The PARADISE project addresses the unique challenges faced by physically isolated communities, or "islanded communities," in building collaborative partnerships and enhancing research capacity. These communities, represented by Hawai'i Pacific University (HPU), Paul Smith's College (PSC), and the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI), are on the front lines of critical environmental issues impacting public health, economic development, and biodiversity loss. PARADISE will strengthen the ability of these institutions to conduct innovative research and form meaningful collaborations despite their geographic isolation. By increasing research and development capacity, these colleges and universities will contribute to solving pressing environmental problems and supporting sustainable economic growth in their regions.
This project enhances research capacity and fosters collaboration among geographically isolated institutions through targeted investment and strategic initiatives. The project cultivates partnerships focused on environmental and sustainability innovation across the institutions. PARADISE will enable the cohort to make strategic investments in internal capacity, facilitate collaborative exchanges, and establish a professional learning network, thereby fostering a culture of continuous improvement and innovation.
The goals of PARADISE include strengthening administrative infrastructure, providing incentives for faculty and student research, and developing training resources to enhance collaboration between academia and industry. Each institution will tailor its approach to align with its unique strengths and challenges. By leveraging resources, the partnership will address environmental challenges, promote economic growth, and integrate indigenous perspectives into national research agendas. This holistic approach enhances the research capacities of the partnering institutions, enabling them to provide valuable insights and solutions to pressing environmental issues at both regional and national levels.
Hawaii Pacific University
Hawai‘i Pacific University (HPU) is leveraging its unique position within Hawai‘i’s islanded environment to strengthen its role in the state’s innovation and sustainability ecosystem. Through PARADISE, HPU is expanding research capacity, building industry-informed partnerships in areas such as marine science and renewable energy, and integrating indigenous knowledge into research to drive culturally grounded solutions to environmental and economic challenges.
Paul Smiths College
PSC will launch an Office of Strategic Initiatives (OSI) to integrate research, enterprise, and innovation into student learning and faculty engagement initiatives. A cabinet level position will be created to direct OSI and provide a direct line to institutional leadership and decision making on research development and opportunities for the college. Building on a successful multi-million dollar research institute at PSC, additional research and learning institutes will be launched focused on forestry, culinary arts and adventure hospitality and resiliency (i.e., disaster management response in relation to environmental change). Research administration capacity in OSI will be evaluated by an outside evaluator and recommendations made to strategically improve execution of research activities for PSC, including operationalization of the research institutes on campus.
University of the Virgin Islands
UVI will establish roles to foster community-industry relations and address environmental legacies from past industrial activities. The first objective is to enhance research-based partnership development by assigning a Partnership Coordinator that is responsible of organizing theme-based events. In addition, UVI will encourage collaboration by inviting teams to submit proposals for developing use-inspired research projects. The second objective is to enhance collaboration skills in interdisciplinary teams of faculty and students. The proposed activities include developing a curriculum for advanced partnership development, providing training through workshops and seminars, and cultivating extramural partnerships. Lastly, the third objective is to establish and launch an Interdisciplinary Partnership Development Seed Grant Fund.
