SHARING - Eco Township in Japan

Hi Fellow Town Planners! ASSEMBLY would like to share with you the concept of an Eco Township in Japan. Cheers!

Field Trip For ASSEMBLY's Participants

Based on positive feedback from our participants, ASSEMBLY is organising a field trip for our students to enhance their understanding of a Clean & Green Township. The field trip will be conducted by Activistar's Town Planner to piece together parts of town planning that makes Singapore as a model city. Students can apply their understanding to putting a complex puzzle together for Hanoi.

Come join this fun-learning outing which includes a lunch picnic where students get to meet their fellow counterparts to share ideas and make new friends!

Limited seats available on a first come first serve basis.

Date: 6 January, 2012
Time: 1100-1700
Bus Pick Up Point: Raffles Instution (JC Campus)

PROGRAM
1030:            Meet at Raffles Institution, JC Campus
1100:            Board Bus
1130-1230:   Land Transport Authority
1230-1330:   Lunch Picnic at Marina Barrage
1330-1430:   Marina Barrage
1430-1530:   Visit to Pinnacle @ Duxton
1600-1700:   Urban Redevelopment Authority
1715:            Drop off at Tanjong Pagar MRT

Fee: SG$20 per person
To make enquiries or bookings, please contact :

Geraldine                                                     Sylvia
geraldine.sim@activistar.com                      sylvia.van.remoortele@activistar.com
81577001                                                     97289944

ASSEMBLY Conducts Dedicated Training for AC JCians

ASSEMBLY spent a full day with the team from AC JC delivering a dedicated training tutorial
style. Town Planner, Daniel Tay elaborated on the different pillars of town planning,
discussed various case scenarios and role played with the participants.

The training gave the students a new perspective of Transportation, Housing, Water & Energy, Commercial, Industrial, Parks & Rereation as elements of town planning. The ACJC team raised thought provoking questions and suggestions eager to come up with innovative solutions for their competition.

TRAINING WORKSHOP ON 8 NOV 2011

ASSEMBLY promises participants of 'Planning A Clean & Green Township' competition an interesting workshop to enhance their understanding of building an eco city! After this workshop, you will really get to build your very own 'SimCity'!

Date of Training Workshop: 8 November 2011 (Tuesday)

Time:  0900 - 1700 hrs

Venue: United World College, East Campus
            1 Tampines Street 73
            Singapore 528704

ECO TOWN PLANNING WORKSHOP PROGRAM

Registration Deadline Extended

Hi Future Urban Planners

We are getting more interest from schools to participate in "Planning A Clean & Green Township". As such, ASSEMBLY is extending our registration deadline to 15 November 2011!

We now are getting more!!!

JOIN NOW!

Former Miss Singapore extends her expertise to ASSEMBLY!

Audrey Quek, Miss Singapore 1999, image consultant, trainer, brand ambassador, happens to also be a honors graduate in Real Estate. Singapore's transportation systems, housing, industrial policy and many features of the urban landscape were part of the curriculum at the National University of Singapore. In her public events and professional work, the in-depth knowledge of how Singapore developed certainly were a plus factor.

Audrey Quek is a keen advocate of Singapore's urban development to youths who would like to study how Singapore became the world's busiest port, secured its own water supplies, attracted top companies to be based here. Singapore is a very liveable city state, a former Miss Singapore would certainly flash a smile to that!

Competition gets another nod from The Centre for Liveable Cities, Singapore

The Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC) is jointly established by The Ministry of National Development (MND) and the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources to enhance Singapore's expertise in urban development and management. The role of  CLC  is one of a knowledge centre and bringing together expertise among the public, private and people sectors in city development and management. It hopes to position itself as a centre of global excellence that brings together the best ideas and practices that support efforts in building liveable cities that are dynamic, vibrant, cohesive and sustainable.

The endorsement received from CLC to this competition is very critical because it means that we're serious in our business of raising awareness among today's youth. The recognition also opens up avenues for our young participants to be involved with sustainability issues on an international platform. Together we hope to effect a greater sense of what it means to live in liveable, green, sustainable cities and to share this timeless ethos with the youth.

ACTIVISTAR PRESENTS AT AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Activistar, the organiser of "Planning A Clean & Green Township" will be presenting on designing sustainably for the tourism industry at the American Chamber of Commerce.

Daniel Tay will speak to a group of decision makers in the hospitality industry on setting the importance on the environment from the planning stage and modeling it for a sustainable future.

The Green agenda and eco-movement is not an uncommon feature in the hospitality industry. Eco-resorts, sustainable development, saving water, less shampoo, turtle conservation funds and other eco-projects all contribute in bits and bytes, and are implemented eagerly by management, staff and guests. However, there are more grounds to cover if hotels, resorts and developments tie in to the regional master plans or in simpler words, "the bigger regional picture." This methodology often reduces duplication, involves shared resources and creates better natural and human communities. Several regional planning concepts such as New Urbanism and Designing with Nature will be introduced as well as a current case study in North Vietnam.

Town planning is a whole system interlinked to form a working city. It involves placing of housing, transportation, commercial, industrial, enviromental,energy, water and much more to form a urban solution to meet the needs of a population. Tourism has to be considered to enhance the cultural and historical aspect of a city, hence it is important to find this balance in the urban solution.

"Tying in Developments to the Greater Green Master Plan" will be held on 1 Sept 2011 at the AmCham Boardroom

http://www.amcham.org.sg/2011_09_01-Hospitality-Committee-Meeting

Encouraging support from schools!

ASSEMBLY has been receiving wonderful response from our schools to participate in "Planning A Clean & Green Township". The feedback we get from teachers and principals have been very positive. Thanks to their understanding for the need to create an awareness within our youths to keep our planet green by starting from creating sustainable cities, ASSEMBLY is able to move full steam ahead with our competition.

ASSEMBLY therefore want to take this opportunity to say Thank You to our participants from :

1)Hwa Chong Institution
2)Hwa Chong JC
3)Raffles JC
4)ACS International
5)ACS Independent

ASSEMBLY is in the midst of getting more schools to partipate in "Planning A Clean & Green Township" from local heartland and IP schools, international schools as well as tertiary schools to engage in this educational experience. We promise you fun and creativity in this competition.

We sincerely encourage our youths to participate in this competition so that they will cultivate a deeper sentiment towards a greener Earth. Cities are the most populated areas on earth and this is where it should be well planned, developed and maintain to ensure a sustainable environment for ALL. Learn and make a difference now.

We urge all schools to register soon at this link : http://assembly.activistar-ads.com/pages/downloads

ISOCARP Supports ASSEMBLY : Planning A Clean & Green Township

ASSEMBLY is pleased to welcome ISOCARP as our supporting organisation for our competition.  ISOCARP (International Society of City and Regional Planners) hold objectives that are aligned with the aim or our competition. Planning A Clean & Green Township is a contest aiming to engage our youths to be concious about the environment we live in whilst building a city based on sustainability.

ISOCARP is involved in projects with various organisations and MNCs to advice on planning of cities. ISOCARP also hold various seminars and awards all over the world to involve planners on different countries. Hence, ISOCARP provides a useful learning platform where students can access and understand the importance surrounding planning of a city to apply to the competition.

With the endorsement from ISOCARP, we believe that our competition will meet its objectives and look forward to a successful event.

Activistar's Past Talks, Workshops and Foreign Study Programs

Activistar has been active in conducting talks, workshops and study programs on sustainable developments and living.

19 Feb 2011

Town Planning Study Programs for Foreign Delegates
An opportunity presented by World Bank for Activistar to welcome a delegation of 36 from the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners who were in Singapore to learn about Town Planning. Our team had successfully organised a 5 full day city planning study program for the delegates who were ranged from ministers from municipalities, town planners in government sectors to private town planning practioners. Topics included public housing, transportation, parks, water management, urban security and more.

22 March 2011

Sustainable Development Workshops for Students
Activistar was invited by UNLV(University of Las Vegas Nevada) to give a short workshop to its students on Sustainable Developement. Conducting this workshop which was more focused on sustainable hotel & resort developments all over the world to students majoring in the hospitality industry, our trainers had presented on the relationship resorts/hotels have over the environment and eco systems as well as best practices in hotel developments.

26 May 2011

Talk At GreenDrinks SingaporeActivistar was invited by GreenDrinks Singapore to give a talk on green energy living. Activistar together with partner Sunlabob shared their work on off-grid living. Remote villages in Southeast Asia which do not have access to conventional sources of power and water have to depend on alternative sources such as wind and solar as well as water filtration systems. The crowd gained new insights into living on alternative energy where we in Singapore have taken for granted.

ASSEMBLY is proud to announce UCLG as endorser of Planning a Clean & Green Township

United Cities & Local Governments Asia Pacific(UCLG ASPAC) is a worldwide association of local government organisations recognised by the UN. The Asia Pacific region is the biggest of the 8 sections in UCLG with linkages to more than 7,000 local governements.

ASSEMBLY is proud to welcome UCLG as our endorser to our competition which is about designing and creating sustainble townships.

In designing new townships of reinventing old ones, private sector works very closely with the local governments to ensure that all factors are met to facilitate the sustainable growth of population in these townships.

Apply Systems Thinking In Town Planning

 In systems thinking, is it a goal to be a winner? The answer is not necessarily. The systems thinking concept is to train students to think differently. We want to enhance learning and would like "Making a Clean & Green Town" an exercise to train students to think differently.

A system can be anything – a novel, a historical event, a culture, a scientific formula. All are made up of different pieces that form the "system." In this case the system is a sustainable city. Students have to you look at the whole of what makes an eco-livable city, the individual parts of that whole city, how those parts make the "whole" city what it is, and how one action to a piece of the system can affect the entire thing.

Change those habits
Systems thinking in education helps develop students who can understand the value of other opinions, and see things from a different perspective. Ingrained assumptions that ultimately influence how we see things and what we do, can be a good place to start.

Assuming that an eco, liveable city is a clean, green, environmentally balanced is one that uses limited resources in a sustainable manner, recycle waste, manage water and reduce carbon emission would be the first idea formed.

Children in Singapore are fortunate to stay in this country, however, given a different scenario, they have to step out of their comfort zones and try new ways of looking at things.

"Making A Clean & Green Town" will give them this opportunity to engage more senses, retain the material and really get out of those comfort zones. They will then really appreciate a need for sustainable developments for their future cities. This gets them on more than one level. You increase the likelihood that these students will retain it, the more senses you engage.

As students who apply systems thinking, they develop certain "habits," or ways of approaching problems and situations. Hence, by applying their systems thinking lessons and tools they have learnt from school in "Making A Clean & Green Town" students will start to develop these habits.

The habits of systems thinkers include: considering long and short-term consequences of actions (such as, if you have a city that has to deal with waste, thinking both about what happens if you recycle and if you burn it); recognizing there might be unintended consequences to your actions; identifying the circular nature of complex cause and effect relationships (the transportation is a system, where the commuters needs the transport and the transportation cannot cause congestion or pollution); and looking at things from different angles and perspectives.

Creating a deeper understanding
Systems thinking isn't just about the tools to help students see the world with a better lens; it also can give them a greater grasp of why things happen a certain way. Things are circular in systems thinking, and recognizing the complex nature of cause-and-effect relationships can help students understand why things happen.

Using systems thinking approaches in "Making A Clean & Green Town" creates students who can see from another perspective and look deeper to why its very important to develop green and sustainable townships. If students develop those habits of thinking systemically, and they look at any global issue, they are going to ask different questions. They are going to ask questions with a broader perspective.

And this is when everyone will appreciate the need for liveable cities and it will be engraved in their hearts and minds and this is when we will have won.

The future or our cities lies in the hands of our youth! Let's start from now!

CITIES endorses Planning a Green & Clean Township Competition

CITIES is a Foundation set up in Amsterdam. This initiative marries the Dutch expertise in urban planning and agricultural engineering. CITIES provides a platform for the development of urban research through the involvement of the urban community. Cities the magazine highlights urban issues and invites discussion on global trends, regional responses and local practice. It connects writers, thinkers, artists, designers and photographers in a common dialogue about city life and city futures. CITIES community uses a range of platforms (magazine, online community, events, workshops, research projects and exhibitions) to talk about CITIES. Events and workshops held throughout the country reflect their mission.

The Global Urban Development joins ASSEMBLY as a supporter for this competition.

The purpose of Global Urban Development is clear: to make a better world for everyone. Prosperity and quality of life for all people and communities is our goal, which we believe includes both world peace and a globally sustainable living environment.

Global Urban Development was born exactly at the moment when for the first time in all of human history, more than half of all of the people alive in the entire world are currently living and working in cities, towns, and other urban places. This change has occurred so rapidly that a half century ago only one-third of the world's population was urbanized, and a half century from now nearly two-thirds of the people on this planet will be urban residents.

Urbanization and urban development are now so fundamental to the world's economy, society, and environment, that making a better urban world and improving urban life really means making a better world for everyone, including all of the people living and working in rural areas.

How are we going to help make the whole world better? There are three reasons why and how Global Urban Development will make a difference.

Global Urban Development is a supporter of this competition. For more, visit their website.