Crew.one Talanoa – Failed Funding Application

Crew.one is a sustainable ocean research talanoa/hui (conference) to be held in Fiji in February 2017. The event will draw together an international group of cultural, scientific, academic, maritime and environmental organisations and individuals to discuss sustainable sea research in the context of Pacific sea faring culture.

The Talanoa was initiated to provide context for an international research initiative Ohanda.One, which is seeking to build a sustainable sea transport research vessel and mobile collaborative working space. The Talanoa will host the initial meeting of the Ohanda.One research group and establish the Kaupapa of the project.

The Talanoa is to be hosted at University of the South Pacific and is the continuation of a successful series of sustainable sea transport events from 2012 and 2014.

The Talanoa brings together 3 groups. Firstly sustainable sea transport experts drawn from the regional sailing for sustainability network, as well as international practitioners in the field. Secondly Open Knowledge experts drawn from the Global Open Science Hardware movement and leading European institutions. Thirdly digital arts practitioners drawn from the Ada and Anat networks. The Talanoa seeks to create a productive interdisciplinary dialogue between these three main groups to explore open knowledge in sustainable sea transport.

The Talanoa has 4 primary objectives.

1. Strengthen existing Pacific networks on sustainable sea transport.

The Talanoa gathers regional and international actors in sustainable sea transport and continues a series of events previously hosted at USP in 2012 and 2014. As a number of large scale sustainable sea transport projects are set to get underway in the Pacific this year, it is an opportune moment to raise public discussion and debate. As well as strengthening this network the meeting is timed to precede the meeting of Pacific Maritime Ministers meeting in Tonga in April 2017.

2. Establish the Kaupapa of the Ohanda.One project.

The Ohanda.one facility is conceived as an international research platform for the creative solutions required for addressing the current crises of our oceans within open knowledge systems. Crew.one is an inaugural meeting which will congregate project partners and invited participants to establish the kaupapa of the project Ohanda.One. The participants will engage in a hui/talanoa (listening and engagement process) with the result being a formal agreement and process for developing Ohanda.one. Within the field of sustainable sea transport, the Pacific is a unique environment and one that is one of the most affected by climate change globally. At the same time the Pacific maritime industry faces unique challenges as a result of large distances, relatively small volumes and diesel dependence. As a result the Pacific is fast becoming a test bed for novel sustainable sea transport approaches and so it is an ideal place to locate a new initiative such as Ohanda.One that can bring a range of international nterest to the region. We will invite potential participants and backers of Ohanda.One to participate in the Talanoa.

3. Developing Open Knowledge approaches to sustainable sea transport.
The Ohanda.One project was first initiated at the Gathering for Open Science Hardware at CERN in March 2016. It gathers together strong voices from the Open Science community such as the CERN Citizen Cyberlab to deepen the understanding of open knowledge as it relates to Ocean issues. An online documentation and publication process of the Talanoa will be undertaken using collaborative authoring techniques Ada has successfully used to produce their recent publication A Transitional Imaginary.

4. Explore Contemporary Digital Practice in context of sustainable sea transport.
The stories and cultural engagements around environmental issues have the ability to bring discourse of
sustainability issues to a wider audience as well as locating new practices in a historical cultural context. Ada and Anat have wide experience of engaging with this methodology in the context of digital and environmental art. The Talanoa will therefore invite artists working with Digital and post digital media from the Ada and Anat networks to present relevant works that respond to the themes of the conference. Artists will be chosen from an open call and direct approaches.
The following outcomes are sought.
• Interdisciplinary network established
• Preparations for Ministers meeting completed
• Kaupapa of Crew.One and next steps established.
• Documentation published.
• Art works presented.

[…]

Crew.one connects with 3 of the strategic priorities (of the six Strategic Priorities of the New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO) directly and additionally has a strong sustainability focus.

The event program is interdisciplinary and has tracks that cover the science of sustainable sea transport, cultures of sustainable sea transport, history of sustainable sea transport and solutions of sustainable sea transport.

The project creates inter-cultural dialogue between pacific cultural partners and international participants by hosting a Talanoa that brings together local regional and international participants on the agenda of sustainable sea transport.

The Ohanda.One project itself is an Open Source projects that focuses on open knowledge and in creating networks and knowledge that can be freely exchanged. This approach is strongly represented by the Open Science, Open Knowledge, Open Hardware approaches that are becoming preferred approaches for all publicly funded research.