KIRIBATI TRAVELLING STUDIO

Studio Leaders: Professor Richard Tomlinson and Associate Professor Colleen Butcher-Gollach

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Dates of Travelling Studio

Pre-trip teaching dates: start 24 /June/2011 to end 25 / June/ 2011 (compulsory attendance).
27 June-8 July 2011: Field trip to South Tarawa, Kiribati, Central Pacific.
Post field trip assessment of product will take place three weeks after returning to campus.
Field trip date: start 27 / June / 2011 to end 8 / July/ 2011
Post Field trip report and presentation – 26 / July - 2011

Student numbers: Capped at 16.

Selection: Applicants are required to submit a personal statement of up to 500 words on what they can contribute to the Travelling Studio and what they hope to learn from the project and on academic merit.

Application closing date: Wednesday 23rd Feburary

Studio Outline

The Government of Kiribati is currently implementing a medium term "Sustainable Towns Program" with support for various activities under the umbrella programme from donors including the Government of New Zealand, the Pacific Region Infrastructure Facility and the Cities Alliance. The Program has a multi-pronged approach, namely planning to implement phased slum upgrading in existing urban villages, construction of climate-proofed serviced subdivisions to pre-empt the emergence of new slums and catalyze a land and housing market, and developing the capabilities of local responsible agencies for key urban management functions. The studio will explore the linkages between various approaches to urban management in order to break the multi-causal cycle of deterioration characteristic of rapidly growing cities around the world. In particular, it will seek to understand the underlying drivers of urbanization, the role of the public sector in creating an enabling framework for managed urban growth and contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Towns Programme's goal of creating dynamic, livable and sustainable towns that make a positive contribution to the Kiribati national economy and the social, economic and environmental well-being of their inhabitants.

Working in close collaboration with the Government of Kiribati's technical Ministries (Urban Management Unit and the Ministry of Environment, Lands and Agricultural Development) and the Teinainano Urban Council and Betio Town Council and their respective Citizens' Taskforces, students will be required to prepare discreet contributions to the South Tarawa General Land Use (Structure) Plan. A sub-set of students may be tasked with preparing practical solutions for low-cost home improvements to strengthen the resilience of low income households to the impacts of climate change. The draft General Plan and household level housing investigations will in turn be useful for i-Kiribati agencies not only to guide and coordinate future built development and infrastructural investments within South Tarawa but also to form the basis of a proposed future city-wide slum upgrading initiative.

The Tarawa travelling studio will provide students with an opportunity to hone their professional skills whilst at the same time addressing the practical needs of a small, poorly resourced and environmentally vulnerable Pacific Island country that is faced with enormous environmental, social and public health challenges as a result of rapid and unmanaged urban growth. Students will be afforded the opportunity of participating in an integrated and holistic approach to urban development that builds on successful international lessons learned in addressing slum upgrading. It will be an interdisciplinary studio.