Social Equity and Inclusivity in Placemaking Sandbox and Knowledge Co-Production in Tonga: Shaping Climate-Positive Futures For Indo-Pacific Island Communities

Iderlina Mateo-Babiano

Chapter 10 in Smart Villages and Sustainable Rural Development:Building a Body of Knowledge for a Climate-Positive Future, 2026, pp 219-245 from World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.

Abstract: Place-based infrastructures that are shaped through the active inputs of citizens ensure that local understanding of where they live, work, and play is central to place development. Using Tonga as the empirical case study context, this proposed chapterwill introduce the Placemaking Sandbox as a participatory approach in place-based knowledge co-production and needs-based infrastructure identification, highlighting the importance of Community Voice in the shaping of more resilient and inclusive communities.In early 2022, tsunami waves hit the Pacific islands of Tonga, resulting in large-scale devastation affecting several of its islands, including Eua. By building and strengthening partnerships with the community as place experts, learners engagedwith the Ohonua residents in Eua to better understand their ongoing challenges and work with them in building back better in the aftermath of the disaster.The Tonga Placemaking Sandbox created a socially and culturally safe space to connect those who are learning how to shape better communities with various community members who provided constructive inputs to their place (these include the Eua women’s council, Otumatafena children’s planting groups, youth groups, business groups, local students, the village chief, and other Ohonua residents).This autoethnographic piece will critically tell howlearners navigated the complex cultural settings, amplified Nature’s Voice through place stewardship ideas, and foregrounded the multiple voices, addressing the following research questions:How can placemaking support intellectual and creative explorations of multiple place-based issues in an island community setting?To what extent will placemaking support meaningful and intentional conversations to support community re-building?What innovative nature-based placemaking ideas or solutions deeply rooted in Indigenous knowledge will be co-produced as a result, increasing place attachment, sense of belonging, sense of place, biophilia, and ecosystem services of people and places, which are linked to positive citizenship, health, and safety?The chapter concludeswith key insights on howthe Placemaking Sandbox process can help amplify the often-muted voices that are the most affected members of the community in infrastructure development and provision, advancing the shaping of a more inclusive, climate-positive future for island settlements.

Keywords: Sustainable Rural Construction; Smart Villages; Climate-Positive; Energy Efficiency; Renewable Energy; Sustainable Agriculture; Food Security; Water Management; Social Equity and Inclusion; Circular Economy; Urban-Rural Linkages (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O18 Q01 Q54 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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