European Consortium for Pacific Studies
The Centre for Pacific Studies played a key part in the initiation of a European Consortium for Pacific Studies [ECOPAS] and in the engagement with the European Union at a large international conference in St Andrews in 2010. EU representatives called for a European social science and humanities research network and research-policy interfaces to better inform its understanding and activities in the Pacific.
ECOPAS has been awarded a €1.5m FP7 coordination and support action, with the St Andrews component being €350k and involving the central work of creating knowledge exchange platforms. With two key Pacific partner institutions, and having launched at the European Parliament on March 20th, ECOPAS is the first time the EU has ever funded social science researchers to advise on global climate change.