Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Research and Development
Symposium

PICARD '24 was held in Honolulu
14 and 15 June, 2024

 Doubletree-Alana Waikiki
1956 Ala Moana Blvd
Honolulu, HI 96815
+1-808-941-7275

PICARD is a recurrent conference designed to give a voice to Pacific Islanders living through global stressors of many kinds and to showcase ideas from around the world that the Marshallese have found valuable for adaptation.

​

The ideas that were demonstrated in June of 2024 were selected for their value and scalability by the research staff and indigenous advisors at the Kwajalein Atoll Sustainability Laboratory (KASL). KASL was established in 2022 as a Marshallese non-governmental non-profit focused on climate adaptation. Its research team is supported by the US Office of Naval Research in Washington DC, and the lab is located on Ebeye Island within Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, 2400 miles southwest of Hawaii. The islands around Kwajalein Lagoon, like Ebeye, sit very close to sea level, and their climate threats are already severe.

KASL was established as a working field laboratory for field-based adaptation science and has rapidly accumulated a global network of individual and institutional partners. Those KASL affiliates are designing tools and methods for adaptation, focused on helping those at the bottom of the pyramid and the edge of the water. Their ideas are being tested under real-world conditions at KASL, and KASL wishes to share some of the most promising ideas and solicit more.      

PICARD Concept and Design

Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture (FESTPAC) is a ten-day cultural gathering of Pacific Island Nations that takes place every four years. The festival is held on islands around the Pacific, and in June 2024, it took place in Honolulu, Hawaii for the first time. The Festival organizers had hundreds of delegates from two dozen nations in and around the Pacific, and thousands of visitors.

KASL hosted the PICARD Symposium during, but separate from, FESTPAC, inviting senior national representatives for two days (14-15 June) of science, engineering, and indigenous discussions about adaptation science and engineering. Topics included the problems facing Pacific islands as seen by:

​

• Native islanders

• Expert scientists

• International funding agencies, and

• Leading humanitarian aid organizations.

The discussion then described current research in:

​

• cultural preservation

• drinking water

• energy sources

• novel shelters

• sanitation

• healthcare

• communication

• transportation

• education

• job creation, and

• ecosystem regeneration

We had live demonstrations of roughly 20 promising ideas, and the following day was dedicated to interactive small-group discussions for assessing impressions and planning the next steps.

​

Inquiries about the event and its extensive aftermath should be sent to the KASL Research Director, Dr. Eric Rasmussen, at RasmussenE@KASL.earth or on cell and Signal at +1-360-621-3592.