We are very lucky to have the following confirmed keynote speakers for our conference.

Dr Rae Si’ilata

Rae (Ngāti Raukawa/Tūhourangi/Fiji) delivers professional learning and research projects focused on bilingualism, multilingualism, and multiliteracies in Pacific and Indigenous Education. During her career, Rae has been a teacher and school principal in Aotearoa and Samoa. From 2005-2020, she was lecturer/senior lecturer at the University of Auckland, and from 2020-2024 was senior lecturer at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi.

Dr Apisalome Movono

Apisalome Movono is a conservationist, academic, activist, and oceans advocate from Buca in Fiji. He comes from a long line of navigators, fishermen, and warriors of the sea. Currently, he serves as a Senior Lecturer in Development Studies at Massey University1. His work involves researching and promoting development that is fair, resilient, and sustainable for the people of the South Pacific and future generations. His research interests include ecological impacts, livelihoods, tourism development, and resilience in Pacific Island communities. Apisalome is also the co-founder of the Laucala Beach Sustainability Society, which works to restore and protect the Laucala Beach Ring-Ditch Fortification site.

Professor Regina Scheyvens

Regina Aurelia Scheyvens is a New Zealand development academic, and as of 2019 is a full professor at Massey University. Her research focuses on the relationship between tourism, sustainable development and poverty reduction, and she has conducted fieldwork on these issues in Fiji, Vanuatu, Samoa, the Maldives and in Southern Africa. She is also very interested in gender and development, sustainable livelihood options for small island states, and in theories of empowerment for marginalised peoples.

Dr Apisalome Movono and Professor Regina Scheyvens Presentation

To understand how to embrace a mana-enhancing approach to evaluation, we first must appreciate the profound and sacred meaning of ‘mana.’ Mana is unseen and is not something we can commodify, just as a mana-enhancing approach should not be seen as a ‘fad’ in evaluation or something to tick off and add to the evaluator’s tool kit. Such an approach requires a fundamental rethinking of how evaluation is practised and adequate time to invest in building strong, mutually respectful relationships with local partners and those who are supposed to benefit from any intervention.

In this address, Api and Regina will reflect on some of their experiences when monitoring and evaluating development programmes in the Pacific region, share some stories, and identify some principles that could help guide us towards understanding a mana-centric approach so that it is ingrained in our practices. These principles include localising evaluation, practicing humility, empowering our counterparts, developing a thorough appreciation of the context, devoting attention to strengths of programmes rather than focusing mainly on critiques, and remembering who the evaluation should serve.