Creating social change through humanitarian architecture

A community resource centre in a rural region in Fiji is empowering the lives of indigenous women.

Facilitated by Architects Without Frontiers, the Cakaudrove Women's Resource Centre Project in Savusavu, Fiji, demonstrates the impact of design on creating social change.

The Cakaudrove Women's Resource Centre Project (CWRC) in Savusavu on Vanua Levu was a project undertaken by Esther Charlesworth’s humanitarian architecture practice Architects Without Frontiers (AWF). The Centre is a community facility for women in the local region, giving them access to safe, temporary accommodation, and a place to sell their craft and other wares, and access health and education services. The Great Hall was completed in 2018, with additional building projects completed in 2022.

With just under half of the population of Fiji living in rural areas, many rural communities lack access to essential services and resources to improve their lifestyles. In recent years, and especially with the impact of Covid 19, a previous reduction in national poverty statistics has stagnated. This is particularly true in rural communities where the percentage of families living in poverty remains at 41.5%.¹ The Northern Division of Fiji where the Cakaudrove province is located is home to some of the most remote and financially disadvantaged rural communities.²

This resource centre and the associated structures address a lack of women's services in Cakaudrove. Named the ‘A’I Tatadra’ – ‘dreaming the dream,’ the CWRC is the first facility of its kind in Fiji. It gives indigenous women an opportunity to generate income and strengthen their livelihoods through self-employment, therefore creating tangible economic and social change, and more importantly the self-empowerment of indigenous women in the heart of Savusavu.

A project that combines architectural and social values

The CWRC project incorporated the design, construction and landscaping of a Great Hall and associated buildings. The project was awarded the Architecture Award (Commercial and Residential) in the 2020 Australian Good Design Award.

The awards jury praised the project and commented:

This is a project that successfully combines architectural and social values. The community is the beneficiary and, importantly, were also central to the design process. It is an admirable project on many levels and uses good design to provide a positive impact for its intended community.

According to SVTC President Adi Kavu, “Through this journey, the rural women of Cakaudrove have not only overcome challenges but have proven that they can manage their own space. We would like to thank our partners for allowing us to manage and grow this project our way.”

The project provides a safe space in an area where 66% of women are impacted by gender-based violence, supports the economic empowerment of women in a region where women have limited work opportunities,³ amplifies women's voices against discriminatory social norms in a traditionally conservative area, and assists the alignment of CWRC with other social organisations supporting women.

Impact on local communities

The CWRC was a collaboration between Architects Without Frontiers and the women from the Cakaudrove province, represented by the Na I Soqosoqo Vakamarama i Taukei Cakaudrove (SVTC). The design team was a mix of local Fijian and Australian architects.

The project received FJ$1.3 million (A$700K) from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (originally AusAID), which aims to support the people of Fiji in overcoming poverty.

It delivered significant impacts by facilitating key capacity building outcomes for the women of Cakauudrove community, leading to community empowerment, development of leadership and financial literacy skills and organisational strengthening.

Using design to improve the built environment of communities in need

This project draws on Esther’s ongoing research into how design and architecture could be used to create positive impact in vulnerable communities. She is passionate about the role of design and architecture in building social and infrastructural resilience to global challenges, such as poverty, climate change, and disaster vulnerability. Architecture had not traditionally been thought of as playing this role. For this reason, in 1998, with fellow architects Beau Beza and Garry Ormston, and the belief that ‘architecture can be an ethical tool for social change,’ Esther founded the humanitarian practice Architects Without Frontiers with the mission to improve the built environment of communities in need.

From 2008 to 2011, the AWF office was based at RMIT, which funded other significant projects including the Dien Ban Disability Day Centre (2008) in Vietnam, to deliver critical health and educational services to children and families affected by Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.

Projects such as these demonstrate Esther’s expertise in facilitating the full spectrum of design services for highly complex projects that span across multiple international partners and collaborators, and across various political and social barriers.

In 2020, Esther was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, as recognition for her ‘significant service to architecture, to education and to the community of the Asia-Pacific region.’

In 2022, the CWRC project was featured in the book ‘Design for Fragility’, edited by Esther with John Fien and published by Routledge. The book focuses on the impact of design through 13 case studies of humanitarian architecture globally.

The CWRC is a pilot project which will potentially lead to more centres of its kind. AWF has been briefed to deliver a series of climate adaptation centres through the Pacific, starting in Fiji, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.

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