Abstract
Sustainability and unsustainability are frequently deployed in discussions of intended, predicted and observed changes occurring in or impacting on Pacific islands societies. Local communities often have their own distinctive understanding of the natural environment. Their concern for sustainability frequently extends further afield – to languages, cultures, and other aspects of life. International agreements and the constitutions of a number of Pacific islands countries address relevant issues. Constitutional government in the region has been remarkably sustained. Sustainable development has diverse dimensions and can be controversial. Climate change and rising sea-levels threaten the very survival of low-lying islands. Harvesting of non-renewable resources raises particular issues. Pacific islands studies have made significant contributions to scientific knowledge and human understanding of issues and processes of wider, even global importance.
Highlights
Sustainability has become something of a catchword, in the Pacific, but globally, used to justify or legitimate a wide range of different activities, and to criticize or condemn others.1 Key aspects of sustainability include continuity and support
It seems appropriate to suggest that students of the Pacific, researchers, concerned with the sustainability of Pacific studies might embark on other, more narrowly focused academic battles
Ron Crocombe strongly advocated the principle that scholars, fieldworkers, engaged in studying the Pacific have a reciprocal obligation to those who inform or otherwise facilitate their research to make the results of their work available in the region— and to publish there
Summary
Communities Acting for Sustainability in the Pacific Special Issue, guest edited by Anu Bissoonauth and Rowena Ward.
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