Land Art Generator Initiative 2025 Fiji: Climate Resilience for Island Communities

The Village of Marou and the Land Art Generator Initiative invite you to design a creative and captivating installation — a permanent destination artwork — that will supply clean and reliable electricity and drinking water to the coastal village’s 67 households, support tourism, and help to build a sustainable future for generations to come.

The detailed design brief is available from January 6, 2025 and submissions are due by May 5, 2025. * There is no fee to enter. LAGI 2025 Fiji is free and open to all. 

Prizes

Two winning teams will each be provided with a stipend of $100,000 USD to advance their design proposal and build a functioning prototype of their idea in Fiji.

A publication, exhibitions held in partnership with the Fiji Arts Council, and a program of community engagement events will help to communicate the innovative outcomes throughout Fiji and around the world, helping to inspire the public about the beauty and wealth of possibilities of a world beyond carbon while demonstrating creative adaptations to a rapidly shifting climate.

Energy and Climate in Fiji

Having contributed insignificantly to global greenhouse gas emissions, island nations such as Fiji nevertheless find themselves today on the front lines of climate change. Meanwhile, a reliance on expensive imported fuel oil offers an economic opportunity for rapid decarbonization through electrification that accompanies a transition to solar and other renewable energy technologies.

While access to solar energy in Fiji is very good, the implementation of solar power infrastructure presents some interesting challenges, including aesthetics and land use.

An invaluable resource in its own right, the beauty of the landscapes and seascapes of Fiji can be thought about in terms of the sustainability of the local economy, which relies on the tourism industry for 25% of its gross domestic product. Rather than inartfully covering such a paradise with only utilitarian solar panel installations, considerations can also be made for the preservation of the natural beauty of Fiji.

While electricity is a pressing need in Marou Village, also of critical importance is ensuring reliable access to freshwater. As global temperatures rise there is increasing variability and volatility in precipitation patterns. Rainy seasons bring severe flooding while dry seasons are even drier. LAGI 2025 Fiji is therefore seeking innovative solutions that can integrate regenerative energy and water systems.

Design Site and Supplementary Materials

In collaboration with our project partners — the University of Fiji, Arizona State University, and the Fiji Arts Council — we have provided a suite of supplementary materials that are intended to provide you with everything you will need to arrive at the most creative and practical design solution to meet the needs of the village and Fiji’s national 21st century development goals.

We have put together a new Field Guide to Regenerative Water Technologies, a companion to the LAGI Field Guide to Renewable Energy Technologies.

The word lagi has a special meaning in the Pacific Islands. It means sky or universe — and when combined as vakalomalagi means heaven — evoking feelings of hope and harmony. LAGI 2025 Fiji has been co-created with Marou Village, a community on the southeast coast of Naviti Island in the Yasawa Group archipelago in the Western Ba Region of Fiji to secure a thriving future in harmony with nature.

We welcome you to be a part of this exciting project!

More about the Land Art Generator Initiative and details for how to participate: https://landartgenerator.org

Jurors

• Ilisari Naqau Nasau 
  Sau Turaga (Chief Maker) of the Village of Marou, of the Mataqali Koro (Koro Clan), Representing Marou Village
• Oliver Broughton 
  Energy Portfolio Management, Renewables and Efficiency, Elemental Group 
• Deb Guenther
  Landscape Architect and Partner at Mithun, FASLA, LEED AP, SITES AP
• Elena van Hove
  Director of Global Energy Access, Laboratory for Energy and Power Solutions, Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory, Arizona State University
• Fenton Lutunatabua
  Storyteller and Climate Change Activist
• Dr. Ramendra Prasad
  Senior Lecturer, Department of Science, The University of Fiji
• Jale Samuwai
  Manager, Global South CFAN Program, RMI
• Paula Schaafhausen
  Artist
• Setoki Tuiteci
  Architect, Ethos Edge Design Studio, Fiji
• Residents of Marou
  

  Local Community