and shared her story. We also touch on the Story of Self, Us and Now and the Design team explicitly made an offering of providing one on one coaching to anyone of the cohort that were interested in developing their leadership story further.  

During this module, there was a lot interpersonal sharing and out of respect for those who shared, we won’t be sharing the video from this training.

Module 6 : Digital Storytelling I

Storytelling helps us share our truths and bring more people into our work. Telling authentic stories can help ignite change and bring more attention to our work. Anyone can be a digital storyteller. You just need access to a basic mobile phone. People can be in control of their own stories. In this module, we got to hear from Fenton on his experiences doing digital storytelling and running a number of effective and successful digital campaigns which included the Frontline Truths and Have You Sei campaign.  During our skillshare, we went through the importance and effectiveness of digital storytelling and specifically focused on Text, Photo and Video as ways to tell a story online.

Module 7 : Digital Storytelling II

Social media is like any other organizing, grounded in goals and strategy and depends entirely on building authentic relationships. In this module, we looked at the importance of social media as a powerful tool to connect and communicate with our networks. We are movement storytellers, not just a reporter of facts. Each social media post should be part of the story of our campaign, which in turn makes up the story of our movement. A lot of people we know are on social media. Meet them where they’re at. During this session, we also covered a number of tips and tricks using social media and doing live coverage for any form of event, action and/or gathering in our communities. 

Talanoa : Storytelling in our community

In order to continue to enrich the growth of our Pacific Pawa Up Fellowship and continue to diversify the way we breakdown information and socialise the concepts we are teaching we are committed to exploring and landing our modules through story and Talanoa. 

These Talanoa are an opportunity for our cohort and our network to hear from our partners and allies who will share their experiences and knowledge linked to the module we have just completed.

Module 8 : Communications

Communication is central and vital to all human activities, including social and grassroots mobilization and development.

Traditional media channels reflect a people’s culture, play a key role in shaping public opinion and more importantly, raise awareness on current issues, whilst reaching audiences both online and offline.

The most common forms of traditional media include radio, television, printed newspapers and magazines.

As a climate activist, you will be bombarded with opportunities to engage with media and share your personal stories and opinions on what needs to happen to end the climate crisis. This module focuses on 4 essential skills that you can use to maximise media opportunities. Module 8: Communications Skill-Share

Module 9 : COP – UNFCCC Training

COP spaces can be very daunting and sometimes unfriendly to those participating in the yearly event for the first time. During this module, we got to hear from Joseph Sapati Moeono-Kolio, Genevieve Jiva and Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner on their experiences from COP over the years. Providing insights on how to prepare well for COP and navigating through the different spaces during COP. 

Pacific Pawa Up Fellowship 2020 Graduation

A big congratulations to our very first Pacific Pawa Up Fellowship cohort who graduated. It has been an amazing journey working, learning and growing with these incredible young leaders and we are sure to see big things come to light in the work they do with their communities. During our graduation, we opened the space with a traditional Kava ceremony, we had special performances by Mia Kami and the Pasifika Voices and we also got to hear each graduate’s experiences and reflections from the past 3 months with us. 

To learn more about the Fellowship, please read our reports available below.

READ our Pacific Pawa Up Fellowship Full Review

READ our Pacific Pawa Up Fellowship Review