Governance

The Executive Board meets virtually four times a year and is responsible for :

• Monitor progress. The Executive Board oversees the performance measurement plan to ensure continuous progress of all activities.
• Ensure open and two-way communication. The Executive Board ensures that monthly project meetings take place and are based on a two-way discussion that fosters respectful communication between team members located in different countries and institutions and thus facilitates project management. Researchers and students present their work to ensure knowledge sharing and transparency amongst project team members. The Executive Board encourages solidarity and intellectual debates between project team members and cultivates a learning environment where everyone feels comfortable to ask questions, explain their approach, and provide comments and suggestions.
• Recruit students and manage funds. The Executive Board is responsible for ensuring equity throughout the student recruitment procedure and the management of funds. Considering the size of the project, funding might be redirected according to the context and the needs of the project.
• Inform the plenary commission. The Executive Board writes to the Plenary Commission at least twice a year to inform on the project’s progress and challenges, to gather feedback from the project team and collaborators, and to address and solve potential issues. Student projects are documented through extended summaries.

The members of the Executive Board are :

William Nasak, General director, Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, wnasak@vanuatu.gov.vu

Florent Barbecot, professor, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, UQAM, Canada, barbecot.florent@uqam.ca

Philip Brunner, professor, Centre for Hydrogeology and Geothermics, University of Neuchatel, Switzerland, philip.brunner@unine.ch

Richard Shing, Director, Vanuatu Cultural Center, shingr@vanuatu.gov.vu

Marie-Claude Savart, professor, École des sciences de la gestion, UQAM, Canada,
savard.marie_claude@uqam.ca

Krishna Kumar Kotra, lecturer in Biological and Chemical Sciences, University of South Pacific, krishna.kotra@usp.ac.fj

The Plenary Commission includes all team members. Plenary sessions are held at the project launch and, to promote in-person participation, during the three visits in Vanuatu. Students and research staff present short progress reports. A project wrap-up presentation provides helpful insights for the future application of project results for all participants and stakeholders.