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Resilience and
Perceptions of adaptation, climate
resilience and climate knowledge knowledge

in the Pacific
The cases of Samoa, Fiji and Vanuatu 303
Rory A. Walshe Received 12 March 2017
Revised 30 June 2017
Department of Geography, King’s College London, London, UK and Accepted 1 August 2017
Institute of Risk and Disaster Reduction (IRDR), University College London,
London, UK
Denis Chang Seng
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, UNESCO, Paris, France
Adam Bumpus
School of Geography, Faculty of Science, University of Melbourne,
Melbourne, Australia, and
Joelle Auffray
Apidae Development Innovations Pty Ltd., Melbourne, Australia

Abstract
Purpose – While the South Pacific is often cited as highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, there
is comparatively little known about how different groups perceive climate change. Understanding the gaps
and differences between risk and perceived risk is a prerequisite to designing effective and sustainable
adaptation strategies.
Design/methodology/approach – This research examined three key groups in Samoa, Fiji and
Vanuatu: secondary school teachers, media personnel, and rural subsistence livelihood-based
communities that live near or in conservation areas. This study deployed a dual methodology of
participatory focus groups, paired with a national mobile phone based survey to gauge perceptions of
climate change. This was the first time mobile technology had been used to gather perceptual data
regarding the environment in the South Pacific.
Findings – The research findings highlighted a number of important differences and similarities in ways
that these groups perceive climate change issues, solutions, personal vulnerability and comprehension of
science among other factors.
Practical implications – These differences and similarities are neglected in large-scale top-down climate
change adaptation strategies and have key implications for the design of disaster risk reduction and climate
change adaptation and therefore sustainable development in the region.

© Rory A. Walshe, Denis Chang Seng, Adam Bumpus and Joelle Auffray. Published by Emerald
International Journal of Climate
Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) Change Strategies and
licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for Management
Vol. 10 No. 2, 2018
both commercial & non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication pp. 303-322
and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/ Emerald Publishing Limited
1756-8692
legalcode DOI 10.1108/IJCCSM-03-2017-0060
IJCCSM Originality/value – The research was innovative in terms of its methods, as well as its distillation of the
perceptions of climate change from teachers, media and rural communities.
10,2
Keywords Perceptions, Climate change, Adaptation, Vanuatu, Samoa, Fiji
Paper type Research paper

304 1. Introduction
It is widely predicted that the impacts of climate change in the South Pacific will arrive
comparatively early and be severely felt (Barnett and Campbell, 2010; Walsh et al., 2012),
and climate change and its negative impacts will present major obstacles and challenges to
sustainable development in the region (UNOHRLLS, 2009).
It is increasingly appreciated that perceptions of climate change and environmental
risk influence the degree and nature of adaptation actions taken at the community level
(Adger et al., 2005; Leiserowitz, 2006; Mortreux and Barnett, 2009). Despite this, there is
a comparative lack of research and knowledge on how different areas and groups in the
South Pacific perceive climate change (Lata and Nunn, 2012). The Human Development
Report (United Nations Development Program, 2011), which compiles data for
perceptions of the environment, has no figures or indicators for Samoa, Fiji or Vanuatu.
Adapting to climate change without considering the knowledge and capacity that
exists at the local level is likely to lead to failure and maladaptation (Mercer et al., 2012).
Therefore, in order to develop effective adaptation strategies, it is important to
understand how different communities and groups in the South Pacific perceive climate
change.
This article presents findings from an innovative UNESCO-funded research project
(UNESCO, 2014a), conducted between January and September 2013. The project “Sharing
Perceptions of Adaptation, Resilience and Climate Knowledge” (SPARCK) used ground-
breaking socio-technological methods to survey three key sectors (secondary school
teachers, rural communities and media personnel) in Samoa, Fiji and Vanuatu. The authors
were directly involved in this research.
This paper contributes to the literature in two principal ways: first, it provides
empirical evidence that local perceptions may strongly differ from national
recommendations and plans; second, it illustrates an innovative methodology not used
before in adaptation planning. As a result, and in the context of the potential climate
impacts associated with anthropogenic warming, we contend that to make adaptation
planning and implementation effective, local perceptions need to be engaged more
thoroughly and that human–technology combined methodologies may provide an
efficient and effective approach.

2. Adaptation responses in the pacific

2.1 Climate impacts and resilience in the Pacific
Projections and models suggest that in the South Pacific temperature will increase
(Ruosteenoja et al., 2003), rainfall events will become more intense, but possibly less frequent
(Jones et al., 1999), sea levels will rise (Walsh et al., 2012), regional climate systems such as
ENSO are likely to change and tropical cyclones are predicted to become more intense but
less frequent (IPCC, 2013, p. 126).
As a result, it is often stressed that the small island states of the South Pacific are on the
“front lines” of climate change (Barnett and Campbell, 2010; Birkmann et al., 2014;
Garschagen et al., 2016; Nurse et al., 2014; UNESCO, 2009). While the gravity of the potential
impacts of climate change in the South Pacific is well established, it is necessary to avoid
immediately associating “islandness” with vulnerability and “problematizing” small islands Resilience and
(Kelman and Khan, 2013). While many attributes of small islands present issues of climate
vulnerability [such as isolation, insularity and small population size etc., (Méheux et al.,
2007)], there are equally inherent attributes of small islands which present resilience, often
knowledge
emerging from the same characteristics that justify their labelling as vulnerable (such as
community cohesion concomitant with isolation and small population; Gaillard, 2007;
Kelman et al., 2011).
305
2.2 Adaptation approaches so far
While investment in climate change adaptation (CCA) in the South Pacific is growing, most
projects have focused on raising awareness and engagement at the community and
household level with adaptation strategies contained in national adaptation plans (Etkin and
Ho, 2007; Lata and Nunn, 2012). Such top-down approaches which aim to bring communities
in line with national adaptation plans and communication strategies are often ineffective
because communities (both rural and urban) are likely to be unreceptive to information, tools
and methods which they perceive as alien, and, consequently, issues persist with ineffective
communication (Nunn, 2009; Patt and Schroter, 2008). Instead, communicating information
about CCA and best practices should be grounded in local perceptions and the appropriate
cultural context (Leiserowitz, 2006; Lindell and Perry, 2003). Therefore, there is a pressing
need to understand how various groups and communities in the South Pacific perceive
climate change, to develop effective adaptation strategies.

2.3 Role of perceptions in adaptation longevity

Responses to climate change are mediated by how individuals and communities perceive
both the challenges and solutions of climate change (Mortreux and Barnett, 2009). The
complex and diverse factors which contribute to perceptions include social networks and
capital, media influence (Farbotko, 2005), personal experience, worldviews and values
(Dessai et al., 2003; McLeman and Smit, 2006). An additional influence on perceptions of
climate change is the confidence in the community to successfully adopt adaptation
strategies and actions (Barnett and Adger, 2003). Therefore, perceptions are value laden,
highly subjective and indivisible from the cultural and social context (Kunreuther and
Slovic, 1996). In the Marshall Islands, Rudiak-Gould (2013) demonstrated that climate
change is interpreted in a holistic manner where a mixture of beliefs (such as loss of “clan
magic” and biblical exegesis) and local knowledge is blended with scientific knowledge
within a narrative of the compromise and decay of modernity. Conversely, Lazrus (2009)
showed that communities in Tuvalu are energetic and persistent in their response to climate
change. However other SIDS communities have demonstrated surprising indifference to
harmful climate change impacts (Orłowska, 2016). Similarly, in other SIDS cases,
perceptions have demonstrated the potential to act as barrier to adaptation (Betzold, 2015).
For example, climate change can be perceived as a distant problem (both in time and space),
which may not come to pass (Mataki et al., 2006; Tompkins, 2005).
Local spiritual beliefs on SIDS can also influence perceptions of climate change. In
Tuvalu, for example, sea level rise has been attributed to scripture, and consequently
resulted in inaction (Mortreux and Barnett, 2009; Paton and Fairbairn-Dunlop, 2010) and in
the Cook Islands climate impacts are enmeshed with traditional leadership, tourism and
emerging Christian eco-theologies (Rubow, 2013).
Neglecting these perceptions, and the disconnect between national (top-down) and
community (bottom-up) approaches to CCA in the South Pacific is one reason why the
prevailing top-down approach pursued by government has not always been successful in
IJCCSM eliciting appropriate and sustained adaptation (Lata and Nunn, 2012; Nunn, 2010). Indeed,
10,2 education and adaptation policies that impose Western scientific concepts on rural
communities, which lack formal or Western education, have unsurprisingly failed (Berkes
and Jolly, 2002; Mcnamara, 2013), and may also undermine the traditional mechanisms for
coping with change (Heyd and Brooks, 2009). Therefore, the plurality of perceptions and
approaches within and between social systems needs to be recognised and reconciled to rise
306 to the challenge of adaptation and create locally appropriate responses that are sustainable
over time and space (Barnett, 2010).

3. Case studies and methodology

3.1 Case studies: Samoa, Fiji and Vanuatu
This research investigated climate change perceptions in Samoa, Fiji and Vanuatu
(Figure 1). The selected countries allowed a broad cross-section of the South Pacific to
be examined, with diverse representation from both Melanesia and Polynesia. Our
paper does not focus and provide details here concerning the culture or geography of
these three countries. Rather, we examine what they have in common, for instance,
regarding their exposure to climate change impacts. This includes, for example, less
frequent but more severe tropical cyclones in Vanuatu (VMGHD, 2011), coastal erosion
and salt-water intrusion in Fiji (Korovulavula, 2016) and increasing temperatures in
Samoa (Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment –MNRE, 2013), as well as a
combination of these associated impacts in each country, which interact and cannot be
disentangled from other environmental issues. For example, tropical cyclone Pam in
Vanuatu recently (March 2015) showed the high damage and loses associated with
climatic stressors, underscoring the importance of understanding not only the physical
component of climate change impacts but also their social and cultural aspects.
Additionally, these countries were selected because each presented access to
participants, including good mobile network coverage for the mobile survey. The diversity
within and between countries in the South Pacific means that the results from this research
should not be expected to be representative of the South Pacific as a whole.
The main goal of the research was to investigate the perceptions of those groups
responsible and empowered for communicating climate change information (Teachers and
Media) to a wider group of people, as well as those receiving information and who are
exposed to climate change impacts (communities) in Samoa, Fiji and Vanuatu:
3.1.1 Secondary school teachers. The importance of integrating climate change within
education, particularly secondary school (ages 12-16 years), to effect behaviour change in
line with adaptation is well established (Bangay and Blum, 2010; Wiese, 2012). Several
reports stress the need to integrate climate change within the education systems of the South
Pacific, with secondary education suggested to have a “trickle up” effect of knowledge
transfer from students to parents and the community at-large (Hartmann et al., 2010;
UNESCO, 2006; Vize, 2013). However, there is relatively little known about how teachers
themselves perceive climate change, and how this subsequently influences education and
teaching. Consequently, this research investigated secondary school teachers, who were
selected as respondents by snowball sampling in each country with the assistance of local
partners and the relevant ministry of education, particularly to generate a diverse sample of
ages, gender and subjects taught. Henceforth, this group is referred to as “teachers”.
3.1.2 Media personnel. While a growing body of literature highlights the role of media in
communicating climate change (Boykoff and Smith, 2010; Wilson, 2003), there is a dearth of
research investigating how the media perceive climate change. The media sector in Samoa,
Fiji and Vanuatu is dominated by radio and print media (particularly national newspapers)
 Resilience and
climate
knowledge

307

Figure 1.
The case study
locations in Samoa,
Fiji and Vanuatu

(Papoutsaki and Harris, 2008), with a growing television sector. The isolated, disparate and
low income nature of many islands in the South Pacific (particularly Vanuatu and Fiji for
this study) has resulted in radio playing a central role in community life; however,
increasing development and access has resulted in the emergence of digital media, from
television to online news, and an increase in newspaper circulation (Papoutsaki and Harris,
2008). In this context, “media personnel” refers to those employed to create (i.e. the
journalists and editors) “traditional” media (radio, newspapers, online news and TV). This
IJCCSM research used snowball sampling of media personnel in the three countries with the
10,2 assistance of media civil societies as gatekeepers, this includes the Journalists Association of
Samoa (JAWS) and the Media Association of Vanuatu (MAV), henceforth this group is
referred to as “media”. As a function of the comparatively small number of people employed
in media in the South Pacific (compared to teachers), these focus groups involved fewer
participants (Table I).
308 3.1.3 Rural communities living in or near conservation areas. There are a number of
examples from the South Pacific of traditional communities having heightened awareness of
the environment due to their subsistence based livelihoods and culture providing close and
intricate links to the environment (Lefale, 2010; Nakashima et al., 2012; Walshe and Nunn,
2012). Communities living in or near defined conservation areas were the final study group,
as it is reasonable to suggest that they may have a more intimate understanding of
environmental change. These participants will henceforth be referred to as “communities”,
with the participating villages selected due to their rural nature, proximity to conservation
areas and relative ease of access. The participating members of the communities were
selected using snowball sampling with the assistance of a local gatekeeper. Snowball
sampling was particularly appropriate to navigate the complicated cultural rituals
necessary when conducting research in these areas, to gain access to participants with a
diversity of perspectives and to achieve demographic parity (for a similar example, see
Altschuler and Brownlee, 2015). Two community focus groups were conducted in Samoa (as
opposed to just one in the other countries). This was because one village (Sapapali’i) had
already been the subject of a CCA intervention (Secretariat of the Pacific Regional
Environment Programme-SPREP, 2009); therefore, the potential influence of this recent
project on community responses led to a second community focus group being held in
A’opo, which had not been part of a climate change project.

3.2 Mixed methodology approach

To gather the data, UNESCO partnered with the University of Melbourne and Apidae
Development Innovations who developed the sociological and technological methodologies.
A selected number of well-established techniques known in social science research were
adapted to the specific issues in relation to the target groups. This section draws on the

Groups Focus group participants Focus group location Mobile survey participants

Samoa
Teachers 33 Apia 55
Media 12 Apia 10
Communities 18/37 A’opo/Sapapali’i 45

Fiji
Teachers 11 Suva 6
Media 10 Suva 5
Communities 11 Navutulevu 75
Table I. Vanuatu
Participants by Teachers 28 Port Vila 25
method, country and Media 13 Port Vila 12
group Communities 26 Laonamoa 11
methodologies outlined in UNESCO (2014a), which includes full listings of questionnaires Resilience and
and focus group guides. climate
This research undertook two methods, each of which was applied separately to the three
sets of participants (teachers, media and communities) in Samoa, Fiji and Vanuatu.
knowledge
3.2.1 Interactive focus groups. The participants from each group (selected using
snowball sampling and guided by in-country assistance) conducted separate focus groups
divided into two activities that prompted discussion of climate change, both of the general
experiences of climate change and, in the case of teachers and media, from the perspectives 309
of their profession. To minimise the influence of the positionality or “demand
characteristics” between the researchers and participants, throughout both activities, it was
stressed that this was about personal experiences, and there were no wrong answers.
Furthermore, the activities themselves were designed to be participatory, non-leading and,
as far as possible, assisted or facilitated by the local contacts in the local language.
3.2.1.1 Activity 1: problems and solutions identification. Focus group participants were
first asked to identify what they perceive as the primary problems of, and solutions to,
climate change. The activity was slightly tailored to each group, for example teachers were
asked what the problems and solutions were in teaching about climate change, media were
asked with regards to communicating climate change, and communities their personal
experience of climate change issues and solutions. This was an interactive and participatory
activity, with the participants writing their answers on post-it notes to encourage open
discussion (Plate 1) which prioritised local opinions and experiences.
Next, a facilitator grouped the issues thematically, putting the problems and solutions
post-it notes in related clusters (for example those related to changes in the weather).
Participants then voted (using coloured stickers) on these clusters for what they,
individually, perceived as the biggest solution, the biggest issue and what they wanted to
know more about. This whole first stage was transcribed immediately, with translation if
necessary, and the resulting clusters of prioritised issues and solutions were photographed
(Plate 2).
3.2.1.2 Activity 2: Q-sort. Q-sort is a collective image sorting method of agreement with a
statement, which is then used to prompt discussion (Palmer, 1983; Pitt and Sube, 1979). “Q-
methods” were designed to be an objective method for the study of subjective values,
opinions and meanings, in conjunction with other methods (Robbins and Krueger, 2000). Its

Plate 1.
Problems and
solutions
identification exercise
IJCCSM
10,2

310

Plate 2.
Clusters of prioritised
issues and solutions
from focus groups

validity and relevance for gauging community perceptions of the environment on small
islands is demonstrated by Green (2005). In this case, the participants were divided into
small groups and given a stack of images that visually represented various aspects or
elements of what could be perceived as climate change (for example, an image of a
cyclone). These included a description written on the back, and additional blank cards
could be drawn or written on by participants and added. The participants then placed
the images on a grid along a continuum according to agreement with a statement, such
as “I teach my students about this climate change issue” (teachers only) (Plate 3). This
was then discussed as a group and transcribed, as well as photographed. This was used
to generate discussion, and not to produce quantitative data, as sometimes is the case in
Q-sort applications.
These focus groups were informal and semi-structured, conducted with the assistance of
three or more facilitators, which allowed for smaller groups in which issues could be
followed up on. Such participatory approaches are particularly useful to understand local
perspectives (Chambers and Mayoux, 2003), and have been used effectively in the South
Pacific to understand the visualisation of environmental hazards (Cronin et al., 2004). The
resulting discussions were recorded in real time, and, in some cases, were held in the local
 Resilience and
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knowledge

311

Plate 3.
Q-sort activity

language and transcribed immediately with the assistance of a translator. The number of
participants varied between each of the focus groups (Table I).
3.2.2 Mobile phone based survey. This research used mobile phones to deliver
quantitative and qualitative questions regarding climate change perceptions to specific
groups in Samoa, Fiji and Vanuatu. Early applications of mobile and ICT-based methods
suggest potential for its use in climate change research in the Pacific (Wadley et al., 2014).
Such methods should ideally be twinned with participatory methods to ensure that cultural
aspects are accounted for, and are particularly suited as a “probe” approach; one that is used
as a means of gathering initial data which leads to further investigation, particularly
regarding values (Wadley et al., 2014). As far as the authors are aware, this was the first
(and so far only) use of such a method for gathering perceptual data in the South Pacific.
Participants self-selected and self-registered for the mobile survey via simple text
message (e.g. “text COM to 894”). This self-registration required a targeted promotion
strategy pursuing potential participants from the three groups. This included distributing
posters and emails with the help of the relevant government ministries, as well as a social
media campaign. The participants of the focus groups were also encouraged to publicise the
survey as widely as possible with colleagues in their profession. As opposed to the focus
groups (with between 9 and 37 participants in each), the mobile survey was open to as many
teachers, media personnel and communities in each country as possible.
Once registered, and depending on the specific group code received with registration,
participants were sent 12 text message questions. Aside from a number of key standard
questions, each set of questions was tailored to the group (e.g. teachers). Depending on the
mobile network, the question messages were either received sequentially via Short Message
Service (SMS) or all at once via Unstructured Supplementary Services Data (USSD), to which
participants replied via text message. The 12 messages contained concise and carefully
worded questions that were sent out in English and in the local language. The survey was
then “timed-out” if not completed in a certain time (2 weeks). Participation was free of
charge, and, as an incentive, participants were entered into a draw to win US$100 in mobile
phone credit upon successfully completing the survey.
The first message introduced the survey with a brief explanation that the survey was not
a test of knowledge, but instead aimed at gathering opinions. The first three standardised
questions were concerned with participant information (gender, age and community district/
IJCCSM teaching subject/media type). This was followed by questions gauging climate change
10,2 knowledge (e.g. what is the biggest climate change problem?), perceptions of personal risk
and vulnerability (e.g. how concerned are you about climate change?) and perceived ability
to act (e.g. do you think we can do anything about climate change?). These questions were
answered either by replying with a single character linked to multiple-choice options or by
replying with a single number on a Likert scale (for example, 1 representing “strongly
312 agree”, 5 as “strongly disagree”, 6 as “don’t know”). The final question was linked to
capacity building and asked respondents to type suggestions for what is required to
improve capacity (such as in media, “what would be the best thing to help build capacity in
the media?”). Once the survey closed, the data were aggregated and results that were clearly
erroneous or incomplete were removed. The remaining data sets were verified and validated
in an attempt to minimise the impact of demand characteristics by telephoning a number of
participants (the square root of N for each separate group in each country; Table I) and
orally asking the survey questions again to confirm authenticity and validate their results.
While every effort was made to reduce biases, it is acknowledged that any interaction
between “researchers” and “participants” (either by mobile or focus group) involves a
positionality which can influence results; consequently, the analysis of data resulting from
these methods should be not be treated as representative beyond this sample but instead
should be approached as an insight into perceptions. Moreover, as Table I shows, the
numbers of participants (total N:443) for each method, group and location varied
considerably. The exact total current number of teachers, media or communities (as defined
above) in each country is not available, and as such, it is not possible to provide an
indication of statistical representativeness. For example, in 2014, there were 984 secondary
school teachers in Samoa (UNESCO, 2014b) compared to this sample of 88 (33 in focus
groups and 55 by mobile survey). However, it is important to point out that not all teachers
actually teach climate change. As a result, the data should not be extrapolated or generalised
to represent any whole group, demographic or region. Instead it offers a “snap-shot” data
set, which can be analysed to derive lessons from these participants, which may be
suggestive of larger trends.

4. Results
Given the large amount of quantitative and qualitative data generated by this methodology,
the results will be detailed by key findings relevant to the scope of this paper and organised
by country and group. Therefore, each section does not necessarily detail all elements of
both methods (for full results, see UNESCO, 2014a).

4.1 Samoa
4.1.1 Teachers. Samoan teachers agreed that climate change was an important issue;
however, they also felt constrained by the lack of training, education and resources and,
therefore, felt unable to communicate climate change to their pupils effectively. As a result,
teachers identified training as a high priority. Specifically, 65 per cent (N: 36) of teachers in
the mobile survey felt that training and workshops for teachers would be the best solution to
enable effective teaching about climate change, and that such workshops or training should
be in both Samoan and English, locally contextualized and should involve outdoor
experiments and fieldtrips to connect scientific theory with local impacts and realities.
It was also expressed that education in schools needed to be streamlined with broader
education initiatives outside of school, within families and communities. The focus groups
particularly expressed that students should be engaged at an early age and climate change
should be fully integrated into the curriculum of appropriate subjects, with key teaching
points linked to climate change in others subjects. In the mobile survey, when asked which Resilience and
subject climate change should be included in, 41 per cent (N: 22) of teachers sampled felt it climate
should be integrated in all subjects, 33 per cent (N: 18) felt it should be part of geography,
and only 17 per cent (N: 9) believed it should be taught in sciences.
knowledge
The mobile survey also asked whether teaching about climate change was a priority, and 94
per cent of teachers responded “yes, a lot” or “yes, somewhat”. Furthermore, in response to the
mobile question “do you feel you understand climate change?”, 85 per cent (N: 47) of teachers
responded “yes, somewhat” or “yes, a lot”. Similarly, 98 per cent (N:54) also answered “yes” or 313
“yes somewhat” to “are you concerned about climate change”. The Samoan teachers that
expressed higher concern in climate change also expressed a desire to deal with or respond to
climate change on an individual level, indicated by responses to a question regarding how they
dealt with climate change., In an attempt to understand perceptions of the ability to act, the
mobile survey asked teachers, “Do you think we can do anything to deal with climate change?”
While most teachers responded that something could be done, 7 per cent (N: 4) of teachers in
Samoa responded that the process of climate change cannot be influenced.
4.1.2 Media. Participants in the media focus group felt there was a tension between their
professional role and obligation to inform the public about climate change, and the general
disinterest of the public in climate change stories, when compared with other topics.
Consequently, just over half of the media respondents (55 per cent/N: 6) of the mobile survey
felt that public education and awareness raising would be the best solution for
communicating climate change. This also led to the suggestion that a major issue for
communicating climate change in Samoa is the inability to connect it to personal interests in
a way that resonates with the general public. Consequently, a perceived solution was the
communication of climate change stories using local and personal contexts, as opposed to
the “dry” negotiations, science and acronyms. Television and radio were perceived as the
two primary media for reaching audiences to communicate climate change issues.
4.1.3 Communities. In both communities (Sapapali’i and A’opo), community members
perceived that “extreme” meteorological events and changes in weather (such as increasing
temperatures) were the largest local climate change issues. Both Samoan communities also
attributed various issues and challenges to climate change that were not, in the scientific
sense, connected to anthropogenic climate change, such as economic concerns, and the use of
chemicals in agriculture. According to the communities, the solution to these issues is the
provision of development assistance by external actors, particularly financial aid.
The mobile survey found that two-thirds of community members sampled believe that
climate change was either human induced, or partly human induced and partly natural. In terms
of importance, climate change was ranked equally with economic and livelihood concerns. The
mobile survey also replicated the perceived solution of external financial assistance, in addition to
local education and community based initiatives. The results suggest that Samoan communities
largely perceive climate change as real and having a tangible local impact. However, there was a
broad range of perceived levels of concern and understanding of climate change, and predictably
those who saw themselves as personally threatened were more likely to take action (although
high perceived threat levels were not a prerequisite for taking action).

4.2 Fiji
4.2.1 Teachers. Fijian teachers identified a lack of local examples with which to demonstrate
impacts of climate change or practical applications for classroom lessons as the primary
issue with teaching climate change. Consequently, community-based workshops were seen
as a solution, not only to locally contextualise lessons about climate change but also because
it was highlighted that students did not necessarily “believe” in climate change, and this
IJCCSM disinterest was a barrier to learning. Further, teachers felt that the curriculum did not
10,2 adequately integrate climate change, and that this should be achieved by including it only in
one subject (as opposed to mainstreamed across all subject), and by starting climate change
education in primary school.
4.2.2 Media. Fijian media regard the climate change information they receive as too
technical and remote, and difficult to translate into Fijian, and as a result, it is rarely translated
314 at all, resulting in a lack of understanding by communities. The media also felt there was an
over saturation of both similar and conflicting information from a large number of sources.
Media suggested the need for better co-ordination across agencies (including government and
NGOs) and media types (radio, print media, television and online) with frequent networking to
ensure consistency. The media also proposed connecting the inaccessible technical and global
climate change information with local realities and practices by showing local climate change
impacts, which would generate content that communities could relate to.
4.2.3 Communities. The community at Navutulevu perceived that climate change is
making them increasingly vulnerable to the impact of tropical cyclones, and the weather
patterns they are experiencing are changing and becoming increasingly more variable. As a
result, the communities were taking steps such as planting mangroves to strengthen shorelines
and protect from storm surges. While the community perceived that humans were causing
climate change, they also perceived human capacity on a local scale as a solution to climate
change impacts and did not believe that climate change was “out of their hands”. This partly
explains why higher levels of concern correlated with taking action on climate change (as
opposed to a reaction of despair leading to inaction); however, men were more likely to take
action when compared with women, the reasons for this were not clear from the data.
Moreover, the men who felt the most threatened by climate change also thought that actions
were available to respond to that threat. However, while technology was seen as a potential
solution, the community did not feel they had adequate access or understanding to harness
technology as a solution. Consequently, further education was also highlighted as a solution.

4.3 Vanuatu
4.3.1 Teachers. The teachers in the focus group in Port Vila viewed that the curriculum was
lacking in terms of its coverage of climate change, and this was a major barrier to teaching
climate change, as teachers were uncertain where to place materials within the existing
subjects, and resources were not allocated. The teachers sampled were particularly
interested in the possibility of, and methods for, integrating traditional knowledge and
culture with scientific methods and lessons. Like the teachers in Fiji, those in Vanuatu
believed that climate change education should start in primary school; however in contrast
to Fiji, they believed that climate change lessons should be mainstreamed into all lessons
and subjects, and that teachers should play a role in developing these materials via the
sharing of best practices.
The mobile survey uncovered a divide between the priority given to teaching climate
change, with half saying they only prioritised it “a little” and the other half saying that they
prioritised it “somewhat” or “a lot”. Despite this, the majority of teachers sampled felt that
they can and must do something about climate change.
4.3.2 Media. The Ni-Vanuatu media perceived themselves as ineffective in
communicating climate change; however, they also felt they should take a leading role in
raising awareness and believed that as climate change was a relatively new subject, they
required training to achieve this. Similar to the other media focus groups, the Ni-Vanuatu
media saw a potential solution in making the science and impacts of climate change easier to
understand by contextualising and grounding it locally, particularly by using local
examples. Including the media in CCA activities from the offset (as opposed to a media Resilience and
release at the conclusion) was also perceived as a strategy that would help the media report climate
more effectively. The mobile survey demonstrated that the media felt the information
provided to them was too technical and frequently inaccessible. This also explains why, in
knowledge
response to a subsequent mobile survey question about whether climate change was
understood, half the respondents answered “somewhat” with the other half split between
“very little” and “very well”.
4.3.3 Communities. The Vanuatu community focus group was held at Laonamoa village 315
at the heart of the Nguna-Pele marine reserve (see www.marineprotectedarea.com.vu), north
of Efate Island. As a result, it is not surprising that the community prioritised the protection
of natural resources as a key issue, particularly for food security and livelihoods. The
community also repeatedly highlighted the capacity of traditional knowledge as a
component of their livelihoods and its application in responding to challenges such as
climate change (among others). However, this capacity of traditional knowledge is perceived
as being underutilised and neglected by external stakeholders, particularly those who
conduct “climate change training”. The community also pointed to the unprecedented nature
of changes in the climate and environment as challenging the boundaries of traditional
knowledge (for example in regard to seasonal timings of agricultural cycles) and therefore
that climate change might potentially erode traditional knowledge. While the mobile survey
showed that most community members felt concerned about climate change, it also
uncovered a split in priorities, with half the respondents prioritising education and the
economy as the most pressing issue. Regardless, the majority of respondents felt threatened
by climate change and most also reported already having taken steps to adapt.
As mentioned above, these data can neither be treated as representative of these groups
or nations as a whole nor should they be summarised in unity. This sample clearly shows
considerable differences in the identification and prioritisation of climate change problems
and solutions. For example, 9 per cent (N: 10) of mobile survey respondents in Samoa
perceived tsunamis as a climate change problem and 6 per cent (N: 7) perceived earthquakes
as such. In Fiji, the figures were 1 per cent (N: 1) and 3 per cent (N: 2), respectively.
Conversely, in Vanuatu, tsunamis and earthquakes were not seen as climate change
problem.

5. Discussion
While there is a general agreement that climate change is a human induced problem and a
threat to society, it is clear that there is considerable inter-group and country diversity in
perceptions of climate change. This diversity is problematic to integrate into top-down
policy-led interventions, particularly those that are multi-national in scale. The diversity of
perceptions shows that countries and subdivisions within them should not be viewed
collectively or as in unity. The diverse perceptions demonstrated by this research also
included a number of conflicting and contradictory perceptions within groups, and complete
agreement on any single discussion within the focus groups was rare. This lack of
agreement regarding issues and solutions is often smoothed over, as communities are
uncritically approached in adaptation programming (Cannon, 2008); consequently, this
research suggests that communities should not be portrayed in overly romantic terms which
neglect to consider the social divisions within (Forsyth, 2013).
Furthermore, the research has revealed that teachers, media and particularly communities
often prioritise other concerns such as poverty, livelihoods and food security, over climate
change. This has been remarked upon before in the South Pacific, particularly for subsistence
livelihood reliant communities (Iati, 2008; Nunn, 2012). However, this is rarely accounted for in
IJCCSM CCA planning, with programs instead didactically passing down directives and “crowding out”
10,2 issues which are perceived as greater local concerns (Baldacchino and Kelman, 2014). These
divergent priorities illustrate the importance of empowerment, and that for communities in the
South Pacific to make informed decisions requires access to appropriate resources (Betzold,
2015). Simply put, CCA should be done by communities, not on communities (Barnett, 2008,
p. 45). It also adds to the assertion that broader climate change thinking fails to acknowledge
316 the diverse experience of climate risks, or the contested nature of many proposed solutions;
therefore, discussions about climate action should be based on this diversity of perceived risks
and solutions (Forsyth, 2014).
This research also illustrates the artificial nature of the division between DRR and CCA
interventions, given that climate change is increasingly being used as a catch all phrase for
assigning blame for a range of disasters, including tsunamis (a trend noted by Mercer, 2010;
Kelman et al., 2015).
Moreover, the majority of the participants studied in this research agree that something
can be done at a local scale in response to the impacts of climate change. This capacity to
respond and adapt, as well as the historical context of South Pacific island societies
successfully overcoming past changes, is neglected in the prevalent discourse about
vulnerable islands, in which islanders are passive and “doomed” (Farbotko, 2010). The
results of this research suggest that to prepare and implement suitable strategies (either for
climate change or other initiatives), the specific socio-cultural context and the key challenges
to addressing adaptation and resilience within this context should be further investigated
and better understood. Finally, this research offers a number of lessons in terms of its
innovative methodology, and particularly, the potential of mobile technology to deliver
survey data. There are several clear advantages to this method, given the often disparate
and isolated nature of communities in the South Pacific. Fiji for example has over 100
inhabited islands spread over three million square kilometres, and mobile technology has
proliferated rapidly and widely in the Pacific (Duffield et al., 2008). While internet-based
surveys were considered (and may be more appropriate in the future), the penetration
offered by mobile phones is unparalleled, particularly among the older demographic and in
more remote areas which might not yet have access to smartphones or internet-enabled
devices. There are also clearly limitations and prerequisites necessary to consider with this
approach, several of which were demonstrated in this first application. This includes the
importance of extensive publicity to ensure adequate participant registration, considering
the multiple possible interpretations of such short survey questions between and within
groups, the issues with language translations and methodological issues such as the risk of
participants contributing random answers or demand characteristics. However, these issues
are surmountable with careful analysis and verification of the data and, particularly, when
twinned with other methods for means of triangulation. Therefore, this “probe” application
suggests that with careful design and support, mobile technology can be used, not only for
human-centred climate research in the Pacific region but also to improve the wider efficiency
and support of climate change programmes (Wadley et al., 2014).

6. Conclusion
Regardless of the mitigation actions that result from the 2015 UNFCCC policy processes and
the Paris Agreement, significant and sustained adaptation will be required in the South
Pacific. To design effective adaptation strategies, it has been repeatedly demonstrated that
the perceptions of the communities at risk must be considered, otherwise adaptation is likely
to fail. This study shows empirical evidence that there is a dissonance in the diverse way
teachers, the media and communities perceive and relate to climate change in the South
Pacific. This encompasses issues, solutions, personal vulnerability and comprehension of Resilience and
science among other factors (UNESCO, 2014a). However, there is also common ground in climate
perceptions that climate change is due to human activities and is already having tangible
effects. The groups studied largely perceive that something can be done about climate
knowledge
change, and perhaps most importantly, the majority also felt that actions, lessons and
communication about climate change and adaptation should be locally grounded and
contextualised, including the use of traditional knowledge where possible.
These findings, particularly the diversity of perceptions, are at odds with the prevalent 317
top-down adaptation approaches and education policies, which do not adequately account
for these differences and similarities. Regional education programs have been adopted
which directly recommend empowering communities in the South Pacific by the use of
locally relevant and culturally appropriate climate change education (UNESCO, 2006) and,
more recently, the importance of integrating climate change into the curriculum for both
DRR and CCA (SPC, 2012). However, there remains a considerable gap between these
statements and their actual implementation (Walid, 2017). At the heart of these issues is the
struggle to reconcile the mass produced and “one-size-fits-all” adaptation strategies, with the
diverse, local and cultural understanding and experience of climate change (Glantz, 1988;
Hulme, 2016). Therefore, further research should be aimed at better understanding the
influence of culture and cultural practices on these perceptions.
The mixed methodology approach deployed by this research combined technological
innovation (particularly the application of mobile technology) with human/social
approaches to provide empirical evidence of local perceptions. This also suggests its
potential as an efficient and effective approach to design and support adaptation strategies.

7. Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank Sue Vize, Kevin Petrini, Anne Meldau, Leauga Tamasoalii
Saivaise, Tapu Tuailmafu, Cathy Nunn, Christopher Bartlett, Filomena Nelson, Ali Hobbs
and Carol Young. Institutions which provided support included: In Samoa, the Ministry of
Education, Sports and Culture (MESC), the Global Climate Change Alliance (GCCA) of the
University of the South Pacific (USP) and the Journalists Association of Samoa (JAWS). In
Fiji, the Department of Environment, the Ministry of Education, Natural Heritage, Culture
and Arts, the Ministry of Information and National Archives and Vodafone Fiji. In Vanuatu,
the Ministry of Education, Vanuatu National Advisory Board on Climate Change and
Disaster Risk Reduction, the Vanuatu Cultural Centre and the Media Association of Vanuatu
(MAV). Thanks are also owed to all colleagues at UNESCO Apia Office for the Pacific States,
and Apidae Development Innovations Pty Ltd. The national maps for this publication were
kindly produced and provided by the University of Melbourne cartographer. Finally to all
the participants, vinaka vaka levu, tank yu tumas and fa’afetai tele lava.
Research funding: The funding for this project was provided by the United Nations
Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

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Further reading
Farbotko, C. and Lazrus, H. (2012), “The first climate refugees? Contesting global narratives of climate
change in Tuvalu”, Global Environmental Change, Vol. 22 No. 2, pp. 382-390.
Nunn, P.D., Runman, J., Falanruw, M. and Kumar, R. (2016), “Culturally grounded responses to coastal
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IJCCSM About the authors
10,2 Rory A. Walshe is a PhD Student at King’s College London, Department of Geography and the
University College London (UCL) Institute of Risk and Disaster Reduction (IRDR). His research
interest is community resilience and vulnerability on small island developing states. This
particularly includes the integration of local knowledge and culture within disaster risk reduction
and climate change adaptation. His current research investigates contemporary and historical
responses and perceptions of tropical cyclones in the Indian Ocean. Rory A. Walshe is the
322 corresponding author and can be contacted at: [email protected]
Denis Chang Seng currently works at the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of
UNESCO. He is a Programme Specialist working jointly in the Tsunami Unit and the Ocean
Observation and Services Section. In the tsunami unit, he is the Technical Secretary for the IOCs
Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Tsunami Early Warning and Mitigation System in the
North-eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean and connected seas (ICG/NEAMTWS). Previously, Denis
was a UNESCO’s Natural Science Programme Specialist for the Pacific Island States. He also worked
at the United Nations – Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) in Bonn,
Germany.
Adam Bumpus, BSc MA DPhil, is a Senior Lecturer in Environment, Innovation and Development,
Faculty of Science, University of Melbourne, Australia. His work focuses on the business and policy
pathways to a low carbon future including clean energy entrepreneurship, how mobile technologies
can make local development more effective and how local sustainability innovations can become
successful in the global economy.
Joelle Auffray is the Co-Founder and Director of Apidae Development Innovations Pty Ltd, a
strategic communications and creative agency for sustainable development. Since 2012, Joelle has led
climate change and sustainable development projects throughout the Asia-Pacific region, working
with organisations such as UNESCO, UNDP, UNISDR, SPREP, SPC, ITTO, GGGI and the World
Bank. Her expertise in community engagement, knowledge sharing, research and reporting and
communicating program impact on sustainable development outcomes, has supported the work of
intergovernmental organizations, government, donors and the private sector. She holds a master’s
degree in Global Media Communication at the University of Melbourne.

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