Symposium on Futures Sustainability 2022
On 23rd April 2022, the Bachelor of Environmental Studies [BES] hosted the Symposium on Futures Sustainability (SFS) online with support from the Rotary Club of Suntec City. The SFS provides a forum for dialogue on sustainability issues between members of the public from different walks of life, encourages discussion about the future of Singapore with a knowledgeable base of working professionals and experts in various fields, and lastly to educate individuals on what they can do to address the problem of sustainability within their capacities.
Nature has always been an integral part of human life – from the air we breathe to the food we eat – nature is the gift that keeps giving. As the alarm bells of climate change grow louder in recent years, we once again look to nature for solutions to prevent adverse consequences that would result from a rapidly warming planet. Nature-based Solutions (NbS) were first put forth on the global stage at the 2009 UN Conference of the Parties in Copenhagen (COP 15). It has been more than a decade since, thus in commemoration of the Bachelor of Environmental Studies (BES) programme’s 10th anniversary, the symposium explores the impacts NbS has had over the last decade, how it has changed, and the hopes we have for it in the future. In this iteration, we focused on how NbS contributed toward both climate change adaptation and mitigation.
The symposium drew strong engagement and provided insights from the perspective of the sciences, public agencies, and private businesses. One participant Gerald Ho, a Geography Freshman, reflected, “The symposium for future sustainability allowed me to learn more about the concept of nature-based solutions (NbS) and its relevance not only to Singapore but in the region (SEA) as well. I greatly enjoyed the panel discussion which provided valuable insights into how different stakeholders support NbS, reflecting the current and future significance of NbS.”
