PRF Takes VAKA Forum to Fiji’s Faith Communities, Beginning with Council of Churches

The Pacific Recycling Foundation (PRF) is taking its VAKA (Voices, Alliances, Knowledge and Action) Forum into Fiji’s faith communities, beginning with a dialogue with the Council of Churches, as part of a broader effort to build meaningful connections with religious organisations across different faiths on issues of recycling, environmental responsibility and community action.

The VAKA Forum brings together people and organisations to have open conversations about the challenges and opportunities facing Fiji’s recycling sector, recognising that meaningful change cannot come from one sector alone.

For PRF, engaging Fiji’s religious communities is an important part of that conversation.

Faith-based organisations have a strong presence within communities across Fiji and play an important role in shaping values, behaviours and community action. PRF believes this makes them an important part of the national conversation around how Fiji approaches recycling and the environment.

PRF Founder Amitesh Deo says the organisation has been looking at ways to build inroads with religious organisations across Fiji and create spaces for dialogue across different faiths.

“We have always believed that recycling is not simply a waste management issue. It is about people, behaviour, values, livelihoods and the kind of communities we want to build. Religious organisations have a very important role in our communities, and we want to create a space where we can listen, learn and have meaningful conversations with them.”

The engagement with the Council of Churches marks the first VAKA Forum with a religious organisation, with PRF intending to build on this engagement by reaching out to other religious organisations representing Fiji’s diverse faith communities.

The objective is not simply to talk about recycling, but to explore how communities can better understand their role in reducing waste, recovering recyclable materials and supporting systems that create environmental, social and economic value.

PRF believes that lasting change requires inroads into communities, and that conversations about recycling must reach beyond government, businesses and the recycling industry.

“If we want to see a change in the way people think about and participate in recycling, we have to meet people where they are. Faith communities are deeply connected to families and communities across Fiji. This gives us an opportunity to have conversations about environmental responsibility in a way that connects with people’s everyday lives and values,” Deo says.

The VAKA Forum also provides an opportunity for PRF to share the experiences of Fiji’s grassroots recycling community, including the realities faced by Collection Pillars of Recycling (CPRs) who play an important role in recovering recyclable materials across the country.

For PRF, bringing different voices into the conversation is essential to developing recycling systems that are practical, inclusive and grounded in Fiji’s realities.

The organisation says its engagement with the Council of Churches is intended to be the beginning of a wider programme of dialogue with Fiji’s religious communities.

“This is our first step. We want to build relationships across Fiji’s different faith communities and create opportunities for people to come together, have honest conversations and identify what each community can do to contribute to a stronger recycling culture,” says Deo.

PRF will continue working to expand the VAKA Forum to different sectors and communities, creating spaces where experiences, ideas and solutions can be shared and where Fiji’s recycling conversation can be broadened beyond the traditional boundaries of the sector.

A key outcome of the VAKA Forum is the 10 Commitments for the Care of Creation, developed as a practical framework for the Fiji Council of Churches and its member organisations to turn shared environmental values into action. The commitments address reducing single-use plastics and waste, establishing recycling and composting systems, supporting and recognising Collection Pillars of Recycling, strengthening environmental education and advocacy, empowering young people, and encouraging responsible waste management across church activities and communities.

The signing of the 10 Commitments for the Care of Creation has given way to a tangible expression of the Fiji Council of Churches’ commitment to caring for the environment and supporting a more responsible approach to waste and recycling. For PRF, this is an important step in building a longer-term relationship with Fiji’s faith communities, one that can move beyond a single forum and towards practical action, learning and collaboration.

The VAKA Forum with the Fiji Council of Churches forms part of PRF’s wider VAKA Forum series, which has brought together voices from across different sectors, including Members of Parliament, Collection Pillars of Recycling (CPRs), international academics, government representatives, municipal councils and development partners, to create spaces for dialogue, shared learning and meaningful action on Fiji’s recycling and environmental challenges.