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We have undertaken the following projects:

Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC) Strategy Development

March - April 2025 | Client: PISFCC | It was a privilege to work with the Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC) in convening a three-day workshop focused on reflecting on key lessons learned, strengthening partnerships, and shaping future actions to fully realize the potential of the ICJ Advisory Opinion on climate change as a driver for climate action and justice across the Pacific. Talanoa Consulting was honoured to contribute to this process, supporting the workshop’s preparation and facilitation, as well as collaborating closely with PISFCC in drafting a forward-looking five-year strategy that builds on this important momentum.

Pacific analysis for the Resilient and Sustainable Islands Initiative (RESI) of capacity strengthening initiatives in SIDS, focussed on climate change

November 2024 - April 2025 | Client: ADB and ODI | Lead researcher and author for the Pacific in a study commissioned by the Resilient and Sustainable Islands Initiative, for the Overseas Development Institute (ODI). The study examines whether current ways of supporting capacity strengthening in Small Island Development States are fit for purpose and offers recommendations for rethinking initiatives to lean into the strengths of small administrations in the Pacific. https://odi.org/en/publications/fit-for-size-rethinking-capacity-strengthening-in-small-island-developing-states/

Building Coastal Resilience through Nature-Based and Integrated Solutions – Risk Financing and Insurance Solutions for Coastal Resilience

November 2024 - December 2025 | Client: Landell Mills and WWF | Led research and analysis for an ecosystem valuation study and cost benefit analysis for interventions post-disaster that might support coral reef recovery and resilience in the Denarau / Mamanuca Area. This research is part of a wider study assessing the feasibility of coral reef insurance in the Asia-Pacific region, supported by ADB.

Development Bank Learning Exchange

January 2025 - March 2025 | Client: SPC | Lead rapporteur for a learning exchange between development banks in the Pacific. Rather than a workshop report, a lessons piece was developed to share the learning more broadly. We were delighted to support the first draft which was further refined internally at SPC. The lessons reveal that these institutions hold forms of capability that are rarely acknowledged sufficiently in global climate finance processes: customer-centric grievance redress mechanisms, trusted community relationships, culturally rooted understandings of land and gender systems, and fit-for-purpose financial structures refined through decades of lending to micro and small businesses across dispersed geographies. https://www.spc.int/updates/news/media-release/2026/01/pacific-development-banks-navigating-access-to-climate-finance

Senior Executive Women in Leadership Programme 2025

March 2025 - April 2025 | Client: FICA | Catalyzing gender inclusive leadership to address sustainable economic growth. Facilitate in advancing women's leadership within Fiji's private sector through the Senior Executive Programme by the Fiji Institute of Chartered Accountants (FICA). The initiative targetted senior women in business to build their confidence, expand their skills and knowledge of business operations and establish networks with other women in business. The initiative addressed the gender gap of women's underrepresentation at the senior executive level by strengthening the enabling environment for business to drive inclusive, private sector-led economic growth.

Consultancy services to provide support to the Kiwa Initiative on Gender Equity, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) and human rights-based approaches in Nature-based Solutions for climate adaptation projects

April 2023 - January 2025 | Client: SPREP | Talanoa Consulting provided support to the Kiwa Initiative on Gender Equity, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) and human rights-based approaches (HRBA) in Nature-based Solutions for climate adaptation projects. Our support includes the design and delivery of toolkits, training, facilitating a community of practice, hosting online learning events, and technical support to regional projects funded by the Kiwa Initiative. Resources can be found here: https://kiwainitiative.org/en/news/download-now-our-freely-available-resources-on-gedsi-and-humanrights

Gender Base Violence Fisheries Research Design Framework for the Pacific Sector

October 2024 - April 2025 | Client: SPC | Designed a gender-based violence (GBV) research framework for fisheries and aquaculture in the Pacific Island region for the Pacific Community and its partners. This included a desktop review of the evidence for GBV in Pacific fisheries and aquaculture, research framework and survey instruments.

Planning and moderation of a webinar to launch the Pacific Women Lead: Formative Situational Analysis

February 2025 - February 2025 | Client: DT Global | Pacific Women Lead Enabling Services is convening a series of webinars. The first webinar, proposed for February 2025, will support the launch of the Pacific Women Lead: Formative Situational Analysis and aims to spark a conversation around research methodology and credibility. Specifically, we hope to explore how donors can support processes that either amplify or hinder Pacific perspectives in research and knowledge documentation.

Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECMs) in the Ocean

April 2024 - May 2025 | Client: Oregon State University | Provision of strategic guidance and recommendations on the development of a new tool aimed at identifying, understanding, and tracking the conservation outcomes of other effective (area-based) conservation measures and (OECMs) and other effectively conserved areas in the ocean beyond marine protected areas.

yher Programme

January 2023- May 2025 | Client: ygap | Lead facilitator for the 2023, 2024 and 2025 yher / ygap sustainable tourism accelerator, supporting women-led sustainable tourism businesses to gain critical access to market intelligence, tourism networks and business advisory services to progress their businesses and grow their confidence as women entrepreneurs and change makers

Legal Sector GEDSI Analysis

May 2024 | Client: Australian Volunteers International | Talanoa Consulting provided a high level GEDSI Analysis of the legal sector in the Pacific Context and provided a recommendation on how to incorporate GEDSI considerations in the program's next phase. Assisted the Collaborative to complete the CSSF GESI marker self assessment tool.

NAP Process Workshop Facilitation

April 2024 - May 2024 | Client: IISD | Support to the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change to commence the National Adaptation Plan process through a NAP Process workshop design and facilitation.

Barriers and opportunities to women’s economic empowerment and paid work in Fiji

July - September 2023 | Client: The World Bank | Supported the World Bank to undertake a qualitative study in Fiji that explores constraints to women’s access to paid employment in and opportunities for women’s greater access to work opportunities. Key informant interviews and focus group discussions were undertaken on Vanua Levu in vosavakaviti and Fiji baat through a team of five social researchers.

Fiji Climate Finance Writeshop Training

December 2021 | Client: The Commonwealth Secretariat | Facilitation and technical input to the Fiji Climate Finance Writeshop Training with the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Climate Change Section.

Support to GGGI Planning Meeting

November 2021 | Client: GGGI | Develop sessions and facilitation tools for a hybrid in-person and virtual planning retreat; facilitate sessions and track outcomes from each session.

SME business continuity planning guidance

August 2021 to April 2022 | Client: UNDP | Undertake consultations with SMEs and Chambers of Commerce in Fiji, Vanuatu, Tonga and Palau on revising business continuity planning tools in light of the private sector response to Covid-19; and revise materials appropriately.

Business Link Pacific evaluation and SME Finance Facility formative evaluation

August 2021 to September 2021 | Client: Sapere (MFAT) | ordinating an evaluation team across the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu; leading the evaluation in Fiji; developing national and regional thematic summaries; supporting Sapere in engaging with the MFATA Steering Group.

Fiji Marinas Sustainable Benchmarking

June 2021 to September 2021 | Client: BMT Commercial (IFC) | Assist the IFC to prepare a decision-making tool to evaluate whether potential marina proposals in Fiji are sustainable from an environmental, economic and social perspective to enable the bank to consider investment decisions.

Protected Areas in Fiji policy briefs

March-May 2020 | Consultancy support to the development of information materials on sustainable financing pathways and cost modelling for Fiji’s marine and terrestrial protected area networks | Client: Conservation International, Suva |

Gender and Agricultural Value Chains

In progress Review of existing literature on entry points for strengthening gender and social inclusion within agricultural value chains in the Pacific Client: SPC, Suva

Human mobility in the context of climate change

August- September, 2019 Review and finalisation of gender and human mobility research, and development of a toolkit module Client: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)

Green Climate Fund evaluation

April- May, 2019 National Consultant to Support an Independent Evaluation of the Green Climate Fund’s Country Ownership Approach – Suva, Fiji Client: ICF

Project management training delivery

March 1, 2019 Period: March 2019 - June 2019 Capacity building training in project management and resource mobilisation for grantees of the Fiji Women’s Fund. Client: Fiji Women’s Fund, Suva

Resilience Training

January - September , 2019 Integration of resilience aspects into ecosystem-based management guidelines and training Client: Wildlife Conservation Society

Business Link Pacific evaluation

January 1, 2019 Period: January - February 2019 Supported an independent evaluation of Business Link Pacific led by a NZ-based consulting firm. Client: Sapere Group, New Zealand

Certificate in resilience

November 2018- January 2019 Developed a programme of study for the national certificate in resilience (DRR and CCA) Level 1 Client: Ministry of Youth and Sports (Fiji)

Green Entrepreneurship

September 2018 - February 2019 and March 2020.. Designed and led a Green Enterprise development training and mentoring programme. This also included the development of a guide to Green Business for Fiji, Vanuatu and Kiribati. Client: Global Green Growth Institute, Fiji

Pacific agribusiness research and development initiative

July 2017 to December 2021 | Included designing and leading research on the success factors and constraints to agribusiness development, an advisory facility for emerging agritourism operators and reviewing an update of an agriculture value-chain guide with Pacific examples. http://pardi.pacificfarmers.com/ | Client: Pacific Island Farmers Organisation Network, Nadi and University of the Sunshine Coast

Marine conservation agreements in Fiji

February - November 2017 Contributing author to a review of tourism-related marine conservation agreements in Fiji. The technical report was subsequently published as a journal article. Client: Wildlife Conservation Society, Suva

Resilient development research

June – November 2016 Blurb: Research to support a review of the New Zealand Government’s Aid Programme from a socially-inclusive, resilient development perspective with a particular focus on Kiribati and Tuvalu. Client: John Hay and Associate