In a powerful exchange of knowledge and community engagement, the Watershed Interventions for Systems Health (WISH) and Revitalizing Informal Settlements in their Environments (RISE) teams<\/p>\n\n\n\n
recently hosted nearly 300 students from Monash University. As part of the Global Immersion Guarantee (GIG) program, students arrived in three cohorts – two in December 2025 and a final block on January 13, 2026. The visits offered a “living classroom” experience, moving beyond textbooks to show how human health and environmental integrity are two sides of the same coin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the heart of the visit was the concept of Planetary Health. This emerging discipline recognizes that we cannot have healthy people on a sick planet. By focusing on water and sanitation, the GIG<\/p>\n\n\n\n
students explored how managing our natural resources directly impacts the prevention of disease and the flourishing of local communities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Project Spotlight: RISE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The RISE program is a transdisciplinary research initiative trialing a water-sensitive approach to sanitation in informal settlements across Makassar, Indonesia, and Suva, Fiji. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \uf0b7 The Goal: Moving away from traditional “big pipe” infrastructure toward nature-based solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \uf0b7 The Method: Co-designing green infrastructure, such as constructed wetlands, to treat wastewater naturally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \uf0b7 Success Metrics: Improved health and well-being, particularly for children under five\u2014and increased ecological diversity in the surrounding environment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Project Spotlight: WISH \u2013 Pacific<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n WISH focuses on the “Ridge to Reef” connection. The health of a watershed (the land that drains into a common waterway) dictates the health of everyone downstream. “Higher incidences of water-related<\/p>\n\n\n\n bacterial diseases like typhoid and leptospirosis occur within watersheds with cleared land and high livestock density.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n By implementing targeted watershed interventions, WISH works to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \uf0b7 Reduce Disease Risk: Minimizing flooding and standing water to curb dengue and bacterial outbreaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \uf0b7 Protect Ecosystems: Preventing sediment and nutrients from damaging coral reefs and freshwater sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \uf0b7 Support Livelihoods: Ensuring the cultural and food practices of local people remain sustainable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After their briefings, students stepped out of the classroom and into the communities. They visited the RISE settlements of Muanivatu, Komave, Matata, and Waila, witnessing firsthand how green infrastructure is being integrated into the fabric of daily life. These visits allowed students to see the reality of “systems health” where a clean waterway isn’t just an environmental win, but a foundation for a healthier, more resilient future for the communities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In a powerful exchange of knowledge and community engagement, the Watershed Interventions for Systems Health (WISH) and Revitalizing Informal Settlements in their Environments (RISE) teams recently hosted nearly 300 students from Monash University. As part of the Global Immersion Guarantee (GIG) program, students arrived in three cohorts – two in December 2025 and a final block on January 13, 2026. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":1646,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wishfiji.sydney.edu.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wishfiji.sydney.edu.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wishfiji.sydney.edu.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wishfiji.sydney.edu.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wishfiji.sydney.edu.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1645"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wishfiji.sydney.edu.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1645\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1648,"href":"https:\/\/wishfiji.sydney.edu.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1645\/revisions\/1648"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wishfiji.sydney.edu.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wishfiji.sydney.edu.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wishfiji.sydney.edu.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wishfiji.sydney.edu.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}