Events and engagement
Part of our work at PiP–GU is to facilitate community connections with the university, government, and non-government sectors. Below is a selection of our highlights from the events and engagement activities we have been involved with to date.
Childhood Summit 2023
The Australian Institute of Play (AIP) is a community-led organisation originating in Logan. One of their goals is to make Logan the most play-friendly city in Australia with the Childhood Summit providing children in Logan the opportunity to share with ‘grown-ups’ what is on their mind. The Pathways in Place team supported AIP to host the third Childhood Summit in June 2023, connecting AIP with our community partners and working with Griffith University staff to host the event on the University’s Logan campus. The Childhood Summit featured the voices of 43 child keynote speakers (each child speaker was paid) with a strong focus on First Nations, Māori and Pasifika children.
Some of the photos we took are here. Check out the AIP website for the highlight video and additional photos, and to listen to the children's recorded presentations. The next Childhood Summit will be held in 2025.
Primary Health Network Pasifika and Māori Health Strategy
Dr Inez Fainga’a-Manu Sione is the Chair of the governance committee responsible for overseeing the delivery of the Pasifika & Māori Health Strategy for Brisbane South Primary Health Network, Metro South Primary Health Network, and Children’s Health Queensland. This governance committee of fourteen representatives from various government, non-government and community organisations deliver regular community workshops (the photo opposite is of the Village Connect Community Workshop for the Health Strategy).
Cherbourg and Bunya Burra trip – hosted by Gunya Meta Inc.
Members of PiP-GU were privileged to be invited to a cultural immersion and professional development trip to Cherbourg and Bunya Burra hosted by Gunya Meta Inc., one of our Program’s community partner organisations. Aunty Faith and John Davis from Gunya Meta generously shared their cultural knowledge and traditional ways of being, knowing, and doing from their personal histories growing up in Cherbourg and the Bunya Mountains. The experience was transformative: the stories and knowledge shared have the potential to generate change within individuals, families, communities and across the sectors and organisations in which we all work. The trip elevated our connections to another level and reaffirmed our collective commitment to increase the strength of our partnerships and alliances.
Māori and Pasifika graduation – December 2023
On 16 December 2023, graduating Māori and Pasifika students and their families and friends were invited to a community celebration at Griffith University’s Logan campus, which featured a vibrant cultural program and a celebration of academic achievement.
PiP–GU community partner presentations at the 2023 Griffith University Council Strategic Retreat
Our community partner organisations Village Connect, Gunya Meta, and Mozzy Foundation gave presentations to the Griffith University Council on place-based engagement and community empowerment at the Council Strategic Retreat in September 2023. Representatives of these organisations provided their perspectives on the importance of Griffith’s community partnerships and the positive impact of these relationships in guiding how the university wishes to move forward and plan for the future.
2023 Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) Conference – Melbourne
In November 2023, several of the Pathways in Place team and community partners attended and presented at the Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) Conference held at Melbourne University. This was an opportunity for our community research fellows and some of our community partners to present to a national forum of educational researchers (e.g. Danny Heke from the Mozzy Foundation, pictured here presenting on ‘Strengthening the university participation of Māori Australians’).
2023 OCIES Conference – National University of Samoa
In November 2023, Dr Iva Ponton and Professor Andrew Harvey attended and presented at the Oceania Comparative and International Education Society (OCIES) Conference held at the National University of Samoa in Apia, Samoa. In addition to presenting research on ‘Utilising Pacific methodologies to empower students’, this was an opportunity for the PiP–GU team to form international partnerships that will facilitate knowledge exchange and help to build our capacity to work with our diverse community.