ReReflections on a Pacific regional event held in New Zealand: exploring best practice for serving Pacific communities

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to explore best practice, practical, collaborative and culturally-informed solutions for organising events to serve identified areas of importance for Pacific regional countries. This paper describes the design and implementation of a two-day hands-on workshop designed to support organizational capacity and strengthen innovation, solutions, and communication around mosquito-borne diseases in the Pacific region. The workshop (TechCamp New Zealand) was organised by the University of Otago in collaboration with the U.S. Consulate General New Zealand and with support from the Pacific Community. We share our experiences with the objective of supporting partnership approaches by governments, research institutions and other non-profit organisations when engaging with Pacific countries.