Shania Shayal Prasad 
[Source: Fiji National University/Facebook]
The Fiji National University is shifting the focus of academic research from theory to real-world impact and the results are being seen across communities.
From climate change to agriculture, education to public health, FNU’s work is addressing some of the country’s most urgent challenges.
Speaking during the Vice-Chancellor’s Research Excellence Awards, Assistant Minister for Education Iliesa Vanawalu underlined the need for research to contribute directly to national progress.
He adds projects now underway are tackling critical problems from sea-level rise threatening coastal villages, to food insecurity affecting rural families and educational inequality limiting opportunity.
“It is here therefore in this scholarly pursuit to find the tools necessary to drive change and foster resilience in every evolving world that we are facing.”
Vanawalu says FNU has made progress in deploying student-led and faculty-led research into real settings.
“By engaging in research that has practically application you are not merely observing the world, you are actively engaging with it transforming knowledge into actions.”
He adds FNU is proving that research can be a powerful tool for change not only informing policy, but also transforming lives on the ground.
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