Gender equality and climate justice are inextricably linked. Yet, we will be unable to understand and respond to the full scale and depth of their interconnection if knowledge production does not bridge three key divides: 1) gender equality policy versus climate change policy; 2) arts and social sciences versus STEM research; and 3) activist versus academic spaces.

The Activist-Academic Alliances for Gender and Climate Justice (AAAGCJ) project seeks to challenge and disrupt unhelpful distinctions between the university as a ‘traditional’ site of knowledge production on the one hand; and on the other, that non-government organisations (NGOs) or activist movements are advocacy spaces ‘only’.

Building on the intersectional frameworks and methodologies developed by Pacific movements co-led by DIVA for Equality (Fiji), the project aims to nurture networks as basis for sustained dialogue and collaboration, and where diverse academic and activist perspectives and practices are equally valued for concretely identifying areas of policy response, reform and influence.

Join us for the project launch and opening dialogue, exploring why activist-academic collaboration is essential to advancing gender equality and climate justice.

Speakers

Noelene Nabulivou is a co-founder and International Adviser of DIVA for Equality and the new Strategic Analysis, Advocacy and Movement Building Adviser for Pacific Island Feminist Alliance for Climate Justice (PIFA4CJ). Noelene is also Co-Chair for the Oceania Pacific Regional Steering Committee for Women Deliver 2026 #WD2026. She works with CSOs, development agencies and governments throughout the region and globally. Noelene has degrees in peacebuilding and international relations, and a diploma in Community Arts Management. She is well-known for cross-cutting work across feminist approaches to climate, DRR and ecological justice, SRHR, peacebuilding and more.

Viva Tatawaqa is a longtime grassroots feminist mobiliser and organizer in Fiji and the Pacific. In addition to her role with DIVA for Equality in Fiji, she is also the founder with other local LGBTI activists, of an innovative peer-based support group on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), mental health and wellbeing and a key activist in the Pacific Feminist SRHR Coalition among many other networks. Addressing injustices and discrimination of all kinds has always been Viva’s challenge and joy, and being part of feminist organizing is an empowering experience in her life and work.

Emily Rudland (she/her) manages the Inclusion and Equality Fund in the Gender Equality Disability and Social Inclusion Branch at the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Announced by Foreign Minister Wong in 2023, the Inclusion and Equality Fund supports LGBTQIA+ civil society and international networks. Dr Rudland has worked on Australia’s international development program since 2008, specialising in Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion, aid performance and evaluation. Dr Rudland was awarded a PhD in Political Science and International Relations from the Australian National University.

Simon Niemeyer is Professor and co-founder of the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at University of Canberra. His research in the field of deliberative democracy seeks to understand the nature of reasoning under deliberative conditions and how it can be achieved to inform the design of deliberative institutions at small and large scale. Niemeyer completed his PhD at the Australian National University in 2002, which followed undergraduate studies in ecology, economics, and environmental policy (Griffith University). Since graduating, he has acted as chief investigator on over 20 large research projects and has held research positions at the Uppsala University, University of Birmingham, Cambridge University and CSIRO.

Chair: Maria Tanyag is an Associate Professor in the Department of International Relations, Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs and an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow.

This research is supported by the Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Award (DE240101244) and ANU Gender Institute Enhancing Gender Justice through Transdisciplinary Research grant.

Contact the host of Activist-Academic Alliances for Gender and Climate Justice: Project Launch and Opening Dialogue