The IPS Online Forum on Sustainability and Liveability was held on 17 August 2021 and is the second of three virtual forums with changemakers in Singapore actively engaged in community causes that effect positive social change in the country. This is part of the larger “Reimagining Singapore 2030” project by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), which aims to discuss how Singapore can achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for the nation in 2030 and beyond.
Moderated by Dr Natalie Pang, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Communications and New Media at the National University of Singapore, the forum featured four speakers who discussed policies, programmes and action in the domains of climate change, sustainability, and urban design, towards a Singapore cityscape that people would like to live, work and play in.
Ms Nor Lastrina Hamid, Co-Founder of Singapore Youth for Climate Action, discussed how the discourse on climate change has shifted away from building awareness alone to articulating tangible outcomes. Stakeholders across different levels are becoming more involved in climate action, she said. As examples, she cited the government’s commitment to halve 2030 peak emissions by 2050, and how geography curriculum developers at the Ministry of Education are trying to integrate Singapore’s green efforts into lesson plans, empowering teachers to relay climate knowledge to students. Individuals have also been apt at using social media in creative ways to advocate for climate change, she said, highlighting Earth to Dorcas and The Weird and Wild as examples.
Initiatives aside, Ms Lastrina also shared how effective stakeholder engagement across all parties is equally essential for change. Citing Professor Tommy Koh’s lessons on successful negotiation, she said that parties on different sides can benefit from establishing a common understanding of the facts, having emotional intelligence in relating with each other’s cultural boxes, and aspiring towards mutually agreeable outcomes.
Mr Irsyad Ramthan, Co-Founder of Young Sustainable Impact Southeast Asia, called for the younger generation to take more action and ownership in driving change. Drawing from his experience in the youth social entrepreneurship space, he observed how millennials tend to possess knowledge of the issues at hand, as well as a hope and anger that drives them to action. However, he cautioned that the next generation, Generation Z, appear to be characterised more by a sense of resignation, passivity, and hopelessness of the world, which is concerning.
Nevertheless, he expressed hope for more youths to go beyond theoretical engagement and discourse to creating solutions, such as through entrepreneurship, and to not be afraid of making mistakes as they try to do so. Individuals and changemakers seeking to innovate should be willing to wrangle with the nuances and complexities associated with different sustainability and climate issues, and be vigilant to the effects of their endeavours on various communities, on top of more technical aspects.
Mr Cai Yinzhou, Director of Citizen Adventures, focused on how the conversation on sustainability and liveability needs to be more inclusive, balancing economic priorities with being considerate to those who are marginalised and less represented. One way to do this is to identify symbiotic relationships that centre the agency, and the perspectives and contributions of underrepresented groups, he said. He cited how, during the relocation of elderly residents of Dakota Crescent, Citizen Adventures developed co-guided tours through which residents could share stories of their lives in Dakota Crescent. More broadly, conversations around sustainability need to look at de-growth, where Singapore can focus on developing social and environmental capital as opposed to economic growth alone.
“We are all part of the problem, but also part of the solution,” he said. The responsibility for change lies not only with institutions but also individuals, who can start by thinking about sustainability issues in a more interconnected way, and by building sustainability into conversations with families and friends, and taking small actions to effect change around them.
For Mr Larry Yeung, Executive Director of Participate in Design, sustainable changemaking needs to focus more on the process, rather than just goals and outcomes. He talked about his agency, which was established in a time when community and citizen engagement were considered foreign notions, and how it set out to bring more citizens into urban design and planning processes, be it neighbourhoods, the arts or public spaces.
In one project which involved the design of a Senior Activity Centre, a communal space in the neighbourhood for seniors to socialise and seek social support, Participate in Design worked to involve more seniors in the design process by creating comfortable environments for seniors to collaborate and communicate their opinions, such as through community workshops conducted in different languages and dialects.
“Even though the final design wasn’t too outstanding, the participatory process was what was meaningful to seniors. It helped them feel the worth of their contributions, and that they could do something for themselves,” said Mr Yeung. “The process can itself improve well-being and be meaningful, sometimes more so than the product.” This focus on process could be applied in the case of other marginalised social groups, he said.
At the same time, the government needs to see citizens not just as consumers, but collaborators in urban design and planning, he said, citing the Urban Redevelopment Authority and Housing and Development Board as exemplars who have taken a more participatory approach. Leaders also need to walk the talk and do policymaking with a more human touch — to view citizens as valuable assets who can contribute positively and productively, and empower citizens and agencies alike to address issues of social and mental well-being.
Responding to a viewer’s question, panellists weighed in on how efforts towards sustainability and liveability could address issues of inequality. Mr Yeung called for more attention to the senior population, who are often overlooked and easily misunderstood by policymakers. Spotlighting the living and work conditions of low-wage migrant workers, Mr Cai raised how the pandemic has created opportunities for Singaporeans to think about migrant workers’ place in the next decade, especially in light of Singapore’s rapidly ageing population, and how work conditions can be made more sustainable and attractive to them. Citing how migrants in Singapore’s early history were able to organise into clans and associations and helped build national infrastructure, Mr Cai reflected on how presently, Singapore lacks platforms for organic, community-led and self-organised action for migrant workers who yearn to contribute to Singapore.
From a social entrepreneurship standpoint, Mr Irshad felt that in product, distribution and pricing processes, innovation work and strategising could better emphasise social accessibility and environmental aspects. For example, innovators could examine the life cycle of materials involved in solutions, and if it might involve the use of microplastics or exacerbate pollution and greenhouse emissions.
Other issues discussed during the session included the lack of attention and definition of what constitutes “happiness” in a sustainable and liveable Singapore of 2030, which panellists felt remains ill-explored and ill-defined, as well as the issue of waste and how individuals can be more mindful of their own daily habits and consumption patterns.
In thinking about wider societal factors or processes needed to bring about impactful, positive change in both environmental and social sustainability, Mr Yeung felt that as a developed nation, Singapore needs to be more willing to talk about sensitive and difficult topics, and have the maturity to participate in democratic discussions — embracing diversity, messiness and uncertainties, as well as placing emphasis on equity. Ms Lastrina added that, beyond talking about goals, expectations and outcomes, conversations between different parties need to address the more fundamental question of one’s value systems, which undergird actions and inactions, towards positive and impactful change.
Click here to watch the video and read the full report of the forum.
