Higher Ground Initiative: Purpose + Need

HGI

HIGHER GROUND INITIATIVE LAND PORTION #230 Land Portion #230

Purpose + Need 10.01.2022

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“Climate change is the single greatest threat to a sustainable future but, at the same time, addressing the climate challenge presents a golden opportunity to promote prosperity, security and a brighter future for all.”

Ban Ki-Moon, Former Secretary-General of UN

In 2022, the Republic of Nauru is at an exceptional moment in history. The island nation faces a future in which it must alter its path, if it is to achieve safety and security, poverty eradication, and improved quality of life for the next generation of Nauruans.

Acknowledging the impacts that climate change, global trade, and biodiversity loss will force onto Small Island Developing States (SIDS)1 including Nauru specifically, the following reporting purposefully and accordingly positions master planning recommendations for the centrepiece of the sustainable development strategy for the island, the Higher Ground Initiative (HGI), against these existential threats that the island nation must address in order to achieve the transformational change being sought.

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United Nations Conference on Environment and Development Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (1993). Agenda 21 : programme of action for sustainable development ; Rio Declaration on Environment and Development ; Statement of Forest Principles: The final text of agreements negotiated by governments at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), 3-14 June 1992, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. United Nations Dept. of Public Information.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Prepared for:

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF NAURU

Department of Climate Change & National Resilience The Honourable Rennier Gadabu M.P., Minister for Climate Change and National Resilience Under the leadership & guidance of:

The Ministerial Troika: The Honorable Martin Hunt M.P., The Honorable Rennier Gadabu M.P., The Honorable Reagan Aliklik M.P.,

Minister for Finance and Sustainable Development Minister for Climate Change and National Resilience Minister for Nauru Rehabilitation Corporation

The Higher Ground Initiative Committee: Marlene Moses Berilyn Jeremiah Reagan Moses Novena Itsimaera Chitra Jeremiah Gabrissa Hartman Yvette Duburiya Newman Rykers Dexter Bretchefeld

Chair Secretary for Commerce Industry and Environment Secretary for Climate Change and National Resilience Secretary for Finance Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Trade Secretary for Infrastructure Secretary for Lands Management Chair for RONPHOS Corporation Chair for Nauru Rehabilitation Corporation

With support from: Benedict Joseph Abourke Chelsa Buramen

Operations Manager, Nauru Rehabilitation Corporation Operations Manager, RONPHOS Corporation

REPUBLIC OF NAURU Department of Climate Change & National Resilience

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Prepared by METROCOLOGY Mallory Baches Project Director Demetri Baches Project Manager

Purpose + Need HGI Sub-Consultant Team

MERRILL, PASTOR & COLGAN

SECTION 1.0 Foundational Principles Underlying the Higher Ground Initiative SECTION 2.0 Purpose and Need for a Vision for the Republic of Nauru SECTION 3.0 Informing Frameworks to the Vision of the Higher Ground Initiative

Content and images ©2022 Metrocology LLC. All rights reserved, unless otherwise noted.

Cover image credit: Karl Whitman

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SECTION 4.0 Introduction to the Master Plan of the Higher Ground Initiative

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction from Minister for Climate Change and National Resilience Introduction from the Project Director Foundational Principles Underlying the Higher Ground Initiative

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History of the Higher Ground Initiative Pillars of HGI Context of the Response: The Republic of Nauru Context of the Response: The Global Crises Context of the Response: Previous Reporting P.22

Purpose and Need for a Vision for the Republic of Nauru Introduction to the Vision of the Higher Ground Initiative The Higher Ground Initiative: Purpose The Higher Ground Initiative: Needs Informing Frameworks to the Vision of the Higher Ground Initiative

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United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Neighbourhood Planning Principles The Charter of the New Urbanism The Canons of Sustainable Architecture and Urbanism Principles of Land Reform Introduction to the Master Plan of the Higher Ground Initiative

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Planning Process Areas of Recommendation Integration of Areas of Work Plan for Implementation Next Steps

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List of Abbreviations and Acronyms ADB

Asian Development Bank

CCNR

Department of Climate Change and National Resilience (Nauru)

CNU

Congress for the New Urbanism

ESMF

Environmental and Social Safeguard Management Framework

ESMP

Environmental and Social Safeguard Management Plan

GCF

Green Climate Fund

GEF

Global Environment Facility

HGI

Higher Ground Initiative

IPCC

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

LP230

Land Portion 230

NRC

Nauru Rehabilitation Corporation

NSDS

National Sustainable Development Strategy

NSUDP

Nauru Sustainable Urban Development Project

RONAdapt

Republic of Nauru Framework for Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction

RONPHOS

Republic of Nauru Phosphate Corporation

SIDS

Small Island Developing State

TVET

Technical & Vocational Education & Training

UN

United Nations

UNFCCC

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

WHO

World Health Organization

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HGI

Introduction from Minister for Climate Change and National Resilience The Higher Ground Initiative was launched in 2019 with a mandate to rehabilitate and develop Topside for future habitation. Climate change, overcrowding, and an economy that is growing too slowly are all urgent challenges that confront Nauru, and addressing them requires putting new land on Topside to its best use. It is also understood that the long-term survival and viability of Nauru depends on migrating away from the most vulnerable coastal areas of the island.

This is why HGI has been embraced by successive Governments.

The rehabilitated land, made possible by the hard work and ingenuity of Nauruans, will provide a blank canvas on which to paint a more secure and prosperous future. We have laid out an ambitious vision for HGI capable of meeting the needs of current and future generations. The ten pillars of that vision include: • • • •

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Economic diversification, advanced through the cultivation of high value-added productive industries, Affordable green housing to alleviate overcrowding and reduce energy and water use, Education and training to ensure all interested Nauruans have the skills to take part in the implementation of HGI, Food security, advanced through the implementation of community-based and large scale food production systems on rehabilitated land, Water security, advanced through the incorporation of efficiency and water harvesting technologies as part of a modern, reticulated water system, Energy security, advanced through rooftop solar on every new building and the widespread use of energy efficient technologies, Public health, advanced the encouragement of healthy lifestyles and more climate changeresilient facilities,

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Environmental restoration, advanced through the protection and expansion of areas on Topside with high biodiversity and conservation value, Cultural restoration, advanced through the incorporation of traditional materials and methods into design and construction, and the allocation of public space to cultural activities, and Good governance to ensure that implementation of HGI proceeds in a transparent, inclusive, and equitable manner.

After a year of intensive work by our many Heads of Department, and as part of a whole of Government approach, I am very proud to share the updated master land use plan contained in this report. It includes a detailed site plan for Land Portion 230, a plot totally 10 hectares, which will be the initial site of construction and serve as the seed from which future development will grow.

We are now on the cusp of the most important stage of HGI – implementation. Our objective is to source as much of the work to Nauruans as possible. Where there are skill gaps, we intend to make every effort to bring in the necessary training. Our priority is for HGI to be built by Nauruan hands. We will need to build strong partnerships to achieve our most ambitious goals, but Nauru needs to be leading the way.

Make no mistake, there are many challenges ahead in our multi-generational effort to reclaim Topside. We are only at the beginning of a very long journey to rebuild a nation. But I am confident in the resilience and determination of the people of Nauru to reach our destination of a more secure and prosperous future.

Hon. Rennier Gadabu, M.P. Minister for Climate Change and National Resilience

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Introduction from Project Director September 1, 2022 Stakeholders of the Higher Ground Initiative: On behalf of the design team, it is a sincere honor to present the final reports prepared for the Higher Ground Initiative master planning project.

In the following documents, we have provided a full compilation of the understandings, designs, and recommendations that have been developed through the master planning process. Guided by the Pillars of the Higher Ground Initiative, and responsive to the challenges that the changing global climate poses, this series of reports provide the details of an integrative strategy for development and demonstrate a full illustration of a transformational yet achievable vision for the future of the Republic of Nauru.

The results of the Higher Ground Initiative must be inspiring, not opportunistic. This project is an investment in inherited returns for the future of the country and future generations of Nauruans, one that will carefully balance the social, natural, financial, and cultural capital of the island and its people, delivering on the promise of a secure and resilient future. The proposals detailed in the following reports are rooted in a commitment to deliver built outcomes that will efficiently and effectively reflect a community responsive to both the short- and long-term wellbeing of all Nauruans.

Within these documents, you will find: •

Volume 1: Purpose + Need, an introduction to the Higher Ground Initiative and the master planning project deliverables including the foundational goals and mandate of the initiative, the purpose of this undertaking and the needs that must be confronted with this body of work, the principle frameworks on which the response has been based, and the

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national and global context in which the work has been applied; Volume 2: Housing + Architecture, including recommendations related to the proposed modular system for housing provision and the corresponding variations and aggregations possible with this system, as well as details of proposed form and construction, the recommended method for arranging block patterns, and the utilization of this system in site planning for Land Portion 230 and adjacent to the Port; Volume 3: Land Planning + Resiliency, including urban design and development recommendations related to the detailed site planning for Land Portion 230, the potential expansion of development beyond government-controlled property on Topside, the potential new Township adjacent to the Port, and the comprehensive island wide master plan, as well as those recommendations related to infrastructure and utilities, land remediation and grading, and the design of thoroughfares and open spaces; and Volume 4: Land Tenure + Social Safeguarding, a summary of the relationship of Land Tenure policy to the master planning process and the Higher Ground Initiative, including an analysis of the land tenure and administration context in Nauru, an overview of the social context and safeguarding needs for the master planning project, an evaluation of the tenure and planning options that would address the housing challenges across the island, and an outline of next steps for ensuring feasibility of the implementation of the vision for the initiative.

To the best of our ability and within the limitations of the time and circumstance of this project, the design team has operated with honest and ethical practices in an open and cooperative atmosphere with our counterparts in Nauru, with

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the goal that our work represents the needs of all Nauruan peoples. Through our designs and recommendations, we are committed to nurturing and rehabilitating the natural environment of Nauru by balancing the ecological footprint of proposed development within the capacity of the small island to sustain its needs. We strive to encourage and reinforce equity and justice by integrating the social conditions and cultural context of the community into the program and scope of the project, in order to respond to the well-being of all Nauruans through the outcomes of our proposals. We acknowledge the impact of successful and suitable urban design strategies on economic, social, and environmental wellbeing, and our proposals attempt to enhance the sustainability of Nauru using locally appropriate designs and techniques. We recognize the lasting legacy of our work, and we hold ourselves accountable for the impact that implementation of the following designs and recommendations may cause to the social, economic, and ecological resilience of Nauru.

As a design team, we are extremely proud to deliver this final set of documents, which collectively compile the comprehensive and significant body of work that has gone into the master planning process for the Higher Ground Initiative. We appreciate the opportunity to serve the Republic of Nauru, and we are indebted to the Ministers, Heads of Department, government staff, and particularly the Higher Ground Initiative Committee for their support, engagement, and contributions to the contents of this compilation.

With gratitude,

Mallory B.E. Baches, AICP LEED-AP CNU-A Project Director

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SECTION 1.0 FOUNDATIONAL PRINCIPLES UNDERLYING THE HIGHER GROUND INITIATIVE

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Purpose + Need SECTION 1.0 Foundational Principles Underlying the Higher Ground Initiative

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History of the Higher Ground Initiative The Higher Ground Initiative (HGI) is a generational undertaking by the Republic of Nauru. As the key climate response strategy of the island nation, it is urgent in response, comprehensive in scope, integrative in approach, and transformational in objective. Through this planned managed migration of the population of Nauru to the higher elevations of the island, the country has the opportunity not only to adapt to the threat of sea level rise, but to mitigate its contribution to the ever-growing global climate crisis while improving its national security, economic vitality, social equity, and cultural preservation in the process. With the implementation of this ambitious initiative to create safe, healthy, and thriving communities, Nauru will be able to secure its long-term sovereignty in the face of these local and global crises.

The initiative was announced in 2019 by the President and Cabinet as “a managed retreat to higher ground” over the next 50 years, with a mandate to rehabilitate and develop Topside, the upper elevations of the island of Nauru. In response, the HGI Steering Committee, which includes most Heads of Departments, sought to update the 1994 Master Land Use Plan for Nauru and commenced a feasibility study. In 2021, the Steering Committee launched a RONPHOS/ NRC Joint Collaboration Project for Crown Land at Land Portion 230, identifying the 10 hectare cornerstone development opportunity on Government owned land that could serve as the initial phase of implementation response to the HGI mandate. Along with this key strategic determination, the HGI Political Narrative was subsequently adopted by the Cabinet, securing a comprehensive vision for HGI.

Image credit: Cedric Favero, CC BY-SA 2.0 _https-__creativecommons.org_ licenses_by-sa_2.0_, via Wikimedia Commons

Image credit: DFAT photo library

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PILLARS OF HGI The fundamental pillars that will determine a successful outcome for the ambitious vision of the Higher Ground Initiative (HGI) are as follows: Economic Diversification: HGI should enable new opportunities for domestic business development and entrepreneurship. HGI implementation and construction will generate many jobs, and it will be essential that Nauruan businesses, existing and new, are able to take part to the greatest extent possible. The practical and technical skills gained through participation in this large development initiative will empower Nauruans to pursue new business opportunities and to export their new products and services to other countries in the region. The country’s central location, along with the regional connectivity provided by its national air carrier and GCF-funded port renovation make Nauru a natural transport hub, which can generate new business opportunities in shipping, fishing, and eco-tourism.

Affordable Green Housing: Nauru is one of the most densely populated islands in the Pacific. An affordable housing plan integrated into HGI can address the immediate crisis of overcrowding and provide a sustainable framework for the provision of affordable housing to current and future generations. Combined with modern sustainability technologies, like rooftop solar, rainwater harvesting, and energy efficient cooling, the new housing stock will advance the country’s sustainable development priorities while providing safer and more comfortable living options for the people.

Education & Training: The planning and implementation of HGI will provide important opportunities for Nauruans to gain new knowledge and acquire new skills. Urban planning, environmental management, electrical engineering, carpentry, and information technology are just a small sample of the skill sets that will be required for HGI, all of which can be incorporated into Nauru’s school curriculum and TVET programs. And acquiring these skills will give Nauruans far greater control over their economic future. The model of HGI should also be shared with other small island nations through the establishment of a centre of excellence, which can serve as a regional research hub for sustainability and the blue economy.

Energy Security: The importation of fossil fuel is one of the largest costs to Nauru’s economy.

Price volatility leaves the country persistently vulnerable to crisis and diverts limited resources away from other potential investments in public services and infrastructure. HGI can fundamentally shift Nauru away from fossil fuels. Smart urban planning that incorporates e-mobility and other transportation options, along with renewable energy and energy efficiency measures, will dramatically reduce demand for dirty energy sources, improve Nauru’s balance of trade, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Food Security: The COVID-19 pandemic, which interrupted the flow of goods into the country for several weeks, has demonstrated that Nauru’s high dependence on imported food leaves it highly vulnerable during a crisis. However, even during normal times, these imported foods are unhealthy and unaffordable. Nauru has had considerable success working with the Taiwan Technical Mission to produce healthy food locally. HGI can greatly expand the land area available for local agriculture and aquaculture, thereby improving national food security.

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HGI Land Portion #230 Water Security: Most Nauru residents currently have their water delivered by truck to household storage tanks. This system is expensive and cannot guarantee water quality that meets WHO standards. Changes in precipitation patterns due to climate change may further undermine local water security. HGI must include a modern, reticulated water system that provides clean drinking water to all Nauruans. Water security can be further enhanced by integration of rainwater capture into new buildings and transport infrastructure. Greater water storage will also be necessary to enable the expansion of local agriculture.

Public Health: Healthcare infrastructure is currently concentrated in the low-lying coastal area vulnerable to flooding and sea-level rise. It must be made more resilient to the impacts of climate change. HGI can deliver even greater public health benefits through smart urban planning that encourages healthy lifestyles, increases access to nutritious foods and clean water, and provides greater access to green spaces. A dynamic and culturally rich smart village will also make it easier to attract and retain doctors and nurses, while emerging technology like tele-medicine can be considered for integration into a relocated hospital.

Low/Zero-Emissions Transport: A well-planned transportation grid can improve connectivity between living and working spaces and greatly reduce traffic. Combined with electric vehicles and other alternative transport options, HGI can help improve local air quality, dramatically reduce dependence on expensive fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions, and encourage healthier lifestyles.

Environmental Restoration: Despite extensive degradation due to decades of mining, Nauru still retains pockets of the lush natural beauty. Incorporating sustainable land management into HGI can nourish and expand these ecosystems, which will improve ground water recharge and flood control, as well as provide accessible new green spaces for leisure and recreation, which are currently in short supply.

Cultural Restoration: There is a growing appreciation for the need to preserve and restore Nauruan culture. The built environment through HGI should strengthen our Central Pacific cultural heritage and reflect our unique Nauruan experience and historical legacy. By engaging the creativity of the Nauruan people, drawing on regional building designs and materials, and engaging leading architects and planners, HGI can become a shining example of Pacific cultural restoration through smart and locally-inspired urbanism. Space for art displays and performances can be incorporated into public gathering places in ways that augment cultural programs promoted through our schools, the national museum, our churches, and other relevant institutions. Placing cultural restoration at the centre of HGI can anchor a society buffeted by transnational mass media and provide a healthy outlet for the energy and creativity of our young population.

Good Governance. The planning and procurement process must provide for transparency and broad participation of all stakeholders so that the benefits of HGI are shared equitably and reach those who are most in need. International best practices to ensure accountability should be explored and implemented appropriately. Special attention will be needed for politically sensitive issues, such as land tenure. Engagement with landowners should begin early and give them confidence that their participation in HGI is meaningful.

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HGI Land Portion #230 The breadth of sectors impacted by these pillars underscores a need for a Government-wide approach to implementation of the HGI vision, ensuring that the mandates of all ministries are integrated and the expertise of all departments is incorporated into the planning process of the project. In this way, HGI is both a vehicle for achieving the goals of the policies of the

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Government of the Republic of Nauru, but is likewise a structure that enables all departments to achieve those goals which align with the HGI directive. With the guidance of the HGI vision, an emergent sustainability strategy has been developed, advancing a vision for Nauru that can meet the needs and leverage the opportunities that exist for the island, today and in the future.

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Context of the Response: The Republic of Nauru As one of the smallest and most geographically remote countries in the world, the Republic of Nauru is genuinely unique in circumstance, context, and current condition. The coral-capped island rising up to 65 meters above the sea level of the central Pacific Ocean is home to just over 10,000 people, an overwhelming majority descending from the indigenous Nauruan culture, with a language and history that is more than 3000 years old. For a century, mining of the phosphate that the interior of the island is so rich with has been a driver of the Nauru economy and in many ways, its way of life. Yet in recent years, the consequences of this reliance on mining have begun to reveal themselves in ways that are proving devastating both environmentally and financially.

The ecological limits of Nauru are narrow,1 on an island that comprises just 21 square kilometers, but they are not immutable. Likewise the economic situation for Nauru as a nation as well as for individual Nauruans is vulnerable, with limited marketable resources and physical isolation from foreign ports, along with largely-diminished mineral reserves and a diminished reliance on extractive foreign business investments. As a result, an objective central to the Higher Ground Initiative is the intention to adapt the limits that Nauru currently faces in ways that will empower the nation to provide for its own expanded national resiliency and strengthened national security, in this generation but especially in generations to come. An island-wide master planned strategy of integrated solutions toward climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction will secure an efficient and effective response to the challenges that Nauru faces and an inclusive and empowering future that will 1

Department of Finance and Sustainable Development. (2019).

National Sustainable Development Strategy 2019-2030: Revised 2019. Republic of Nauru.

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improve the lives of all Nauruans.2 The mining of the large stores of phosphate, originally performed by foreign corporations and more recently by the Republic of Nauru Phosphate Corporation (RONPHOS), has exploited the interior of Nauru’s land and systematically depleted the upper elevations of the island, not only damaging much of the lush natural ecological resources but also degrading soil quality and land stability. Yet this limitation comes at a time where global climate change is predicted to cause significant harm. Situated just 40 kilometers south of the equator in the Pacific, Nauru is less susceptible to cyclones and tropical storms than other nations in the region, but nonetheless faces vulnerability to droughts that limit availability of potable water, and ocean acidification that undermines island food security and economic viability. With a sea level rise of as much as 14 centimeters by the year 2030 and as much as 60 centimeters by the year 2090 predicted in Nauru, 3 much of the existing urban settlement and fragile infrastructure that already-strained Nauruans need to depend on will be greatly impacted within a single generation.

As a result, climate change threatens the sovereignty of Nauru, as the sea will continue to further inundate the coastline4 and force the displacement of both people and infrastructure currently in the low-lying coastal areas.5 But it is 2

Department of Commerce, Industry and Environment. (2015).

Republic of Nauru Framework for Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction. Republic of Nauru.

3

Australian Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO. (2011). Climate Change in the Pacific: Scientific Assessment and New Research.

Volume 1: Regional Overview. Volume 2: Country Reports.

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Allis, M et al. (2020). Coastal flooding from sea in Nauru: Stage 1 -- level rise static inundation mapping. National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research Ltd (NIWA).

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The World Bank Group. (2021). Climate Risk Country Profile: Nauru. The World Bank Group. https://climateknowledgeportal. worldbank.org/sites/default/files/country-profiles/15819-WB_ Nauru%20Country%20Profile-WEB.pdf

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not just ocean level rise that will impact Nauru; fluctuations in global weather patterns could lead to disturbances in local precipitation rates which impact the ability for Nauru to ensure its predominant source of adequate drinking water for its population, in addition to accommodating other agricultural and industrial demands that might be a part of more sustainable future economy, yet also introduce increased risk of severe flooding from significant rainfall events.

Furthermore, as Nauru faces these climates impacts, so too do most other nation states, forcing global demand on a scarce supply of sustaining resources and the resulting conflicts that will necessarily come. As the smallest island nation, Nauru faces a unique vulnerability in its effort to compete for those resources.

in accordance with Article 4, Paragraph 12 of the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC),7 Nauru is committed to contributing to the global response to the limitation of global warming by reduction of greenhouse gas emission and adaptation to the effects of the warming planet. Reflecting this urgent and important obligation, this reporting offers a Vision for a Secure and Resilient Future for the Republic of Nauru: a master plan for the sustainability of the nation that explores, confirms, and documents a visionary approach to the mandate of the Higher Ground Initiative (HGI), which guides rather than dictates a solid path into an uncertain future.

Nauru has now come to a turning point, where the nation can no longer ignore the harms of a subsistence on environmental and economic depletion, and instead is choosing to embrace a restorative and regenerative future, one rooted in a new Pacific Island urbanism that both respects cultural legacy while expressing a vision for the future of the region. The future use of the remaining undeveloped land of the interior of Nauru is essential, in order to a secure and resilient future for the country. Failing to approach the complex challenges that Nauru faces in a comprehensive manner will surely result in the wasteful development of the most limited resource in Nauru: land. Conventional development schemes will render the island unable to support both population relocation and housing demands, as well as much-needed agriculture lands and environmental remediation.

An innovative and integrative vision for the future of the island is needed. As a participant6

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Republic of Nauru. (2021). Updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC): Paris Agreement to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Republic of Nauru.

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Paris Agreement to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, T.I.A.S. No. 16-1104, Dec. 12, 2015, https:// unfccc.int/sites/default/files/english_paris_agreement.pdf.

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Context of the Response: The Global Crisis The Republic of Nauru is not alone, in the challenges that it faces. Around the globe, nations are mobilizing resources to adapt to an ever-increasing risk of climate-based impacts, and are developing a wide variety of policy and capacity-building tools in order to best leverage their responses.8 Yet as a small, developing island nation, the challenge for Nauru is not limited to those immediate tangible effects arising on-island; indeed, the climate impacts and adaptation responses of much larger nationstates carry the possibility of a compounding effect that may exacerbate the economic, social, and environmental vulnerabilities of Nauru.9 Without careful positioning of its approach against the broader global context as well as through a thorough and ongoing consultation and reassessment process, the island is at risk of the maladaptation that could significantly worsen existing or even create new vulnerabilities for the country.10 Of critical importance for Nauru, the effects of the changing climate are having an impact on the consistency of global supply chains, a fact that poses unique challenges to island nations like Nauru that must rely on shipments of petroleum, food, and materials in order to sustain daily life.11 In the decades to come, global shipping networks will face risks related to the variety of impacts that climate change will bring to the production of goods, as well as the transportation routes and logistic nodes that the global trade of 8

Ulibarri, N. et al. (2021). A global assessment of policy tools to support climate adaptation. Climate Policy, 22(1), 77–96.

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Eriksen, S. et al. (2021). Adaptation interventions and their effect on vulnerability in developing countries: Help, Hindrance or irrelevance? World Development, 141, 105383.

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Schipper, E. L. (2020). Maladaptation: When adaptation to climate change goes very wrong. One Earth, 3(4), 409–414.

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Robbins, J. (n.d.). How climate change is disrupting the global supply chain. Yale E360. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://e360.yale.edu/features/how-climate-change-is-disruptingthe-global-supply-chain

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those goods relies on, not to mention the added vulnerabilities that fluctuation of prices and limited availability of goods may pose to consumers at the end of supply chains. To minimize these potential repercussions, Nauru must tailor its development goals toward a less dependent and more sustainable approach to the provision of goods, services, and resources in order to ensure their availability, affordability, and reliability.

The development and expansion of domestic industries provides key opportunities to respond to this concern, and the Higher Ground Initiative has worked to centre this need within the land use objectives that inform the scope of the master planning process. Preserving land for agroecosystem services and integrating the demands of a local food production industry will ensure that, as development of Topside occurs, the very fundamental needs of Nauruans to secure domestic access to food while supporting a sustainable economic driver for the country will be duly protected. Furthermore, the provision for infrastructure and utility expansion and adaptation toward readily available and renewable resources through the development of Topside can support a strategic transition away from fossil fuel dependence, encouraging local generation of sustainable technologies and supporting energy security for Nauruans.

Meanwhile on-island, there are vital local examples of common global challenges. The primary port of Nauru and its adjacent coastal infrastructure remains vulnerable to rising sea levels, which are estimated to increase by up to 14 centimeters in the next decade and continue apace in decades to come.12 With the current reliance on imports for the majority of basic needs, Nauru must plan for the impact that sea inundation will have both 12

Australian Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO. (2011). Climate Change in the Pacific: Scientific Assessment and New Research.

Volume 1: Regional Overview. Volume 2: Country Reports.

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with investment in infrastructure adaptation as well as establishment of local sources for many of those same goods and materials, in order to guarantee their continued availability. In addition, natural habitats throughout the island, from those impacted by phosphate mining at the highest elevations through to those in the shallow waters surrounding the coast that are most susceptible to toxin runoff, have been degraded significantly and are in desperate need of rehabilitation. Nauru must begin the tedious process of reversing the ecological damage that past industry has imposed on the island and its surrounding waters, if it is to develop resiliency that can protect the country and its people from local and external vulnerabilities alike.

This susceptibility to interference from global crises underscores the complex connection between climate change and national security for Nauru, and the need for a master plan that will make the strategic connection, “between buildings, social settings, and their surrounding environments.”13 The leadership that the Higher Ground Initiative will establish and advance in sustainability and resiliency can provide, for Nauru as a nation and for Nauruans as a people, the benefit of generational returns not only in service on-island but as a model for responsive, innovative, and just national transition in the face of the impacts of global climate change.

Furthermore, the technologies and industries that HGI will propel may be able to serve the region, whether it be through exported goods, the exchange of technical expertise, and the diplomatic contribution to this global crisis. Establishing a structure of workforce advancement, business development, international partnerships, and intellectual property security will reinforce the immediate gains of the growth

and development that implementation of the master plan of HGI will bring to Nauru, as well as position the country and its contributions as an international resource.

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The World Bank. (2015). Master planning. Master Planning | Urban Regeneration. Retrieved September 17, 2022, from https:// urban-regeneration.worldbank.org/node/51

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Image credit: DFAT photo library

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Context of the Response: Previous Reporting In understanding the frame of reference for the master planning work that this reporting represents, it is important to recognize the numerous previously published plans, reports, and policy documents that Nauru has engaged, and that have informed the understanding of the design team. Nauru has produced or been the subject of no shortage of studies, assessments and reporting, over the previous fifty years, covering almost all topics related to the geography, environment, and development of the island. The designs and recommendations developed through this master planning process have referenced the following documents in particular.

Master Land Use Plan of 1994 The 1994 Master Land Use Plan contains a wealth of information, used in the project discovery phase of feasibility and analysis to establish a base of understanding of the Island’s potential for redevelopment. The Plan’s detailed analysis of the process for remediating mined lands in order to enable habitation and natural restoration, as well as the Plan’s mapping of specific geologic and geographic conditions, were instrumental in determining the broad strategy utilized by the design team for recommending locations for new settlements and determining how these would be connected to the existing settlement pattern and infrastructure systems in Nauru.

While the 1994 Plan contains useful information about local conditions, the drafters could not at the time have been inclined to consider the full spectrum of sustainability considerations and technological opportunities that are available today. As part of the Higher Ground Initiative and other programs across the island, Nauru is engaged in projects and will continue to seek technical assistance from international partners, so that any revisions to this Plan advance the

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internationally-recognized sustainability and development priorities of the current Government.

Its relevance as a resource for understanding the land and landscape of Nauru remains sound.

Nauru Higher Ground Project of 2020 The more recent 2020 Nauru Higher Ground Project, prepared by Calibre Partners and More & Co, has materially advanced the 1994 Plan, proposing new settlement plans for housing and infrastructure in the higher elevations of the island based on potential sea level inundation resulting from global climate change. The scope of the project, divided into three stages, also involved workshopping with Stakeholders and delivering a concept program and estimated cost for the proposed initiatives. The findings and schematic plans of this Project have provided valuable additional context for the community site planning process and for the island wide master plan presented in this reporting.

The findings from the 2020 Project also called attention to the need to undertake a master planning process, to address the need for remediation of the natural environment and establishment of on-island agricultural production, equal to that undertaken for the community planning presented in this reporting. That need will be met through future phases of the work of the Higher Ground Initiative, as well as additional programs across the island.

National Sustainable Development Strategy 2019-2030: Revised 2019 Of key relevance to the long term goals that Nauru seeks to achieve through HGI, the National Sustainable Development Strategy (NSDS) has served as a foundational guidance for the policy objectives of the Government and the strategic approach to sustainability with which

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the master plan must align. Representing the Nauruan contribution to the broader goals of the international community, specifically the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development through the United Nations (UN), the NSDS has provided the design team with an action plan by which Nauru intends to fulfill its National Vision of: A future where individual, community, business and government partnerships contribute to a sustainable quality of life for all Nauruans.

The summary of the NSDS Consultations Report: 2018 included in the 2019 NSDS update offers insight into the results of an important process of community consultations undertaken by the Government, and were clarifying for the design team. In particular, the stakeholder reinforcement of leading priorities related to economic security, infrastructure investment, educational opportunities, and improved public health; the appeal for social inclusion and community engagement in decision making processes; and a general collective support for advancing broad based sustainability goals as a nation, underscores the need for an island wide master plan and indicates a strong appetite for public participation in that planning process.

Nauru Water and Sanitation Master Plan of 2017

and sanitation facilities including delivery mains, pump stations, and water treatment plants have been accommodated within the island wide master plan, based on recommendations in this report. Additionally although likely subject to the need for revision to current land use policies, the provision for districted rainwater harvesting facilities has been included in block layout proposals and detailed site plans, and individual rainwater harvesting tanks have been incorporated into the design of housing, both in accordance with recommendations made in the Water and Sanitation Master Plan.

Nauru Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan of 2010 Particularly in looking ahead to future implementation phases of HGI, the Nauru Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan will become increasingly useful to informing and supporting the island wide master plan provisions that support remediation of the environmental conditions on the island. Sharing the objective of aligning the rehabilitation of the native ecology with the sustainable development of Nauru, this plan along with the planning proposals developed for HGI will inform a coordinated approach to ecological conservation and begin the process reestablishing the deep Nauruan relationship to land and the natural environment of the island.

With a planning scope through 2035, the Nauru Water and Sanitation Master Plan reports on anticipated needs for water and sewer infrastructure over the coming two decades in Nauru, and is therefore a helpful reference for the design team in ensuring provision of adequate land for necessary systems structure and capacity into the island wide master plan. Approximate scale and locations for necessary drinking water

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SECTION 2.0 PURPOSE AND NEED FOR A VISION FOR THE REPUBLIC OF NAURU

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Purpose + Need SECTION 2.0 Purpose and Need for a Vision for the Republic of Nauru

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Introduction to the Vision of the Higher Ground Initiative The urban vision for the Higher Ground Initiative, and its corresponding designs and policy recommendations delivered through this reporting, are intentionally comprehensive and strategically integrative, in response to the potentially catastrophic impacts of the global climate challenge that Nauru faces. Not only is there a demonstrated need to migrate vulnerable homes and critical infrastructure away from rising sea levels to the higher elevations of the island, but more broadly, there is a fundamental need to plan for the just transition to a future that ensures the security and resilience of the entire island for generations to come. In consideration of such a future, Nauru has structured its strategic approach to national sustainability around seven priority areas which are each distinctly vulnerable to the effects of the changing climate (Productive Land, Healthy and Productive People, Water Security, Food Security, Energy Security, Healthy Environment, and Good Governance), as outlined in the commitment made by the Republic of Nauru to the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2015.14 The country must now begin the generational transition to fully adapt based on these priorities, utilizing a strategic plan for the relocation of its people, its assets, and its communities to higher ground and centreed on the master plan specifically prepared to guide this process.

Through pledges from the Government, the Higher Ground Initiative Steering Committee, and additional allied groups, and with generous financial support from the Asian Development Bank,Nauru is currently positioned to begin this critical mobilization that will drive its economic, social,environmental, and cultural future. If delivered successfully, the initiative will serve as a

model of sustainability for developing small island nations around the globe. In order to guide the implementation of this Higher Ground Initiative, the design team has prepared a master plan and strategic process for Nauru, to assess the restoration and subsequent land development of the higher elevations of the island, commonly known as “Topside,” and establish an innovative vision for a sustainable and climate-responsive future for the Republic of Nauru.

14

Republic of Nauru. (2021). Updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC): Paris Agreement to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Republic of Nauru.

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The Higher Ground Initiative: Purpose The Higher Ground Initiative offers a transformational mandate for the nation. In the face of its challenges, the question is not whether Nauru will change, but instead:

Will Nauru continue the unsustainable practices of the past and suffer the unwanted change that escalating local and global crises bring, or will Nauru boldly respond to these challenges with a commanding approach to change and a sense of urgency to secure a sustainable future.

HGI answers this call with an island-wide vision for secure and resilient adaptation; to be a success, it requires cooperation and must ensure the wellbeing of all Nauruans. Its underlying Purpose is to direct the bold national response Nauru needs, sitting squarely within the intersectional imperatives the island is currently burdened by: Overcrowding, Economic Stagnation, and Climate Change.

The situation is especially dire when considering that overcrowding has been shown to contribute to social burdens including domestic violence,16 public physical and mental health constraints on adults17 as well as children,18 and reductions in well-being and future success metrics for children raised in over-crowded homes,19 all concerns in Nauru. In addition, many of these overcrowded homes have substandard construction and/or are unsafe for their inhabitants in any number of ways, and are located without nearby access to open spaces and public amenities. As a result, Nauru is in immediate need of a significant quantity of new housing development and existing housing retrofit, in order to address its overcrowding.

Overcrowding There is a severe housing shortage in Nauru leading to many residences being seriously overcrowded, and likewise much of the existing housing stock in Nauru is of poor overall quality.

As context, the current development pattern and living conditions in the country make it the most densely populated Pacific Island nation,15 and population density trend lines indicate that these conditions are likely to continue to become worse without intervention.

16

Cant, R. L. et al. (2019). Overcrowded housing: One of a constellation of vulnerabilities for child sexual abuse. Child Abuse & Neglect, 93, 239–248.

17

Jones-Rounds, M. K. L. et al. (2013). The interactive effects of housing and neighbourhood quality on psychological well-being.

Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 68(2), 171–175. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2013-202431

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Population density (people per sq. km of land area) - Nauru. (2022). The World Bank. Retrieved August 1, 2022, from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EN.POP. DNST?end=2020&locations=NR&most_recent_value_ desc=true&start=1961&view=chart

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Clair, A. (2018). Housing: An under-explored influence on children’s well-being and becoming. Child Indicators Research, 12(2), 609–626.

19

Henaku, Eugene. (2022). Experiences of children living in overcrowded homes: A case of Ghana. 15th International SAAFECS Conference, South Africa.

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The United Nations addresses housing access and neighbourhood quality as a key aspect of sustainable development, specifically in Sustainable Development Goal 11: Target 11.1

By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums.

Target 11.3

By 2030, enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries.

Target 11.7

By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities.

The Higher Ground Initiative provides the opportunity for the Government to quickly and demonstrably contribute to the construction of new, high-quality, affordable housing that is available to everyone, as well as the provision of nearby parks and public spaces that give all members in every age group and gender in the community access to recreational and cultural activity. Through the development of Topside and redevelopment of vulnerable/inneed areas of existing settlement, Nauru can provide safe and secure living conditions for all Nauruans with sweeping investment of the

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wide-scale development of a thoughtful and durable housing model that incorporates resilient technologies while reflecting the Nauruan way of life. In doing so, the Government can likewise provide meaningful action toward alleviating the social hardships that overcrowding can deepen, particularly those for women and children.

Utilizing materials available and/or manufactured on-island, and engaging a workforce drawn from the community to construct and maintain these new neighbourhoods, Nauru will be demonstrating a holistic approach to sustainable development, one that supports both its immediate and long-term needs. By leveraging the vision of HGI to attract international partnerships, and with investment of its own resources into planning and policy revision, Nauru can provide high-quality affordable housing that will ensure its availability and accessibility to all Nauruans, addressing overcrowding while remaining accountable to its sustainability objectives.

Image credit: U.S. Department of Energy’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program

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Economic Stagnation The vulnerability of the Nauruan economy is a concern that will only increase, without government-wide consideration for the ways in which the current stagnation might be addressed. Indeed, the factors influencing this stagnation are vast; however, as various traditional revenue sources including the national airline, the phosphate industry, and the fishing industry remain highly vulnerable, and as the cost and availability of imports continue to lack predictability, Nauru must take deliberate steps toward expanding economic opportunities, for individuals and for the country as a whole.20

existing businesses and industries are more likely to impede progress toward the Nauruan goal of decarbonization21 rather than contribute to its achievement, costing Nauru and Nauruans alike as energy prices fluctuate. By contrast, new sustainable infrastructure developed in conjunction with the Higher Ground Initiative will not only add to economic growth, but can encourage a just energy transition for the country through its intentional design utilizing renewable resources.

Contributing to the pressure that economic stagnation is placing on the nation, the current utilities and infrastructure systems in Nauru are heavily reliant on carbon-based resources, and 20

Nauru Country/Economy Profile. (2022). Asia Regional Integration Centre, Asian Development Bank. Retrieved August 1, 2022, from https://aric.adb.org/nauru

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21

Department of Finance and Sustainable Development. (2019).

National Sustainable Development Strategy 2019-2030: Revised 2019. Republic of Nauru.

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The United Nations addresses economic opportunity as a key aspect of sustainable development, specifically in Sustainable Development Goals 1, 4, 7, 8, 9, and 11: Target 1.4

By 2030, ensure that all men and women, in particular the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology and financial services, including microfinance.

Target 4.4

By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship.

Target 7.b

By 2030, expand infrastructure and upgrade technology for supplying modern and sustainable energy services for all in developing countries, in particular least developed countries, small island developing States, and landlocked developing countries, in accordance with their respective programmes of support.

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Target 8.2

Achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading and innovation, including through a focus on high-value added and laborintensive sectors.

Target 9.4

By 2030, upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable, with increased resource-use efficiency and greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies and industrial processes, with all countries taking action in accordance with their respective capabilities.

Target 11.a

Support positive economic, social and environmental links between urban, peri-urban and rural areas by strengthening national and regional development planning.

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The Higher Ground Initiative provides the opportunity for the Government to strategically and comprehensively expand opportunities for economic growth, shifting the nation from an extractive economic model to one that is regenerative. Through the implementation of an integrative approach to the development of Topside and redevelopment of vulnerable/in-need areas of existing settlement, Nauru can provide a broad platform for skills training, jobs creation, technological advancement, and economic expansion. The manufacturing of materials, the construction of buildings and infrastructure, and the establishment of new resiliencybased industries will contribute to expanded and improved economic growth for Nauru.

Furthermore, renewable resources deployed for new homes and businesses, transportation and utility systems, public works service provision, water management, food production, and the wide range of related sectors that can develop in response to the HGI vision, offer an arena to accelerate progress towards renewable energy goals while delivering their related economic benefits. Finally as HGI progresses, these same skills, products, resources, and businesses will become valuable outside the borders of Nauru, to other islands within the Pacific group and beyond, providing Nauru with a growing outlook for economic expansion.

Climate Change Full responsiveness to the changing global climate, and the countless ways in which it will impact life on Nauru for generations to come, will require the willing and active participation of all Nauruans, wholesale investment from all businesses and institutions on the island, a whole-of-government approach to policy reform and resiliency strategy development, and the buy-in of all international partners and support systems. Chief among the concerns for Nauru

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will be the threat of inundation to existing urban development and key infrastructure in low-lying coastal areas, as global sea level rise begins to impact Nauru.22

Exacerbating the burden on critical infrastructure and already-constrained housing that sea level rise will bring, alteration to global weather patterns will have a significant impact on the quality and security of daily life in Nauru. Not only will unstable rainfall patterns impact freshwater resources locally, but the consequences of altered weather patterns globally will impart unreliability in the imports of food, fuel, and other goods and materials that Nauru currently relies on for much of its daily needs. The threat that the global climate crisis poses to Nauru is extensive and has the potential to be devastating for the small island developing nation.

Image credit: Hadi Zaher from Melbourne, Australia, CC BY 2.0

22

Allis, M et al. (2020). Coastal flooding from sea in Nauru: Stage 1 -- level rise static inundation mapping. National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research Ltd (NIWA).

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The United Nations addresses climate adaptation as a key aspect of sustainable development, specifically in Sustainable Development Goals 2, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15: Target 2.4

By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality.

Target 6.1

By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all.

Target 7.1

By 2030, ensure universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services.

Target 9.a

Facilitate sustainable and resilient infrastructure development in developing countries through enhanced financial, technological and technical support to African countries, least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States.

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Target 11.3

By 2030, enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries,” with the Indicator.

Target 13.1

Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climaterelated hazards and natural disasters in all countries.

Target 13.2

Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning.

Target 13.3

Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning.

Target 15.1

By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements.

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Image credit: Lorrie Graham

The Higher Ground Initiative provides the opportunity for the Government to urgently and decisively adapt to the impending detrimental impacts of a changing global climate with its limited amount of land. Utilizing the initiative as an opportunity for innovation, the transition to climate-adaptive strategies across many sectors in Nauru through the implementation of HGI will offer a pivotal contribution toward a successful island-wide climate adaptation response. In particular, domestic renewable island-based energy generation and the implementation of greatly improved energy efficiencies across Nauru will reduce, and ideally ultimately eliminate, the need for reliance on imported fossil fuels.

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Additionally, the establishment of a reliable and technologically modernized local food production system along with the remediation of topsoil necessary to support a robust local agricultural industry, as well as the incorporation of strategies and technologies that can support harvesting of clean drinking water resources, will address the current reliance on foreign resources and can protect Nauruans with some amount of food and water security. With an island-wide approach to embedded climate resiliency established through the implementation of the vision of HGI, Nauru will be a leader in the global effort to adapt to climate change through the establishment of more safe, liveable, and sustainable communities.

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The Higher Ground Initiative: Needs In order to deliver on all aspects of the fundamental Purpose of the Higher Ground Initiative, the following Needs must be adequately and intentionally addressed through the implementation of a master plan for a resilient and secure future for Nauru. Drawing on the analysis and corresponding guidance, as outlined in the National Sustainable Development Strategy 2019-2030 (NSDS) and further detailed in the Republic of Nauru Framework for Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction (RONAdapt), the following reflects the specific ways in which the Vision of the Higher Ground Initiative will respond to the unique context of Nauru and the distinct yet interrelated challenges that the island nation currently faces.

To fully realize the Vision of the Higher Ground Initiative, Nauru must: Confront the need to provide a more adaptive environment that can better serve the people of Nauru and the quality of life on the island.

Implementation of the master plan must provide the opportunity to expand local food production, restore ecological and natural island systems, update to renewable and sustainable utilities and infrastructure, expand social and economic opportunity for all Nauruans, improve public health and increase access to public recreation, and establish a new, innovative, and regenerative approach to urban development for the Pacific region, one that appropriately reflects community as it is defined by Nauruans.

Confront the need to develop a domestic economy and infrastructure that is resilient in the face of increasingly detrimental climate impacts.

The island must develop an island-wide master plan and corresponding implementation and development approach that is responsive to the explicit threat of sea inundation to existing

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coastal development and investments, as well as the related threat of saltwater intrusion into freshwater aquifers. Likewise, the vision for HGI must be integrative and supportive of the broader social, economic, and ecological policies of Nauru, aligning national sustainable development and environmental priorities with the planning activities and implementation strategies of the master plan.

Confront the need to build independence from current reliance on foreign goods, services, resources, and funding sources. Because Nauru currently holds a scarcity of fertile agricultural land and fresh water resources, the island is susceptible to the unreliability of global shipping and trade networks. As a result, basic food and energy resources are currently reliant on foreign imports and the international systems by which those imports eventually reach Nauru. In order to increase national resilience and security in the face of global uncertainties, the vision of HGI must provide the means for the systems that will support these fundamental needs of Nauruans to be developed and maintained on the island, not dependent on external sources.

Confront the need to move away from the colonial legacy of phosphate mining, and the damage that it has done not only ecologically and environmentally, but socially and economically as well. Though mitigated by the 1968 Nauruan independence-led recovery of mining operations and improved standard of living resulting from the state-owned RONPHOS corporation, the impact of the exportation of the mineral wealth of the island has left compounding and lasting burdens which have now become central to the pillars that HGI has been built upon and that the master plan must be responsive to. What the mining operations have left behind is the ground on which the sustainable future of Nauru will be built.

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Confront the need to create a new model of urban development for the Pacific and for small island developing nations similar to Nauru, one which responds to the specific vulnerabilities and also unique opportunities present in many peer nation states. This urbanism must strengthen the capacity of individuals, institutions, and communities toward a shared resiliency against the uncertainties that the island may face in the decades to come. Likewise, it must celebrate the cultural heritage of Nauru, as it elevates the deep and meaningful relationship that Nauruans hold to the land. At the same time, this development strategy must represent the best examples of genuinely sustainable building practice, providing deliberately simple and profoundly reliable buildings that will meet the housing, enterprise, service, and recreational needs of every member of the community.

Confront the need to leverage untapped natural resources, in order to produce buildings and spaces that are inherently responsive to, rather than operationally at odds with, the natural conditions in Nauru. New construction must be capable of providing passive cooling and lighting, capturing the movement of prevailing winds and increasing availability of natural lighting throughout structures, thereby reducing overall energy load demands. Utilization of more efficient means of appliance and technology provision, water management, energy production, utility delivery, waste management, public service provision, and mobility options must be embedded into new development.

Confront the need for affordable climate finance necessary for the adaptation that all nations must pursue in order to protect their futures, starting with the disparately impacted nation-states of which Nauru is a key example. Identifying adequate funding for a transformational project of the scale of HGI will not be possible without

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the substantial engagement and contribution of supportive international funding partners who are appreciative of the economic constraints that Nauru faces and committed to supporting the small developing island nation in its pursuit of climate-based adaptation through managed migration. In addition, Nauru must gain access to grant-based resources as well as technical and capacity building support from international partners, in order to fully realize the vision documented in the master plan.

Confront the need to provide a Governmentwide response to resiliency that addresses the intersectionality of challenges and delivers coproduction of results. Outcomes of the vision for HGI must consistently deliver co-benefits, or added beneficial outcomes above and beyond the direct mitigation of climate impacts, in the policies and measures undertaken as a part of this initiative, in service to the limited resources that Nauru has access to. Strategies for implementation of this master plan must provide for a triple bottom line of benefit to social, environmental, and financial outcomes, ensuring a sustainable national economy invulnerable to changing political leadership and unsusceptible to opportunistic endeavors, supporting the island for generations to come. Improved living standards must be delivered through the economic and educational benefits of Nauruan participation in the skill-building and new enterprise and industry development that the implementation of the initiative will bring.

Confront the need to leverage untapped human resources, in order to provide an inclusive development strategy that empowers every Nauruan regardless of their age, gender, marital status, health, mobility, wealth, housing status, religion, or education to benefit from this generational island-wide undertaking. In developing the vision for HGI, the engagement

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of all Nauruans must be incorporated, in order to ensure that the well-being of every member of the community is taken into consideration and fully integrated into the planning and prioritysetting process. In its strategy for implementation of the master plan for HGI, the Government of Nauru must consider the holistic nature of the vulnerabilities of Nauruans, seeking to utilize the opportunities for skill-building and capacitydevelopment that the new industries, businesses, technologies, and knowledge of this initiative can provide to the community.

Confront the need to continue and expand the role of the island nation as an international leader, based on its national effort to address the impacts of global climate change. While the Higher Ground Initiative is indeed incredibly ambitious, it is also deeply necessary if Nauru is to survive both the known and still unknown impacts that the global climate crises will bring its way. The whole of Government has demonstrated, over the course of the development of this master plan, that they are committed to the action that this initiative represents, and will be integrating across sectors in order to align their mandates with the recommendations embedded in the master plan and its corresponding policy recommendations.

With this initiative, Nauru has and will continue to demonstrate the urgency and essentiality of the obligation that every nation state, including the smallest and most geographically remote, must have if the global community is to reverse the damage that our past and present harmful actions have incurred.

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SECTION 3.0 INFORMING FRAMEWORKS TO THE VISION OF THE HIGHER GROUND INITIATIVE

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Purpose + Need SECTION 3.0 Informing Frameworks to the Vision of the Higher Ground Initiative

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United Nations Sustainable Development Goals As the focal point of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, 23 the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their corresponding 169 targets were adopted in 2015 as a broad set of interdependent targets for this universal call to action by the United Nations to eradicate poverty, establish peace, and ensure the sustainability of the planet by the year 2030.

The SDGs work in concert, providing mutually supportive outcomes that work together to elevate the dignity, equity, and quality of life of all peoples on the planet, prioritizing those most vulnerable with collective global action toward prosperity and partnership.

23 United Nations, The 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable

Development Goals: An opportunity for Latin America and the Caribbean (LC/G. 2681-P/Rev. 3), Santiago, 2018.

In response to the need for Nauru to develop an island-wide master plan and corresponding implementation and development approach that provides a strategy that provides a more adaptive natural environment; supports an economy that is resilient to the shocks and strains of climate impact; restores local provision of goods, services, and resources; invests in initiatives that maximize efficiencies and provide co-benefits across sectors that respect environmental, social, economic, and cultural constraints; ensures participatory planning processes that deliver outcomes that will improve well-being for all Nauruans; and models an innovative approach to sustainable urban development, the following framework has been applied to the designs and recommendations of the master plan for HGI:

Goal 1: No Poverty: End poverty in all its forms everywhere.

Goal 5: Gender Equality: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

Goal 2: Zero Hunger: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.

Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.

Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.

Goal 4: Quality Education: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.

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Goal 14: Life Below Water: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development.

Goal 10: Reduced Inequality: Reduce inequality within and among countries.

Goal 15: Life on Land: Protect, restore, and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.

Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.

Goal 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels.

Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

Goal 17: Partnerships to Achieve the Goal: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.

Goal 13: Climate Action: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

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Neighbourhood Planning Principles The Charter of the New Urbanism Drafted to address the placelessness of modern development and the growing disparity in the health and wealth of neighbourhoods, the Charter of the New Urbanism offers a set of guiding principles by which policy and land development practice can provide more inclusive, more sustainable, and more resilient communities. The framework provides a call to action for neighbourhoods that are diverse in use and population; communities that are designed for the pedestrian and transit as well as the car; cities and towns that are shaped by physically defined and universally accessible public spaces and community institutions; and urban places that are framed by architecture and landscape design that celebrate local history, climate, ecology, and building practice.

In response to the need for Nauru to develop an island-wide master plan and corresponding implementation and development approach that provides a strategy that expands land for local food production; restores ecological and natural island systems; updates the island with renewable and sustainable utilities and infrastructure; expands social and economic opportunities; improves public health and increases access to public recreation; and establishes a new vision for Pacific sustainability and urban development, the following framework has been applied to the designs and recommendations of the master plan for HGI:

The Region: Metropolis, City, and Town 1. Metropolitan regions are finite places with geographic boundaries derived from topography, watersheds, coastlines, farmlands, regional parks, and river basins. The metropolis is made of multiple centres that are

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cities, towns, and villages, each with its own identifiable centre and edges.

The metropolitan region is a fundamental economic unit of the contemporary world.

Governmental cooperation, public policy, physical planning, and economic strategies must reflect this new reality.

The metropolis has a necessary and fragile relationship to its agrarian hinterland and natural landscapes. The relationship is environmental, economic, and cultural.

Farmland and nature are as important to the metropolis as the garden is to the house.

Development patterns should not blur or eradicate the edges of the metropolis. Infill development within existing urban areas conserves environmental resources, economic investment, and social fabric, while reclaiming marginal and abandoned areas. Metropolitan regions should develop strategies to encourage such infill development over peripheral expansion.

Where appropriate, new development contiguous to urban boundaries should be organized as neighbourhoods and districts, and be integrated with the existing urban pattern. Noncontiguous development should be organized as towns and villages with their own urban edges, and planned for a jobs/ housing balance, not as bedroom suburbs.

The development and redevelopment of towns and cities should respect historical patterns, precedents, and boundaries.

Cities and towns should bring into proximity a broad spectrum of public and private uses to support a regional economy that benefits people of all incomes. Affordable housing should be distributed throughout the region to match job opportunities and to avoid concentrations of poverty.

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8. The physical organization of the region should be supported by a framework of transportation alternatives. Transit, pedestrian, and bicycle systems should maximize access and mobility throughout the region while reducing dependence upon the automobile.

9. Revenues and resources can be shared more cooperatively among the municipalities and centres within regions to avoid destructive competition for tax base and to promote rational coordination of transportation, recreation, public services, housing, and community institutions.

The Neighbourhood, The District, and The Corridor 10. The neighbourhood, the district, and the corridor are the essential elements of development and redevelopment in the metropolis. They form identifiable areas that encourage citizens to take responsibility for their maintenance and evolution.

11. Neighbourhoods should be compact, pedestrian friendly, and mixed-use. Districts generally emphasize a special single use, and should follow the principles of neighbourhood design when possible. Corridors are regional connectors of neighbourhoods and districts; they range from boulevards and rail lines to rivers and parkways.

12. Many activities of daily living should occur within walking distance, allowing independence to those who do not drive, especially the elderly and the young.

Interconnected networks of streets should be designed to encourage walking, reduce the number and length of automobile trips, and conserve energy.

13. Within neighbourhoods, a broad range of housing types and price levels can bring people of diverse ages, races, and incomes into daily interaction, strengthening the

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personal and civic bonds essential to an authentic community.

14. Transit corridors, when properly planned and coordinated, can help organize metropolitan structure and revitalize urban centres. In contrast, highway corridors should not displace investment from existing centres.

15. Appropriate building densities and land uses should be within walking distance of transit stops, permitting public transit to become a viable alternative to the automobile.

16. Concentrations of civic, institutional, and commercial activity should be embedded in neighbourhoods and districts, not isolated in remote, single-use complexes. Schools should be sized and located to enable children to walk or bicycle to them.

17. The economic health and harmonious evolution of neighbourhoods, districts, and corridors can be improved through graphic urban design codes that serve as predictable guides for change.

18. A range of parks, from tot-lots and village greens to ballfields and community gardens, should be distributed within neighbourhoods.

Conservation areas and open lands should be used to define and connect different neighbourhoods and districts.

The Block, The Street, and The Building 19. A primary task of all urban architecture and landscape design is the physical definition of streets and public spaces as places of shared use.

20. Individual architectural projects should be seamlessly linked to their surroundings. This issue transcends style.

21. The revitalization of urban places depends on safety and security. The design of streets and buildings should reinforce safe environments, but not at the expense of accessibility and openness.

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22. In the contemporary metropolis, development must adequately accommodate automobiles.

It should do so in ways that respect the pedestrian and the form of public space.

23. Streets and squares should be safe, comfortable, and interesting to the pedestrian.

Properly configured, they encourage walking and enable neighbors to know each other and protect their communities.

24. Architecture and landscape design should grow from local climate, topography, history, and building practice.

25. Civic buildings and public gathering places

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require important sites to reinforce community identity and the culture of democracy. They deserve distinctive form, because their role is different from that of other buildings and places that constitute the fabric of the city.

26. All buildings should provide their inhabitants with a clear sense of location, weather and time. Natural methods of heating and cooling can be more resource-efficient than mechanical systems.

27. Preservation and renewal of historic buildings, districts, and landscapes affirm the continuity and evolution of urban society.

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The Canons of Sustainable Architecture and Urbanism Developed as a supplement to the Charter of the New Urbanism, the Canons of Sustainable Architecture and Urbanism is designed to serve as a set of operating principles for human settlement that reestablish the relationship between the art of building, the making of community, and the conservation of our natural world. In their application, actions must respond to local conditions and be continuously developed and refined over time. The Canons address the stewardship of all land and the full range of human settlement: water, food, shelter and energy. They simultaneously engage urbanism, infrastructure, architecture, landscape design, construction practice and resource conservation at all scales.

In response to the need for Nauru to develop an island-wide master plan and corresponding implementation and development approach that provides a strategy that empowers more adaptive and supportive land use across the island; is responsive to the threats imposed by climate change; supports the basic needs of Nauruans; produces buildings and spaces that passively respond to climate and context; and creates a new model of urban development that addresses the social, economic, and environmental vulnerabilities of small island developing nations, the following framework has been applied to the designs and recommendations of the master plan for HGI:

General 1. Human interventions in the built environment tend to be long lived and have long-term impacts. Therefore, design and financing must recognize long life and permanence rather than transience. City fabric and infrastructure must enable reuse, accommodating growth

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and change on the one hand and long-term use on the other.

The economic benefits shall be realized by investing in human settlements that both reduce future economic impacts of climate change and increase affordability. Patient investors should be rewarded by fiscal mechanisms that produce greater returns over the long term.

Truly sustainable design must be rooted in and evolve from adaptations to local climate, light, flora, fauna, materials and human culture as manifest in indigenous urban, architectural and landscape patterns.

Design must preserve the proximate relationships between urbanized areas and both agricultural and natural lands in order to provide for local food sources; maintain local watersheds; a clean and ready water supply; preserve clean air; allow access to local natural resources; conserve natural habitat and to guard regional biodiversity.

Globally, human settlements must be seen as part of the earth’s ecosystem.

The rural-to-urban transect provides an essential framework for the organization of the natural, agricultural and urban realms.

Buildings, neighbourhoods, towns and regions shall serve to maximize social inter- action, economic and cultural activity, spiritual development, energy, creativity and time, leading to a high quality of life and sustainability.

The Building and Infrastructure 1. The primary objective of the design of new buildings and the adaptive reuse of older ones is to create a culture of permanence with

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well-crafted, sound, inspired and beloved structures of enduring quality. Places shall promote longevity and the stewardship of both our natural and man-made environments.

Architecture and landscape design derive from local climate, flora, fauna, topo- graphy, history, cultures, materials and building practice.

Architectural design shall derive from local, time-honored building typologies. Building shells must be designed to be enduring parts of the public realm. Yet inter- nal building configurations must be designed to be flexible and easily adaptable over the years.

The preservation and renewal of historic buildings, districts and landscapes will save embodied energy, as well as contribute to cultural continuity.

Individual buildings and complexes shall both conserve and produce renewable energy wherever possible to promote economies of scale and to reduce reliance on costly fossil fuels and inefficient distribution systems.

Building design, configuration and sizes must reduce energy usage and promote easy internal vertical and horizontal walkability.

Approaches to energy design should include low technology, passive solutions that are in harmony with local climate to minimize unwanted heat loss and gain.

Renewable energy sources such as non-food source biomass, solar, geothermal, wind, hydrogen fuel cells and other non-toxic, non-harmful sources shall be used to reduce carbon and the production of greenhouse gasses.

Water captured as precipitate, such as rainwater and that internally harvested in and around individual buildings, shall be cleaned, stored and reused on site and allowed to percolate into local aquifers.

Water usage shall be minimized within structures and conserved through landscape

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strategies that mimic native climate, soil and hydrology.

10. Building materials shall be locally obtained, rapidly renewable, salvaged, recycled, recyclable and have low embodied energy.

Alternatively, materials shall be chosen for their durability, exceptional longevity and sound construction, taking advantage of thermal mass properties to reduce energy usage.

11. Building materials shall be non-toxic and noncarcinogenic with no known negative health impacts.

12. Food production of all kinds shall be encouraged in individual buildings and on their lots consistent with their setting in order to promote decentralization, self- sufficiency and reduced transportation impacts on the environment.

The Street, Block, and Network 1. The design of streets and the entire right-ofway shall be directed at the positive shaping of the public realm in order to encourage shared pedestrian, bicycle and vehicular use.

2. The pattern of blocks and streets shall be compact and designed in a well-connected network for easy, safe and secure walkability.

This will reduce overall vehicular usage by decreasing travel time and trip length. Design shall strive to minimize material and utility infrastructure.

3. The positive shaping of the public realm shall focus on creating thermally com- fortable spaces through passive techniques such as low albedo and shading with landscape and buildings. The techniques shall be consistent with local climate.

4. The design of the streets, blocks, platting, landscape and building typologies shall all be configured for both reduced overall energy usage and an enhanced quality of life in the public realm.

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5. Roadway materials shall be non-toxic and provide for water reuse through perco- lation, detention and retention. Green streets integrate sustainable drainage with the role of the street as defined public space. Their design shall maintain the importance of the building frontage and access to the sidewalk and roadway, balancing the desirability of surface drainage with the need for street connectivity and hierarchy.

6. A wide range of parking strategies (such as park-once districts, shared parking, parking structures, reduced parking requirements, minimized surface parking areas and vehicle sharing) shall be used to constrict the supply of parking in order to induce less driving and to create more human-scaled, amenable public space.

The Neighbourhood, Town and City 1. The balance of jobs, shopping, schools, recreation, civic uses, institutions, housing, areas of food production and natural places shall occur at the neighbourhood scale, with these uses being within easy walking distances or easy access to transit.

2. Wherever possible, new development shall be sited on underutilized, poorly designed or already developed land. Sites shall be either urban infill or urban- adjacent unless the building is rural in its program, size, scale and character.

3. Prime and unique farmland shall be protected and conserved. In locations with little or declining growth, additional agriculture, parklands and habitat rehabilitation shall be promoted on already urbanized or underutilized land.

4. Neighbourhoods, towns and cities shall be as compact as possible, with a range of densities that are compatible with existing places and cultures and that hew tightly to projected

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growth rates and urban growth boundaries while promoting lively mixed urban places.

5. Renewable energy shall be produced at the scale of neighbourhood and town as well as at the scale of the individual building in order to decentralize and reduce energy infrastructure.

6. Brownfields shall be redeveloped, utilizing clean-up methods that reduce or eliminate site contaminants and toxicity.

7. Wetlands, other bodies of water and their natural watersheds shall be protected wherever possible, and the natural systems which promote recharge of aquifers and prevent flooding should be restored wherever possible, consistent with the urban-torural transect and the desirability of urban waterfronts as public spaces of extraordinary impact and character.

8. Natural places of all kinds shall be within easy walking distance or accessible by transit. Public parklands and reserves shall be protected and the creation of new ones promoted.

9. Within neighbourhoods, a broad range of housing types, sizes and price levels for a population of diverse ages, cultures and incomes can provide for self-sufficiency and social sustainability, while promoting compact cities and regions.

10. A steady source of water and the production of a wide range of locally raised foods within an easily accessed distance establish the selfsufficiency and overall size of neighbourhoods and/or small towns. Nearby rural agricultural settlements shall be promoted to preserve local traditional foods and food culture.

11. Projects shall be designed to reduce light pollution while maintaining safe pedes- trian environments. Noise pollution should also be minimized.

12. The design of neighbourhoods and towns shall use natural topography and shall balance cut and fill in order to minimize site disturbance and avoid the import and export of fill.

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The Region 1. The finite boundaries of the region shall be determined by geographic and bio- regional factors such as geology, topography, watersheds, coastlines, farmlands, habitat corridors, regional parks and river basins.

2. Regions shall strive to be self-sustaining for food, goods and services, employment, renewable energy and water supplies.

3. The physical organization of the region shall promote transit, pedestrian and bicycle systems to maximize access and mobility while reducing dependence on automobiles and trucks.

4. The spatial balance of jobs and housing is enabled at the regional scale by extensive transit systems. Development shall be primarily organized around transit lines and hubs.

5. The siting of new development shall prefer already urbanized land. If undeveloped land is used, then the burden for exceptional design, demonstrable longevity and environmental sensitivity shall be more stringent and connections to the region shall be essential.

6. Sensitive or virgin forests, native habitats and prime farmlands shall be conserved and protected. Imperiled species and ecological communities shall be protected. Projects to regenerate and recreate additional agricultural areas and natural habitat shall be promoted.

7. Wetlands, other bodies of water and their natural watersheds and their habitats shall be protected.

8. Development shall be avoided in locations that disrupt natural weather systems and induce heat islands, flooding, fires or hurricanes.

Image credit: Nauru Department of Commerce, Industry and Environment - Agriculture Division Facebook page

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HGI Land Portion #230 Principles of Land Reform There are many ways to reform land tenure, and the system in which it is defined. Any proposed land reform options, and specifically the development of a land tenure system for the Republic of Nauru, should be based on a set of agreed principles. The following outlines a zero-draft set of recommended principles for land reform, taking into account the international and national priorities and commitments to a sustainable and resilient future for Nauru:

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1. Should be voluntary, as far as possible. This requires empowerment and understanding in a whole of government approach to ensure that the process is truly voluntary rather than compulsory. A voluntary approach for the Nauruan population is best undertaken with strong community engagement.

Advocating for a voluntary approach will also embed the reforms and ensure r more sustainable implementation as well as effective accommodation of the affected population.

2. Must be founded on Nauruan culture, historical and natural heritage, values, and practices. The reform should be informed by the relationships Nauruans have with each other and their land and environment. In doing so, further context and details on Nauruan culture should be explicitly prepared to shape the policies, issues and solutions.

3. Adopts participatory principles in planning and implementation. Starting with the whole of government, planning for the people with the people will be essential to providing a solution that creates co-ownership and a desire for cooperative action and responsiveness to public needs and thus ongoing sustainability. Under this principle the reform process should also accommodate issues identified as key by Nauruans, and ensure there are responsive measures in place to manage known issues raised through consultations, such as inadequacy of housing,

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inadequate sanitation, sea level changes and the threats of climate change etc.

Requires pragmatic design based on Nauruan administrative capacity. The scale of design, implementation and maintenance must reflect the social, environmental and economic realities of Nauru and the government and non-government capacity to absorb changes and respond to new demands. The scale and capacity to administer reform in Nauru is likely to be limited due to the nation’s size, and this limitation must guide reform design principles.

Should employ a human-rights based approach. Human rights-based approaches are about turning human rights from purely legal instruments into effective policies, practices, and practical realities. A human rights based approach understands the end goal of land tenure reform, and provides for equity in the recognition of land interests and opportunities for grievances to be identified and resolved.

Identifies and incorporates vulnerable group’s needs and views through a consultative and participatory process. Gender equality, poverty and social inclusion must be addressed through a consultative and participatory process to ensure vulnerable groups’ needs and views are understood and responded to. Affirmative action is often required to ensure adequate resources and strategies are in place to incorporate the needs and perspectives of youth, women, people living with a disability, those absent from Nauru, and other vulnerable people.

Should be based on adaptation rather than replacement of Nauruan custom. Policies, laws, and systems to assist the land reform process should not replace current customary systems but should be developed to augment and grow with customary processes as possible. It should be recognized that customary processes are not static, and that flexibility may be required to ensure measures meet the needs of Nauru, both today and in the future.

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SECTION 4.0 INTRODUCTION TO THE MASTER PLAN OF THE HIGHER GROUND INITIATIVE

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Purpose + Need SECTION 4.0 Introduction to the Master Plan of the Higher Ground Initiative

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Planning Process In order to produce a master plan that could competently and empathetically deliver a comprehensive vision for the Higher Ground Initiative, with thorough understanding of and responsiveness to the context of the Republic of Nauru, the year-long planning process of this project was broken into phases. The design team began with an exhaustive desktop analysis of the data, reporting, and policy documentation available for the island, followed by a lengthy design development process. Once draft

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designs and corresponding recommendations were complete, they were presented in a design review process that utilized a series of workshops to support refinement of proposals based on the wide considerations necessary for successful implementation. Final designs and guidance documents were then produced, and reporting was completed to provide a full compilation of the understandings, designs, and recommendations that have been developed throughout the HGI master planning process.

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Analysis: Review of Existing Conditions In order to develop a vision for the future of Nauru that is reflective of the unique geographical, topographical, ecological, hydrological, social, cultural, and economic context of the island and its people, a thorough desktop analysis of the existing conditions of the island was undertaken by the design team at the inception of the project. Previous documentation, including the Master Land Use Plan (1994) and Nauru Water and Sanitation Master Plan (2017), as well as many Government reports and planning documents, was thoroughly reviewed, in conjunction with consultation with current Government departments and agencies, in the development of a detailed understanding of the Nauruan context.

In addition, a Scoping Workshop was facilitated with the HGI Steering Committee, in order to serve the need of the design team to confirm and expand on the understandings gained remotely during the discovery process.

Design: Draft Proposal Development During the creation of draft design and recommendation development, the design team worked to integrate the understandings gained through the previous analysis phase of the work, with the best practices in urban design, architecture, and land planning and administration. Proposals were developed to respond to the specific purposes and needs associated with the particular recommendation area of the project scope, as well as to seamlessly integrate the various informing frameworks of the project while assimilating the purposes and needs associated with other recommendation areas, as relevant and appropriate. The draft proposals were developed and advanced in ongoing consultation amongst members of the design

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team, in preparation for a complementary series of virtual workshops with Nauru stakeholders, in order for the remote design team to attain a thorough review of the proposals from local experts and officials.

Implementation: Design Review and Document Completion Through four virtual workshops focused on 1.

Buildings and Private Spaces, 2. Civic Assets and Public Spaces, 3. Utilities and Infrastructure Systems, and 4. Development Implementation Strategy, the design team presented the draft designs and recommendations to relevant stakeholders in Nauru for review and consultation.

Each workshop session afforded the opportunity for stakeholder groups to share valuable insights and offer critical input into the draft proposals, and the design team was able to seek important clarifications through the robust discussions.

Following the virtual workshops, proposals were then refined based on workshop findings and the assembly of this multi-volume compilation of documents was finished, concluding delivery of the scope of the HGI master planning project and this phase of work.

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A Note on Limitations to the Process Due to the COVID-19 pandemic occurring globally throughout the course of this project, and as a byproduct of both international travel restrictions and in the interest of public health and safety, the design team was forced to engage in an entirely remote production and delivery of services, using various communications platforms to facilitate coordination, discussion, and engagement with project stakeholders. Virtual workshops were facilitated remotely with the on-island support of the HGI Steering Committee and their support team in Nauru, and were aimed at testing plans

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and designs with key stakeholders in order to ensure designs and recommendations addressed local social and cultural context, community needs, and Nauruan values. This approach was an attempt to provide needed feedback, but in no way was intended or interpreted to represent the necessary and valuable nature of meaningful engagement with the broader community.

Indeed, future post-pandemic phases of the project will afford more safe, appropriate, and accessible opportunities for this important public consultation to take place.

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Areas of Recommendation In order to document the vision that the Government and citizens of Nauru will require, to be able to fully implement the Higher Ground Initiative, a series of design and development deliverables were required that would record existing conditions and describe the corresponding design of various urban, infrastructure, and architectural elements, as well as provide the policy recommendations necessary to guide a successful implementation.

Prior to the project, Nauru had insufficient mapping of the existing conditions of its developable land and was in need of improved documentation of the current conditions, in addition to its need for master planning for all aspects of the vision of HGI including community structure, connectivity means, public realm amenities, and architectural morphology, all of which are offered within this body of work.

Nonetheless the complete refinement of plans and related regulations should be conducted in engagement and consultation, not only with vested stakeholders but with the broader Nauruan community as a whole, to ensure that the established vision is reflective of a future representing the desires and well-being of the entire Republic of Nauru. As has been noted, while key stakeholder engagement was possible during facilitation of the project timeline, broader consultation will be necessary in future phases, in order to fully meet this objective.

land management system that supports social, economic and private sector development is imperative for Nauru to meet the mandate established by the Higher Ground Initiative. It is important that this system be embedded within community practice, and socially legitimated, in order to remain up to date, to address and reduce land conflicts, and to ultimately promote land productivity and Government service provision. As part of future phases, there remains the need for development of a policy framework for land conveyancing, to facilitate a functioning land market that will allow the HGI vision to be fully implemented; as with the master plan, this framework should be broadly consulted, with clear recognition of custom as well as the existing legal environment.

Ongoing land tenure and administration support will also be necessary, to fully underpin the master plan and enable future conveyancing, regulation, and socially and environmentally sustainable and safeguarded detailed land use planning. Land use planning to date has been constrained by challenges of institutional capacity, legislative limitations, and insufficient integration with and recognition by traditional land tenure arrangements. However, a transparent and fair

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As the first volume of the final project documentation, Volume 1: Purpose + Need has provided an introduction to the Higher Ground Initiative and the master planning project deliverables including the foundational goals and mandate of the initiative, the purpose of this undertaking and the needs that must be confronted with this body of work, the principle frameworks on which the response has been based, and the national and global context in which the work has been applied. The subsequent reporting for this master planning body of work includes three primary Areas of Recommendation:

Volume 2: Housing + Architecture, including recommendations related to the proposed modular system for housing provision and the corresponding variations and aggregations possible with this system, as well as details of proposed form and construction, the recommended method for arranging block patterns, and the utilization of this system in site planning for Land Portion 230 and adjacent to the Port; Volume 3: Land Planning + Resiliency, including urban design and development recommendations related to the detailed site planning for Land Portion 230, the potential expansion of development beyond government-controlled property on Topside, the potential new Township adjacent to the Port, and the comprehensive island wide master plan, as well as those recommendations related to infrastructure and utilities, land remediation and grading, and the design of thoroughfares and open spaces; and Volume 4: Land Tenure + Social Safeguarding, a summary of the relationship of Land Tenure policy to the master planning process and the Higher Ground Initiative, including an analysis of the land tenure and administration context in Nauru, an overview of the social context and safeguarding needs for the master planning project, an evaluation of the tenure and planning options that would address the housing challenges across the island, and an outline of next steps for ensuring feasibility of the implementation of the vision for the initiative.

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can achieve unlikely variety and a true reflection of individual preference from only a handful of actual house types. Beyond plan types, assemblies can vary to give even more variety through window types, the percentage of glass or shutters utilized, the detailing of entries located directly on the street or from inner yards. Any discretionary expense can be used to great effect, and thus provides the unique customization that will reflect the character of Nauruan life in each new house.

Renderings of Land Portion 230

Volume 2: Housing + Architecture In response to the need for safe, affordable, and accessible housing in order for the Government to address the burden that overcrowding places on the country, the design team has designed a strategy for new housing and architecture in Nauru. The proposed housing is based on a modular system, where a core housing module serves as the base upon which a wide variety of options to both plan and detailing can be applied.

The studies included in this volume take a limited number of plan types with relatively constant cross-sections and adapt their layout or change their orientation to the street, efficiently providing a breadth of variety and a platform for customization.

Included throughout the volume, design renderings of the detailed site planning and housing proposals that have been developed for Land Portion 230 illustrate the experience that these proposals will create when built. The digitally rendered images provide a realistic detailed view of the scale of development, the design of buildings, and the experience of open spaces as designed for LP230. An overall aerial rendering gives a birds-eye view of the development pattern. In addition, both aerial and ground-level renderings show: the central large public space and the surrounding civic and commercial and/or mixed-use buildings, the neighbourhood focused on one of the two church squares included in the plan, that same church square in closer detail, and various neighbourhood streets and open spaces found throughout the master plan.

Affordability was a crucial objective of the proposals, and the important constant for saving money with the proposed housing system is the designed cross-section. Length can vary for flexibility, bedroom wings can be extended, simple houses can be expanded over time into various shapes. Frontages and setbacks can be constant or vary, and orientations can vary as well.

Importantly, even with these limited and relatively inexpensive planning variables, neighbourhoods

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in LP230 would expand outward and eventually reflect a level of growth indicative of a new Township. The pattern for this expansion would be based on the block pattern developed for and established with the housing strategy of LP230, and systemic considerations such as connectivity between Boat Harbors, provision of additional civic and institutional facilities and infrastructure needs, and conservation of viable agricultural and ecological remediation land, have been incorporated.

Volume 3: Land Planning + Resiliency The scope of this project focused on provision of a detailed design for the Government-controlled property defined as Land Portion 230. The design team has developed a series of plans depicting a detailed design for the property, showing location and platting of all public and private properties, surface infrastructure and utilities, and schematic design of parks, playgrounds, and public and civic amenities. The plans illustrate the location and disposition of all buildings, open spaces, streets, and cultural and/or community facilities.

The resulting detailed site plan demonstrates a new model of Pacific sustainability and urban development.

The island wide master plan provides an illustrative documentation of the master land use vision established for the realization of the Higher Ground Initiative and the future development of the entire island of Nauru. The master plan actively and intentionally incorporates Pillars of the Higher Ground Initiative, including: economic diversification; affordable green housing; education and training; energy security; food security; water security; public health; and low/ zero emissions transport; and does so while employing the design principles of neighbourhood planning as well as the Sustainable Development Goals, producing a vision for Nauru that is inherently secure and resilient.

As the implementation of Land Portion 230 gains momentum, it is expected that neighboring property owners will be interested in participating in the significant development happening on Topside. In order to ensure that such interest can adequately align with a common vision, one that reinforces the Pillars of the Higher Ground Initiative and is rooted in neighbourhood planning principles and sustainable development goals, detailed site design consideration has been given to how the development pattern modeled

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Street Sections

Renderings of Land Portion 230

To ensure that development on LP230 is consistent with the principles of walkability and sustainability that are central to a neighbourhood planning approach, careful consideration must be given to the specific design of all streets, roads, rear lanes, and pedestrian passageways and trails. The street sections included in this volume provide a visual cross-section representation of the various thoroughfare types that will be utilized in the construction of LP230, and include measurements of the provision for vehicular lanes, bicycle lanes, vehicular parking provision, pedestrian footpaths, and tree planting in the overall width of each type of thoroughfare.

Included throughout the volume, design renderings of the detailed site planning and housing proposals that have been developed for Land Portion 230 illustrate the experience that these proposals will create when built. The digitally rendered images provide a realistic detailed view of the scale of development, the design of buildings, and the experience of open spaces as designed for LP230. An overall aerial rendering gives a birds-eye view of the development pattern. In addition, both aerial and ground-level renderings show: the central large public space and the surrounding civic and commercial and/or mixed-use buildings, the neighbourhood focused on one of the two church squares included in the plan, that same church square in closer detail, and various neighbourhood streets and open spaces found throughout the master plan.

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Volume 4: Land Tenure + Social Safeguarding In order to adequately position the designs for the vision of the Higher Ground Initiative, with the realities of land tenure in Nauru, a thorough analysis of the policy and practical context was undertaken during the initial research phase of the project. The resulting assessment provides a broad overview of the current status and identifies key opportunities, needs, and challenges that exist now, and which may further evolve as Nauru embarks on implementation of its ambitious plans for HGI. Findings illustrate the land-related foundations for realizing the master plan and development of Land Portion 230 as well as the broader aims of HGI, and thus provide the basis for collaboratively developing action plans of short, medium, and long term timeframes with the Government and people of Nauru.

In support of a just approach to project implementation, a high-level overview of the social context of Nauru and existing development partner safeguarding policies was developed, to ensure a common understanding of preliminary potential social safeguarding issues and to support future social safeguards action under

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the project. Further reporting on regional and global examples supporting pro-poor housing through reforms to land tenure and land use planning provide insights into the tenure and planning options that Nauru could adopt, in order to support an improved housing situation and respond to the overcrowding challenges the country faces. Additionally, a strategic review was presented of pressing decisions regarding the current land tenure regime that the Government must consider in anticipation of implementation, most immediately for Land Portion 230 but also for future development of the new township and eventual completion of the island wide master plan. Case studies of similar challenges to those in Nauru, drawn from contexts around the Pacific, offer helpful lessons for the Government to consider, as it addresses its own land tenure challenges and embarks on future phases of the project.

Image credit: Beamte der Pacific Phosphate Co.Ltd. und Ergänzungen von Paul Hambruch, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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Integration of Areas of Recommendation While documented as unique categories, each with its own individual report volume, the three primary Areas of Recommendation were advanced in concert throughout the project. The team practiced coordinated design and internal review processes to ensure the creation of an interdependent and integrative development strategy for HGI. The Pillars of the Higher Ground Initiative have been embedded into all aspects of the planning and recommendation development of the project. The results of this integration of economic diversification, affordable green housing, education and training, energy security, food security, water security, public health, low/ zero-emissions transport, environmental restoration, land rehabilitation, as well as affordable finance and good governance, are all specifically demonstrated through the details of various aspects of the site design for Land Portion 230 as a model of the HGI vision.

Utilizing the development contexts of the neighbourhood centre, the township park, a typical neighbourhood park, a typical private open space on an individual lot, an example of inland preservation, an example of coastal preservation, and an example of commercial agriculture, the manner in which the Pillars of HGI are applied has been graphically represented.

Descriptions of details of their implementation and opportunities for their further investment are also documented and described. Similarly, the Pillars of HGI have been incorporated into the preparation of all housing and architectural designs for LP230, as well as the island wide master plan, establishing a comprehensive scheme for resiliency in the development (and redevelopment) of Nauru with designs and recommendations that reinforce each other and directly engage all nine goals of HGI. In this way, Nauru not only inaugurates a new chapter in its nationhood with a visionary investment in the future of the country, but also leads by example,

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demonstrating to other small island developing nations that the initiative is feasible and replicable.

In addition to fully integrating the Pillars of the Higher Ground Initiative into the project proposals, the design team has applied sustainability best practices, as described by the UN Sustainable Development Goals, reinforcing the commitment of the Republic of Nauru to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Furthermore, the planning approach employed in this body of work is based on the design principles of time tested communities that result in inherently resilient development, especially in regards to energy consumption and economic sustainability.

Community-based master plans promote healthier populations, broader participation in social and economic opportunities, and are less damaging to the natural environment. The model is similar throughout the world, based on a short pedestrian walk to most daily needs, a mix of housing options and densities, an interconnected network of streets and pedestrian ways, a generous distribution of open spaces within walking distance of all residences, and the prominent location of civic institutions dispersed throughout the community. Throughout all three volumes of the individual Areas of Recommendation, the design team has attempted to provide evidence of these informing frameworks and explanation of the integration of topical areas of design and recommendation.

Image credit: Hadi Zaher from Melbourne, Australia, CC BY 2.0

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Plan for Implementation Regardless of how ambitious its goals or how thorough its methodology, a master plan will only be valuable to its recipients if it includes a corresponding road map for realization. In response to this obligation, the design team has developed a program for further investigation of context, refinement of proposals, engagement of stakeholders, and participation of the community in the safeguarded implementation of the vision of the Higher Ground Initiative. The following Plan for Implementation should not be seen as a complete set of steps needed to fully realize the project as designed, but rather an immediate strategy for operationalizing the vision documented within this body of work toward a just and sustainable generational transition, realized through the island-wide initiative of HGI. Four key implementation project areas are necessary, in order to sufficiently leverage the design intentions of the master planning work toward immediate and practicable outcomes that are successfully aligned with the long term goals of HGI. Those project areas include: 1. Food Security & Environmental Projects, including investigations and/or reviews, prioritization setting, and implementation planning; 2. Land Portion 230 Master Plan Refinements; 3. Architectural Design Development, specifically for LP230; and 4. Land Tenure Administration & Policy Investigations and Implementation Planning.

Food Security & Environmental Projects Work to progress projects focused on food security and environmental considerations should include analysis of Nauru’s hydrology, geology, landscape and cultural values, ecology and biosecurity, agriculture and aquaculture, and transport infrastructure, and involve consultation by engineering consultants with Government officials, community leaders, industry

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representatives, other practitioners likewise working in the Nauruan context including the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Global Environment Facility (GEF), and their consultancy partners. Ongoing coordination of all of these activities and analyses with stakeholders at the Department of Climate Change and National Resilience (CCNR) will be vital, particularly as prioritization setting and implementation planning commence. As part of those tasks, detailed constraints and opportunities mapping will need to be produced, off-island touring of example(s) of existing aquaculture, agri-tech, and mining remediation locations, as well as dialogue with government and industry sector representatives.

From this research and consultation, thorough strategies for landscape and ecology rehabilitation, energy resource transition, transport integration, agriculture and aqua-culture capacity development, and especially, strategic spatial planning that is fully integrated with the Nauru Sustainable Urban Development Project (NSUDP) planning should be developed, providing a clear project implementation plan for HGI.

Refinement of Plan for Land Portion 230 Every master plan must evolve as understanding evolves, and so ongoing review and refinement of the master plan for LP230 should be performed in concert with engineering assessments developed through the various environmental project areas, including findings related to existing hydrological, geological, and ecological conditions of the property and its immediate surroundings.

Furthermore, proposals detailed within the master plan should be consulted through a broad community engagement process, in order to ensure that the neighbourhood designed for LP230 reflects the complete perspective of needs, aspirations, and expectations of the community.

On-island investigation of existing development patterns and housing conditions, commercial

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capacity and service provision, cultural values and community practices, and technical and logistical feasibility of development should be performed in order to ensure that the master plan for the 10 hectare Government owned property can successfully serve as the inaugural phase of implementation response to the HGI mandate.

Ongoing review and refinement of details of the island wide master plan will be necessary throughout future decades of implementation to continually ensure each subsequent phase is responding to that mandate while adapting to the changing needs of Nauru.

Architectural Design Development Design development of the buildings that will be constructed throughout LP230 should include the evolution of design proposals being developed for housing, mixed-use buildings, and civic buildings including their relationships to the streets, sidewalks, and parking. Documentation of floor plans for various alternatives, framing plans, cross sections of buildings, and building elevations will be advanced to the design development level of detail with the goal of solidifying final designs for the variety of building types identified in the LP230 Site Plan. Mixed-use building design should be advanced with priority given toward maximum program and use flexibility, such that designs can be customized for specific internal configurations and identified end-users during future design and construction phases. Housing design should be advanced with attention paid to building foundation, ground floor slab, floor plan, roof framing, elevations, cross sections, wall sections, and construction details, especially those that are important to the goals of housing provision set by the master plan.

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and policy, with a specific focus on planning for HGI project implementation, should provide the tools needed to enable the development of LP230 according to the master plan. Work to establish the basis for allocating land and/or housing on LP230 should include the development of a land and a land use policy, as well as frameworks for land disputes and the establishment of legal basis for land mobilization. Support for the expansion of administrative capacity should be provided including instituting system improvements to existing land allocation processes and procedures, and the establishment of improved digital land and spatial information and management systems.

Because the HGI program is considered a highrisk program, and in order to adequately meet the international standards of environmental and social safeguards that are a likely requirement of external financing, the preparation of preliminary environmental and social safeguard risk screening and mitigation is essential for implementation.

Risk screening should be followed by the development of an Environmental and Social Safeguard Management Framework (ESMF) and Plan (ESMP), and appropriate training should be undertaken to ensure key safeguarding skills are retained in-country. A stakeholder engagement plan must be developed, and should be maintained and updated throughout the process of implementation of the HGI vision, with prioritization on supporting the familial relationship to land over a market-driven approach that might lead to further, climate-based gentrification. Furthermore, initiating a robust process of community consultation, beginning with for housing options utilized on LP230 to serve as a valuable pilot for the institution of new key processes in land mobilization in Nauru, will provide additional opportunity to daylight landbased vulnerabilities and mitigate exacerbation thereof.

The investigation of land tenure administration

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Looking Ahead Any master plan, and especially one of the islandwide scale to which the Republic of Nauru has engaged with this body of work documenting a vision for the Higher Ground Initiative, are meant to be utilized as guideposts rather than all-ornothing propositions. They are intended to convey a mission-critical strategy to address the purposes and meet the needs of the mandate they represent. These proposals provide the Government of Nauru with an indispensable body of knowledge on how to proceed; together with committed partners and avid participation of all vested stakeholders, the next steps can be taken and the Plan for Implementation can begin. Led by the HGI Steering Committee, the necessary domestic mobilization for that implementation will rely on the complete and eager participation of three groups: the Nauruan Government, the Private Sector, and the Nauruan Public.

Embedded within the master planning process has been an intentional Whole-of-Government approach, whereby all relevant Heads of Departments have been convened and will continue to be brought into collaboration, in order to incorporate the necessary breadth of governmental priorities and departmental mandates into the decision-making processes for the Higher Ground Initiative. A variety of virtual workshops have been convened, and open lines of communication have been secured and maintained, in all areas of government relevant to the realization of the vision for HGI. The consistent alignment of all ministries in Nauru will not only streamline the implementation of HGI across sectors, but will ensure that partners seeking to support the endeavor have confidence in its successful outcome. The intentional targeting of all levels of Nauruan Government in order to support a fully-integrative approach to vision-keeping will and must continue into subsequent phases of the project, to guarantee successful implementation, to provide for all

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needed adaptations throughout the lifecycle of development of Topside, and to ensure a legacy of shared ownership, for the mandates and likewise the resulting outcomes of this initiative, The Private Sector will be a critical source to fuel the demand for the vision that the Higher Ground Initiative has established. A wide range of new businesses and even the development and growth of entire industries will need to occur, for the proposals included within HGI to be realized, and the opening for Nauruans to be the human resource for that need is an extraordinary one. Expansion of the skills, knowledge, and capabilities of Nauruans will be critical to ensuring that this project is not only being executed for Nauruans but also by Nauruans. With support from existing institutions and international partners, the new approaches and supporting policies that HGI represents will create a oncein-a-generation occasion for the construction, technology, financial, agricultural, and commercial sectors in particular to meet the moment with new and innovative trades and services. Their participation in developing the strategies for implementation of the initiative will be necessary, to ensure this opportunity is fully achieved.

Finally, the Citizens of Nauru are the life source of the nation, and both the key constituents as well as the chief mobilization that will make real the plans and policies that have been developed through the Higher Ground Initiative. It is essential that this climate-responsive transition that HGI establishes be just, sustainable, and secure, and while the Government and the Private Sector will provide important leadership and hold significant responsibility in the implementation of HGI, so too must the public of Nauru both inform and likewise demand results that are fair and future-proofed.1 The wellbeing – that is

1 McCauley, D., & Heffron, R. (2018). Just transition: Integrating

climate, Energy and Environmental Justice. Energy Policy, 119, 1–7.

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the belonging, safety, choice, opportunity, and meaningful access to tangible resources – of all Nauruans must be incorporated into the decisions made in implementation of this initiative, and ongoing outreach and education, as well as meaningful consultation, must be provided to the Nauruan public in order to promote a culture of engagement with HGI. Regular and fully accessible tours of Land Portion 230, town hall meetings, and community workshops must be established and continued, to solidify public access to the plans and policies of HGI and to fully vest the public in its successful implementation. Ultimately, the lengthy implementation process of the Higher Ground Initiative will require a breadth and depth of consultations, across all sectors of Nauruan society and inclusive of all people who will be impacted by its evolving implications, in order to best understand and incorporate the context of vulnerabilities that this initiative must remain responsive to. As the 2022 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns, vulnerable equity-seeking groups will be as disproportionately burdened by socalled maladaptation that may come from poorly planned climate adaptation projects, as they are already by the disparate impacts of climate change.2 International mobilization for the project will require the active participation and strategic leveraging of a wide array of partners and networks who share interests with the priorities embedded into HGI and can support Nauru in its need for technical support, capacity building, and financial backing in order to realize the

2 IPCC, 2022: Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation,

and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, M. Tignor, E.S. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Craig, S. Langsdorf, S. Löschke, V. Möller, A. Okem, B. Rama (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press.

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vision of the project. Thanks to the progressive role that Nauru has played as a leader in climate response at the international level, the island nation is poised to secure the strong and reliable partnership coalition needed for implementation of the HGI vision, including regional and international development agencies and organizations, 3 bilateral development partnerships with fellow resilience-focused nation-states,4 international financial institutions,5 and additional philanthropic partnerships.6 The burden of the intersection of crises that Nauru faces is significant, yet it holds a commonality to so many communities around the globe. Realizing the vision of HGI will not only serve the well being of Nauruans, but the inspiration needed in so many similar global communities as well.

As the design team contracted to facilitate the Higher Ground Initiative master planning process and provide support in its implementation, we are committed to producing a design and development strategy for the Republic of Nauru that delivers feasible, functional, and beautiful communities. Our body of work for HGI intends

3 Possible organizational partners include: UN Habitat, UN

Convention on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), UN Foundation, UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Global Green Growth Institute, Pacific Community (SPC), UN Development Programme (UNDP), UN Environment Programme (UNEP), International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), International Organization for Migration (IOM), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All), UN Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and the Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS), and the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC SIDS Unit).

4 Possible bilateral partners include but are not limited to:

Australia and New Zealand, Nordic Council of Ministers (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland), Germany (GIZ), Italy, India, Taiwan, United States (USAID), Japan, Korea, Singapore, and UAE.

5 Possible international financial institutional partners include: the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the World Bank (WB), the European Development Fund (EDF), and the Adaptation Fund (AF).

6 Possible corporate partners include: Bloomberg Philanthropies, Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and Bezos Family Foundation.

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to offer flexibility that will allow this multi-decade project to evolve with those impacts of the global climate change that are still unknown and respond to the unanticipated needs that these changes may bring, while bearing a planned vision that remains faithful to the charge at the core of HGI: to provide for a sustainable, resilient, and secure future for all Nauruans. The Housing + Architecture proposals intend to deliver a living human habitat that functions in harmony with

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nature, the Land Planning + Resiliency proposals intend to deliver urban design and supporting infrastructure that is a model in responsive development, and the Land Tenure + Social Safeguarding proposals intend to deliver land policy and development approach that is just and supportive for all Nauruans. Taken together, this body of work has sought to embed parity and provide purpose, through a hopeful and lasting vision for the future of the Republic of Nauru.

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“In nature, nothing exists alone.”

Rachel Carson, Silent Spring In 1962, when scientist and author Rachel Carson sounded a bellwether on the vulnerability of our natural world with the publication of Silent Spring, she could not have anticipated the very uncertain interdependent future we must now reckon with, as a planet in crisis.

The preceding has attempted to represent the position that the Republic of Nauru finds itself facing, and the subsequent volumes attempt to document a proposed path forward. Nauruans today are the future ancestors of their grandchildren, and with care and commitment, the implementation of the Higher Ground Initiative has the capability to serve as a living contract to these generations, one that assures their safety, security, and resiliency in that unknown world to come.

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