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Innovation through collaboration
The Inclusive Spaces Empactathon® – a hackathon which aims to create an impact through empathy – is part of our commitment to inspiring meaningful experiences and creating communities. Held from May 29 to July 10, it involved a partnership between students, seniors and Design for Change Singapore – a social enterprise that empowers students to express their ideas and act on them. The dialogue and collaboration aimed to meld the experience of our silver generation with the creativity of our youth, and tap on the creativity of tertiary students to drive solutions in health, wellness, and the environment from the ground up.
Our participants have worked to develop a report exploring how Singapore’s built environment could be better designed for our rapidly ageing society. This was done by distilling the intergenerational theme into three dimensions of design thinking: daily living; social living and mental well-being.
Daily Living
Identified challenges in daily living faced by seniors and studied solutions to meet their accessibility needs.
Social Living
Explored how common spaces can be optimised to facilitate cross-generational interactions.
Mental Well-being
Examined solutions, including digital ones, that support the well-being of seniors.
These areas help us understand intergenerational interactions holistically.
The event also posed some framing questions to participants. Some examples include:
- ‘Are there digital solutions to solve space challenges?’
- 'How do we account for physical and mental health?’
- ‘How do we use shared facilities and community space to promote better intergenerational dialogue?’
- 'How can the amenities in our private homes better support our seniors?’
It culminated in a showcase event on Friday, 17 September 2021, when participants shared their findings.
But more than the solutions and ideas, the goal of the event is to foster a collaborative approach through a public-private partnership. With each team made up of youths, seniors and Frasers Property’s employee volunteers, we were able to combine the youthful energy and private sector experience for innovation to thrive.
Photo Credits: Koh Yi-Pan, Ignatius Edmund from Edgefield Primary School
Photo Credits: Ms Thavarani, a volunteer for Inclusive Spaces 2021
Photo Credits: Nur 'Rasyiqah Binte Rudy Gurnawan from Edgefield Primary School
The qualitative feedback gained provided a wealth of knowledge and insights. These allow us to explore how we can leverage our experience and expertise in the real estate sector to make a positive and meaningful impact on the community. While we gained a better understanding of the elderly’s concerns, our youths were also able to build empathy towards issues the elderly face, building intergeneration understanding. In this spirit, we present to you Inclusive Spaces 2021.
