International Peace Research Association conference

5 November 2025

Photo: private

05. - 08.11.

Tamatoa attended the International Peace Research Association conference (IPRA) conference in Taranaki, Aotearoa for the first time. He joined Nobel Peace laureates Dimity Hawkins AM, Matthew Bolton, and Emily Welty on the keynote panel "Now More Than Ever: Nuclear Justice, Organizing, and What We Owe Each Other", organised by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). The panel brought together activists and academics to discuss nuclear disarmament in its broader context, linking demands for climate justice, gender liberation, disability justice, and indigenous sovereignty with the ongoing work toward a world free of nuclear weapons. Tamatoa also participated in a workshop on nuclear truth protocols, both sessions generating valuable feedback and fostering new collaborative perspectives.

The conference offered important intellectual impulses for ongoing research at UHH: Māori leaders opened and closed the gathering with a grounded, place-based approach, and various speakers invited participants to critically rethink the concepts of peace, resilience, and reconciliation, themes that will inform future research directions. The event also provided an opportunity to strengthen ties with civil society actors from across the Pacific, including colleagues from West Papua and Papua New Guinea.