360 International programme recognised for innovation in diversity
9 June 2020
The University of Auckland’s 360 International programme has been nominated for the GoAbroad Innovation Awards 2020, as a finalist in the Innovation in Diversity category.
360 International, the University of Auckland’s initiative to give students overseas study opportunities, has a focus on ensuring equal access to learning abroad for a wide variety of communities including LGBTQITakatāpui+, students with diverse abilities, Māori and Pasifika students, and others.
The GoAbroad Innovation Awards nomination recognises these efforts to expand international education opportunities to traditionally underrepresented groups.
In January 2020, the 360 International team organised Indigenous Rights & History in Brazil: A Panorama of Communities in the Atlantic Forest, a fully-funded four week study tour to Brazil. Two years in the making, the initiative was designed to offer a gateway to outbound mobility for Māori and Pasifika students across a range of faculties, and to connect New Zealand’s future leaders with indigenous communities of the Amazon rainforest.
All of the knowledge and connections I have made and learnt here have been so informative, immersive and enriching for me as an artist and as a Samoan-Māori wāhine on my own journey of self-discovery.
More than 100 University of Auckland students applied for the programme, with ten successful students selected. For some of them, it would be their first time leaving the shores of Aotearoa. The group was accompanied by Anahera Morehu, who acted as kaiārahi for the students.
One of the participants, Dance Studies student Chas Samoa, reflected on how the trip provided a safe and immersive space for her to explore her identity as well as her creative practice.
“I am a developing Indigenous/Pasifika artist. Being able to make connections has helped me to understand the similarities we share as Indigenous; but also our differences coming from completely different parts of the world. All of the knowledge and connections I have made and learnt here have been so informative, immersive and enriching for me as an artist and as a Samoan-Māori wāhine on my own journey of self-discovery.”
From cosy hostel lodgings to drenched forest paths, the trip took students on a journey that would forge lifelong friendships and ignite a passion for the environment, sustainability, community and culture.
The programme aimed to strengthen understanding of and pride in Tikanga Māori, which enriches our campus and is fundamental to our identities as New Zealanders. Tikanga Māori offers myriad ways for Kiwi students to frame learning, communication and politics, and is a powerful tool to help them find effective, sustainable responses to the challenges posed by our globalised world.
The trip was run by Campus B, an international education facilitator, and funded by the Prime Minister’s Scholarships for Latin America, a government student mobility scheme designed to build lasting cultural, economic and people-to-people connections between New Zealand and Latin America.