Building the circular economy into home construction in Tonga
A co-designed pathway towards climate resilience
What is the innovation?
THE PROBLEM
The increasing frequency and impacts of extreme weather events, such as storms, surges, flash floods and cyclones, due to climate change are fueled by the dominant adoption of extractive linear economies which ‘take, make, consume, waste’ resources. The consequences of this 200 year-old system are threatening our ecosystems, economies, and livelihoods, and impeding our universal human rights to food, health, housing, culture and development. Only 9% of extracted materials are reused. Yet 62% of global greenhouse gasses are emitted during extraction.A SOLUTION & OUR PATHWAY TO GET THERE
The circular economy model has been identified as a regenerative system that supports sustainable economic, ecological and social development for island nations with limited landmass and resources. Tātānaki is a community-led circular housing pilot built upon local and international partnerships to deliver four co-designed and climate-resilient homes on Tonga tapu, Tonga.Informed by traditional ecological knowledge and stewarded by local community members, circular economy practices and principles are applied to our architectural, spatial and value chain design. This 18-month pilot project weaves the perspectives, needs and outcomes of a full ecosystem of community, national, regional, global actors across public, private and civil society organisations. This aligned ecosystem shares priorities, implementation, and accountability in a holistic way. Tātānaki’s cross-cutting activities stem from community co-design sessions and are designed to grow local capacity and innovation to stimulate circular economy awareness.OUR PARTNERSHIP ECOSYSTEM
LEARNING FROM OTHERS
Observing the broader Indo-Pacific region best practices can inform our strategies to adopt and adapt to a Pacific context.
