Semester 1 is coming to a close, it has been great experience writing these blogs. Over this semester I have truly learnt a lot, I would say that in the earlier part of the semester I was not hopeful about humanity’s ability to wake up and face climate change. Yet through experiences over the past 2 plus months has taught me a lot. Personally I think that it is still possible for us to make a change and see improvements in how we are going to face the climate crisis.

I like to link this to Dr Coleman’s Week 12 lecture on practical solutions.

• Circular economy

Several experiences throughout this semester gave me greater exposure to local efforts for a more circular economy. Through my group’s sustainability project, I think I have been able to gain greater knowledge on Singapore’s Tuas Nexus project. In addition to this my group’s sustainability idea and many others of the other sustainability projects dealt with poignant issues and aims to promote a more circular economy.

• Urban Agriculture

Over the course of Semester 1, there was one webinar that I attended that really opened my eyes regarding urban agriculture in Singapore. It was a sharing by Citiponics’ Co-Founder Ms Danielle Chan, who is an NUS alumna. It was great to see local urban farms emerging here in Singapore. They are producing crops on the top of carparks and furthermore their crops were pesticide free. Overall, it is heartening as more urban farms turn up locally. I think having urban farms serves to reduce traveling distance for these vegetables and reduce plastic waste. Something that is great.

• Environmental social tipping points

During my interview with a friend, she mentioned these social tipping points as something that could help people to overcome their inaction. This should be something that we aim to achieve not just in Singapore but globally. Normalisation of sustainable living and for industry to become more aware of their impacts are change that we as a society and workforce should aspire to. Though we are individuals, we should not underestimate our impact and in whatever positions we find ourselves in in 10 years I hope all you reader remember our fiery green passion.

• Environmental literacy

Singaporean students has emerged as one of the top few in PISA 2018. Where students from all over the world are compared based on standardised tests. But what caught my eye was that Singaporean youths excelled in sustainable development and generally had good knowledge of climate change. This is great, I hope knowledge can be transformed into action. Environmental literacy in Singapore has been focused on the youth yet adults are also vital and thus this is an area I think can be improved.

We should not  turn our eyes inwards whether its from the perspective of an individual, business or the government. I hope Singapore will bolster and continue its efforts to reach out to countries in the region and beyond and create positive environmental action and policy.

This marks the end of the Env-empathy blogs yet this is also the beginning of our journey to becoming environmentalists bringing change to all around us. I hope that all you readers learnt something from my blogs. Thank you for coming on this journey with me!