Tā te heamana | Message from Professor Robyn Longhurst
Professor Robyn Longhurst FRSNZ shares her foreword as Academy Executive Committee Domain Convenor – Social and Behavioural Sciences.
It’s my pleasure as a member of the Academy Executive Committee (AEC) to share with you some of the activities that have been underway of late.
By way of international engagement, Royal Society Te Apārangi has been collaborating with the Royal Society of Canada and the Australian Academy of Science on the Trilateral Partnership on Indigenous Engagement. This event is part of a series of events in which the achievements of Indigenous scholars and scientists of the member academies and their respective territories will be shared and celebrated. The Royal Society of Canada has agreed to host the first event in Vancouver in November 2024, Royal Society Te Apārangi will host the next event in Aotearoa New Zealand in 2025, and the Australian Academy of Science will host the third event in Australia in 2026.
On the home front, the AEC has been drafting a response to the second phase of the University Advisory Group consultation. Clearly, we are not attempting to express the views of all the Academy’s Fellowship necessarily, but we do see this as an opportunity to provide at least some insight on the issues of quality assurance and policy setting in relation to teaching, research and knowledge transfer.
Another stream of work, and a highlight for me, has been developing a mentoring programme for Fellows and the Society’s Early Career Researchers. Members of the AEC have had several useful exchanges on the pros and cons of the different mentoring programmes. As someone who has long been involved in mentoring, I am a keen advocate of good programmes, especially for individuals and groups who’ve traditionally been underserved by the organisations they are part of.
Finally, I am pleased to report that Fellow Steven Ratuva has been doing excellent work developing a new Pacific Academy which is set to be launched on 23 October 2024 in Samoa alongside the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. The Academy will promote the study and application of the natural and social sciences, the humanities, indigenous knowledge, and technology for the benefit of the Pacific Islands region and beyond. There has been a call for nominations for the Academy’s first Foundation Fellows to form the inaugural Council of the Academy.
I appreciate this opportunity to share some of the recent work of the AEC and look forward to further engagement with Fellows soon.
Robyn Longhurst FRSNZ
Domain Convenor – Social and Behavioural Sciences