Nowra Riverfront Activation Plan

Engaging stakeholders and community in the development of Nowra Riverfront 

Client: Nowra Riverfront Activation Taskforce, Shoalhaven City Council
Our role: Process facilitation, stakeholder involvement, strategy, masterplan, report
Location: Nowra, Australia
Year: 2022-2023
Status: Finished

    Shaping the future together
    The Nowra Riverfront Precinct provides a significant opportunity to shape the future of Nowra and strengthen its role as the civic, community, tourism, and recreational hub for the Shoalhaven region. Shoalhaven City Council is working with the NSW Government’s Nowra Riverfront Advisory Taskforce (NRAT) on an activation plan to define the future direction for development of the Nowra Riverfront Precinct and to ensure the existing qualities are preserved and strengthened in the process.

    arki_lab has been engaged to facilitate a range of community engagement opportunities with key stakeholders and the broader community to inform the future Activation Plan for the Nowra Riverfront Precinct. The iterative engagement process is based on a wide range of methods to ensure that as broad as possible cross-section of the community will feel included. The engagement opportunities include landowner interviews, drop-in workshop, survey, stakeholder workshop, feedback loops and digital and analogue communication.

    Our iterative engagement process is based on getting back to the community for feedback on preliminary conclusions and draft plans. Through visualizations and selected quotes we exhibit our initial understanding of the challenges, opportunities and proposed solutions for the future activation of the precinct. Being bold and putting pen on paper allows for a constructive, and sometimes heated, discussion that moves the project forward.

      The experience of working with arki_lab has been fantastic because the arki_lab project and process has been something that hasn’t been done before in the Shoalhaven. [...]
      I think that was the first time that the average person in Nowra had actually connected with something that can be, and has the potential to be so massive and a game changer for the city.

      Mayor Amanda Findley, Shoalhaven City Council

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