title: Vā and Veitapui as decolonial potential: ongoing Talatalanoa and re-imagining Doctoral being and becoming

authors: Fa'avae, David Taufui Mkiato

abstract: Ko e taumuʻa ʻo e tohi ni ke tau talatalanoa fekauʻaki moe vā moe veitapui. This chapter is centered on vā and veitapui, Tongan concepts grounded in Indigenous Pacific philosophies linked to relational spaces. I articulate how the decolonial potentialities of doctoral being and becoming require intimate navigation and negotiation, highlighting the fluid, rich, and nuanced knowledges within vā and veitapui. Doctoral writing, as understood within vā and veitapui, provided a critical space for me to legitimize and value Indigenous Pacific thought in relation to dominant western knowledge. By employing Tongan concepts, I share how, through doctoral learning and writing, the encounters and experiences strengthened and affirmed my fatongia— an obligation and responsibility to honour and safeguard our cultural knowledges. For me, engaging in my own doctoral writing project was a matter of socio–political struggle and epistemic disobedience, because the academic traditions linked to perceived “proper” writing conventions were not what I adhered to in my own doctoral writing (McDowall & Ramos, 2017). In this chapter, I share how the concepts of vā and veitapui aided me in uncovering time-spaces within doctoral learning and education, and I re-imagine how Tongan ideas, language, and practices could be re-presented through writing.

text: Vā and Veitapui as decolonial potential: ongoing Talatalanoa and re-imagining Doctoral being and becoming Ko e taumuʻa ʻo e tohi ni ke tau talatalanoa fekauʻaki moe vā moe veitapui. This chapter is centered on vā and veitapui, Tongan concepts grounded in Indigenous Pacific philosophies linked to relational spaces. I articulate how the decolonial potentialities of doctoral being and becoming require intimate navigation and negotiation, highlighting the fluid, rich, and nuanced knowledges within vā and veitapui. Doctoral writing, as understood within vā and veitapui, provided a critical space for me to legitimize and value Indigenous Pacific thought in relation to dominant western knowledge. By employing Tongan concepts, I share how, through doctoral learning and writing, the encounters and experiences strengthened and affirmed my fatongia— an obligation and responsibility to honour and safeguard our cultural knowledges. For me, engaging in my own doctoral writing project was a matter of socio–political struggle and epistemic disobedience, because the academic traditions linked to perceived “proper” writing conventions were not what I adhered to in my own doctoral writing (McDowall & Ramos, 2017). In this chapter, I share how the concepts of vā and veitapui aided me in uncovering time-spaces within doctoral learning and education, and I re-imagine how Tongan ideas, language, and practices could be re-presented through writing.

year: 2021-08-23

title: Community-Based Tourism Development in Long Lan Village, Luang Prabang, Laos

authors: Phillips, Laura Elizabeth

abstract: This thesis reports on research that was conducted from July to September 2014 in the village of Long Lan in Northern Laos into the potential for a community based, community operated, and community controlled ethnic-ecological-tourism enterprise. 
Long Lan is a White Hmong village located in a mountainous area 40 km northeast of Luang Prabang. They were traditional shifting cultivators growing rice and corn for subsistence and opium poppies for the production of opium as a cash crop. In 1999, however, the Lao government banned both shifting cultivation and opium production, presenting Long Lan with a serious livelihood challenge. In the same year, the Centre for Ecological Studies of Highlands (CHESH), a sister organization of the Vietnamese NGO the Social Policy Ecology Research Institute (SPERI), began working with Long Lan on a programme of Culture Based Sustainable Community Development aimed at developing the customary forms of leadership, governance, and ownership of territory in order for Long Lan inhabitants to maintaining their own spiritual values towards nature and their own customary ways of governing their community and natural resources.
As part of the overall village development plan, the objective of the current research was to gain an understanding of potential benefits, pitfalls and challenges involved in operating a community-based ethnic tourism enterprise in Long Lan village, and to gather information useful in aiding in the possible development of an endogenous, community-based tourism venture owned and operated by the people of Long Lan. Thirty-two semi-structured interviews were conducted with Long Lan residents to ascertain their knowledge and understanding of tourism activities and their possible impact. These views were analysed and fed back to the village in research feedback meetings together with recommendations by the research team. 
The research is placed within the context of a critical review of ethnic tourism Thailand and Laos.

text: Community-Based Tourism Development in Long Lan Village, Luang Prabang, Laos This thesis reports on research that was conducted from July to September 2014 in the village of Long Lan in Northern Laos into the potential for a community based, community operated, and community controlled ethnic-ecological-tourism enterprise. 
Long Lan is a White Hmong village located in a mountainous area 40 km northeast of Luang Prabang. They were traditional shifting cultivators growing rice and corn for subsistence and opium poppies for the production of opium as a cash crop. In 1999, however, the Lao government banned both shifting cultivation and opium production, presenting Long Lan with a serious livelihood challenge. In the same year, the Centre for Ecological Studies of Highlands (CHESH), a sister organization of the Vietnamese NGO the Social Policy Ecology Research Institute (SPERI), began working with Long Lan on a programme of Culture Based Sustainable Community Development aimed at developing the customary forms of leadership, governance, and ownership of territory in order for Long Lan inhabitants to maintaining their own spiritual values towards nature and their own customary ways of governing their community and natural resources.
As part of the overall village development plan, the objective of the current research was to gain an understanding of potential benefits, pitfalls and challenges involved in operating a community-based ethnic tourism enterprise in Long Lan village, and to gather information useful in aiding in the possible development of an endogenous, community-based tourism venture owned and operated by the people of Long Lan. Thirty-two semi-structured interviews were conducted with Long Lan residents to ascertain their knowledge and understanding of tourism activities and their possible impact. These views were analysed and fed back to the village in research feedback meetings together with recommendations by the research team. 
The research is placed within the context of a critical review of ethnic tourism Thailand and Laos.

year: 2015

title: Takitoru: creative practice toward the development of a trilingual dramaturgical kaupapa

authors: Lodge, Alexandra Rose Pittaway

subjects: theatre

abstract: I have focused on writing a play in the three languages of Aotearoa: New Zealand Sign Language, te reo Māori, and NZ English. Through the development of this script with three actors I have found techniques for performance and workshopping to encourage multilingual creative practice for a playwright. Through case studies of playwrights doing similar work at an international level, I have synthesised analytical and creative research into a final script and summary of my dramaturgical findings.
Through creative practice in scriptwriting and developmental workshops, this research explores what story-telling modes, devices or styles seem particularly apt for conveying an inclusive and engaging trilingual narrative on stage.
This specifically involves developing a dramaturgical set of insights for others who may want to do cross-language performance in Aotearoa.

text: Takitoru: creative practice toward the development of a trilingual dramaturgical kaupapa I have focused on writing a play in the three languages of Aotearoa: New Zealand Sign Language, te reo Māori, and NZ English. Through the development of this script with three actors I have found techniques for performance and workshopping to encourage multilingual creative practice for a playwright. Through case studies of playwrights doing similar work at an international level, I have synthesised analytical and creative research into a final script and summary of my dramaturgical findings.
Through creative practice in scriptwriting and developmental workshops, this research explores what story-telling modes, devices or styles seem particularly apt for conveying an inclusive and engaging trilingual narrative on stage.
This specifically involves developing a dramaturgical set of insights for others who may want to do cross-language performance in Aotearoa.

year: 2020