The Action Projects
Simply put, the Action Project is one of the main reasons the Study Internship exists! It is the work that you and your team will be undertaking and where your opportunity for innovation and collaboration lies. On this page, we’ll flesh out a little more what this means exactly…
Our Definition
An Action Project is a task that an organisation in Fiji has put forward for Think Pacific participants to work on. This may be a current challenge for the organisation where they would appreciate the efforts and ideas of international students to brainstorm and deliver proposal responses.
What the requested Action Project ends up being ultimately depends on the demands and suggestions of the organisations themselves… and it could anything that they want working on, there’s always a huge variety of tasks. It may involve marketing ideas (social media strategy, branding, etc.), it may be compiling data and producing a report or even designing funding proposals.
Despite the variety however, you can be certain that what you are working on is in the interest of boosting the capacity and the sustainable growth of the organisation. The completed project will be the resources created themselves (if necessary) and a short presentation to the organisation to walk them through what you have done and why. This can then be implemented at the organisation will, with parts of your projects potentially being implemented immediately and others potentially sparking ideas for further exploration.
How do we Receive the Action Project?
During your time working for the organisation in Fiji, you will be given a project brief. This is a short description of the task that you will be taking on. For example, here are some we’ve received in the past:
- Research interactive methods (means) to encourage cultural learning amongst young children.
- Create a strategic plan/financial projections for the new foundation arm will look after capacity building, training opportunities and startup incubation and support with a co-working space in future.
- Develop mental health and suicide prevention programs/projects for specific target groups
- Develop advocacy content and materials for tourism and resort operators to promote responsible tourism and protection of the reefs
- Etc.
Accompanying this brief will be resources that may support you in responding to the project. You will be able to communicate with the organisations if you require any further information during the tasks completion.
Your team will conduct the completion of the Action Project in small groups, collaboratively working towards creating as suitable a response as possible.
Where do They Come From?
Think Pacific has official MOU agreements with 4 Government Ministries and works closely with 70+ Fijian NGOs. After discussing with them on how we can best support their sustainable objectives, organisations may show the interest in being part of a program like the Study Internship.
Following this, we conduct discussions on what the nature of the work they would like completing is and if viable for a small team of students, we invite the project to take place. They propose the project, Think Pacific teams offer up innovation and responses.
Why are the Action Projects Important?
These Action Projects are a perfect opportunity for Think Pacific to act as a surplus of support for our partners. The organisations we work with are self-declared to be underfunded, under-resourced and under-staffed based on their own objectives. Recent COVID context also means that these already strained resources have been stretched as funding opportunities have shrunk due to government financing being redirected (rightly) to public health efforts.
The opportunity to receive the funding, time and ideas from Think Pacific participants allows projects that may have been on the back burner or pressing tasks that need completing to be tackled by a small team.
When Will you Find out Which Project you are Completing?
You will learn about which project you have been assigned to and which small group you will be a part of during the in-country briefing period of the Study Internship. Once you are aware, it will enrich the learning stage and cultural immersion phase as you know what you are working towards.