The Tiapapata Art Centre will host Professor Karen Brown and Dr Victoria McMillan from the University of St Andrews, Scotland, as part of a collaborative project.

It is called "Growing climate resilience and regeneration through intergenerational and transnational traditional ecological knowledge and skills exchange."

The Samoa programme will include field trips on 11 and 12 June, followed by a special Plant Knowledge Workshop at the Tiapapata Art Centre on Saturday, 13 June 2026. The workshop will bring together youth groups, knowledge holders, educators, artisans, science communicators, conservation organisations, and government and regional partners to explore plant knowledge as living material culture.

The workshop forms part of a wider international exchange linking community-based initiatives in Samoa, the Isle of Skye in Scotland, Costa Rica, Barbados, Wales, England, and other participating regions. Across these places, communities are exploring how traditional ecological knowledge can be transmitted across generations and shared responsibly through museums, ecomuseums, community heritage centres, gardens, arts spaces, and learning environments.

Professor Karen Brown is the Professor of Art History at the University of St Andrews, specialising in Museum and Heritage studies. Her work includes community museums, ecomuseums, sustainability, and climate action. Dr Victoria McMillan works with the University of St Andrews’ Shared Island Stories research project and brings extensive experience in socially engaged learning, ecomuseum practice, community heritage, ecology, conservation, and environmental education.

The Samoa workshop will focus on the intrinsic value of Samoan plant knowledge and its continuing role in identity, livelihood, creativity, healing, and environmental stewardship. Topics will include plants and trees used in siapo, natural dyes and pigments, fibre and cordage, ‘afa, weaving, fale construction, medicinal plants, fragrant oils, biodiversity conservation, invasive species, and climate resilience.

Galumalemana Steven Percival of Tiapapata Art Centre said Samoan plant knowledge should be understood not only as practical knowledge, but as a living system of eco-relationships.

“Plants are not simply resources. In Samoa, they are connected to ceremony, identity, healing, craftsmanship, house and canoe building, language, and cultural memory. When plant knowledge is lost, we lose more than information. We lose part of the cultural and ecological relationship that has sustained our communities for generations,” he said. 

“Words with a strong association with plants and trees can also lose meaning or even be forgotten. The formal word for a funeral is falelauasiga, which relates to the fragrant leaves of the asi tree (sandalwood), decorating a house where a deceased person lies in state. In this case, not only has the word become obscure, but the asi tree itself is believed by many to have disappeared from Samoa’s native forests.”

The programme will also highlight the work of institutions and organisations in Samoa supporting conservation, education, scientific research, and community-based environmental action, including the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Scientific Research Organisation of Samoa, the Samoa Conservation Society, Conservation International, the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environmental Programme (SPREP), and Imagine Science.

At the heart of the workshop is the recognition that traditional ecological knowledge and biodiversity conservation are deeply interconnected. As the impacts of climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation become more visible, Samoan plant knowledge offers important insights into resilience, adaptation, and the care of the natural world.