LocationsCharting the Course Together: Reflections from the Pasifika Futures Forum
June 30, 2025
The Pasifika Futures Report launch was an invitation and call to activate its insights through conversation, creativity, and collaboration across our Blue Pacific.
In May this year, we welcomed over 200 participants from across the Blue Pacific — elders, youth, traditional knowledge holders, government representatives, CROP sister agencies, policymakers, artists, technologists, and civil society advocates — for the inaugural Pasifika Futures Forum. This three-day gathering, co-convened by the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and the UN Development Programme (UNDP), and enabled by the Government and people of Australia, marked not only the launch of the Pasifika Futures Report, but a collective commitment to shape futures by and for Pacific peoples.
As co-hosts and partners in this journey, we came out of the Forum deeply moved, with a renewed sense of shared understanding, community and commitment. Three key learnings from the Forum are worth sharing:
Futures Must Be Co-Created — and Co-Led
One of the defining features of the Pasifika Futures Forum was that it was not about the Pacific — it was led by Pacific voices, with Pacific communities, and for Pacific futures. The principal and process of leadership with regional and national partners was not just symbolic; it was foundational.
The Pasifika Futures Report itself is a product of this ethos — co-authored and co-developed with regional thinkers, institutions, and communities. Its launch was an invitation and call to activate its insights through conversation, creativity, and collaboration. At the Forum, this came to life through participatory workshops, intergenerational dialogues, and collective visioning.
Creating nurturing spaces and conditions for Pacific ownership to flourish by removing barriers, opening spaces for hard and honest conversations, and supporting those who are still finding their voices and power will allow the Pacific futures thinking to emerge from within the region. True co-creation takes time and care, and we know we are only at the beginning of this journey — walking alongside The Pacific Community (SPC), Pasifika Communities University, Pacific Youth Council, traditional knowledge holders, and so many others.
As the Pacific continues to face overlapping uncertainties — from climate change to geopolitical shifts — we are reminded that the most resilient and relevant strategies will emerge through collective leadership and shared dialogue.
Talanoa Is More Than Dialogue — It’s a Practice of Trust
At the heart of the Forum was Talanoa — the traditional practice of open, respectful, and purposeful dialogue that is deeply rooted in Pacific cultures. Far from a procedural format, Talanoa offered us a way of being together that made space for reflection, vulnerability, and complexity.
We witnessed how Talanoa enabled intergenerational conversations that were not about debating solutions, but about understanding each other’s realities. It held space for those who are often spoken about but rarely heard. It allowed policy to sit alongside poetry, and strategy to sit beside story.
In a world too often shaped by short-termism, linear deadlines, and externally imposed timelines, Talanoa calls us back to a different rhythm — one that honours relationship and resonance over speed. It reminds us that inclusion is not only a technical design feature; it is a cultural and ethical commitment.
In this spirit, the Forum reminded us that Talanoa creates the conditions for relational foresight — where futures are not just predicted, but nurtured through relationships.
Listening Truly, Speaking with Purpose
One of the most powerful moments of the Forum came from a young participant who said: “Even when we get a seat on the table, we are not truly heard.” That moment stayed with us.
Throughout the Forum, we practiced the discipline of listening not just to respond, but to understand — not only with our ears, but with our hearts. In doing so, we rediscovered the power of speaking with purpose — to build, to invite, to provoke, and to heal.
This principle guided our engagement: when we speak with intention and listen with humility, we open the space for genuine transformation. It is a principle that must guide our institutions, policies, and processes if we are to build futures that are truly inclusive.
It also invites us to flip the narrative – from seeing the Pacific as a passive recipient of global trends and solutions, to recognising it as a visionary leader. Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General, Baron Divavesi Waqa, captured this spirit powerfully throughout the Forum, reminding us of the Pacific's inherent strength and agency:
"For the Blue Pacific Continent, our region has been built by the wisdom and perseverance of great men and women of the Pacific, navigating deep waters and changing tides."
His words underscore a fundamental truth that guided our conversations: "We are not defined by our vulnerabilities but by our resilience."
Most importantly, he challenged us to embrace Pacific leadership in shaping tomorrow:
"The futures we seek are not those prescribed to us, but those we define for ourselves."
Looking Ahead
The Pasifika Futures Forum is not an endpoint — it is a beginning. It affirmed that the knowledge, courage, and imagination needed to navigate uncertain futures already exist within the region. Our role is to make room for it, resource it, and walk alongside it.
As UNDP continues to embed anticipatory governance across the region, we carry forward the spirit of the Forum — grounded in partnership, guided by Talanoa, and committed to futures that honour the past, respond to the present, and boldly shape what is to come.
One of the most resonant ideas to emerge from the Forum was the call to establish a Future Generations Council for the Pacific — a body that would ensure the voices, rights, and needs of those yet to be born are represented in today's decision-making. Such a Council could serve as a guardian of long-term thinking, helping to hold institutions accountable for intergenerational justice and to the stewardship of our shared ocean, cultures, and resources.
Looking ahead, we are also excited to share that work is underway on a Pacific Scenarios Report — a continuation of this journey that will bring to life possible futures for the region through stories, images, and insights from Pacific communities.
These narratives — including cli-fi and sci-fi tales penned by Pasifika writers, each mentored by a Pacific poet or author — will provide not only foresight but inspiration, helping leaders and communities navigate change with clarity, creativity, and care.
This is the work of futures in the Pacific — grounded in wisdom, guided by hope, and powered by collective imagination.
As Hon. Minister Maina Talia of Tuvalu reminded us, "We are not just imagining what 2050 looks like. We are building it, today."
The Pasifika Futures Initiative is a partnership between the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, with funding support from the Government of Australia.