• Initiative brings together students and senior citizens to co-create and reimagine ideas for spaces to promote bonding between generations and active ageing
• Part of Frasers Property’s progressive community investment efforts to create inspiring experiences by enhancing inclusivity, accessibility and adaptability of the built environment
• Launch of social impact microsite with details on active ageing in Singapore and top Inclusive Spaces ideas to promote inclusion in real estate

SINGAPORE, 17 SEPTEMBER 2021

Frasers Property Limited (“Frasers Property”, and together with its subsidiaries, the “Group”), today unveiled three top winners with three supporting finalists for its community investment initiative, Inclusive Spaces. This year’s Inclusive Spaces by Frasers Property focuses on active ageing as well as better intergenerational engagement in Singapore. Connecting young upper-primary and lower-secondary students, active senior citizens, youth facilitators and Frasers Property employee volunteers, the multi-generational teams came together to co-create and reimagine ideas for more inclusivity in real estate projects.

Graced by Associate Professor Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, Minister of State for National Development, six teams across five primary and secondary schools were recognised for their outstanding ideas at the award showcase event.

He added: “As an organisation that promotes Design Thinking for its people-centric, problem-solving approach to innovation, we are glad to partner with social enterprise Design for Change Singapore (DFCsg) in bringing experiential, activity-based design learning to students. Aligned with our purpose of ‘Inspiring experiences, creating places for good’, we want to bring positive impact to the overall quality of life by offering enriching experiences through the places we build and operate.”

Mrs Madhu Verma, Founder, DFCsg, said: “There are no barriers to age, race, educational level at Inclusive Spaces, which enables open and curious conversations amongst all generations. Participants ranging from the likes of 11-year-old Juliet Fanny Nikkila, 25-year-old youth mentor Bryan Wong Liang Chern, to our senior Anne Wong Holloway – everyone was engaged and contributed meaningfully. The younger participants were surprised to find seniors living actively and wanting purposeful lives, while seniors were amazed at children’s understanding and interest to build a better world for them. Inclusive Spaces exemplifies DFCsg’s belief that children are not too young to bring change to society. Give them opportunities because children are not only our future, but the now.”  

Three key areas – namely daily living, mental well-being and social living – were identified following an environmental scan on matters pertaining to active ageing in Singapore. In partnership with DFCsg, 22 teams comprising student participants were introduced to Design Thinking techniques through an intensive two-day Empactathon® (an abridged term for empathy, impact and hackathon) in June.

Each team comprised four to six upper primary or lower secondary school students, an active senior, a youth mentor from a tertiary institution and a Frasers Property employee volunteer. To promote intergenerational dialogue and put their Design Thinking skills to practice, students were encouraged to have conversations with their grandparents to better understand and empathise with the needs of the elderly. The students then applied creativity to develop their prototypes in July, before their submissions were carefully reviewed and debated by a panel of judges in August.

More than 100 students from Edgefield Primary School, Yumin Primary School, Orchid Park Secondary, Pei Hwa Secondary School, and Westwood Secondary School participated in Inclusive Spaces. They were supported by 20 youth mentors from the Singapore University of Technology and Temasek Polytechnic, specifically chosen for their training and academic background in design. 

Providing real life perspectives on areas for improvement in the built environment were 25 active seniors aged between 60 to 75 years old. They were identified from ACE Seniors, Singapore Anglican Community Services, TOUCH Community Services, People’s Association, Lions Befrienders and Council for Third Age.

About 20 volunteers from Frasers Property were each tagged to student teams to offer practical advice during the ideation process to ensure the feasibility of prototypes.

Members of the judging panel include:

1. Mr Chia Khong Shoong, Group Chief Corporate Officer, Frasers Property Limited
2. Mrs Madhu Verma, Founder, Design for Change Singapore
3. Mr Tony Soh, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre
4. Dr Tan Bee Wan, Executive Chairman of ACE Seniors & Integrative Learning Corporation Singapore 
5. Professor Richard Ho, Professor in Practice, Department of Architecture, National University of Singapore, 
6. Mr Ho Han Peng, Associate Director, Lien Centre for Social Innovation

The virtual event provided a platform for the seniors and students to share and exchange insights on their ideas, demonstrating how these conversations have created greater understanding between generations.

Mr Tony Soh, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre, said: “It is a great honour for me to serve as a judge in this year’s Inclusive Spaces organised by Frasers Property. The creativity and teamwork shown by the teams were most impressive. It warms my heart to see our youths engaging seniors as part of the co-creation process. With deeper empathy, the youths were able to create new ideas that foster inter-generational interaction and understanding. My heartiest congratulations to all teams for their excellent efforts. And a special thanks to Frasers Property for being a role model as a Company of Good in inspiring our youths to work creatively and collaboratively with seniors to serve the wider community.”

The three winning teams, respectively from Edgefield Primary School, Westwood Secondary School, and Yumin Primary School, were recognised for their innovative solutions that looked at enhancing the physical and mental health of the seniors as well as promoting community integration across multiple generations. Winning teams walked away with a team trophy each with the students receiving a guided experience workshop to create their own terrarium. To recognise winning teams, and the three supporting finalists from Yumin Primary School and Orchid Park Secondary School, all six prototypes were showcased at the event.

Daily Living

The top idea in this category was a “tech bench cum interactive table” by Edgefield Primary School, aimed at enhancing seniors’ digital awareness as well as solve technology challenges. The solution involves placing a brightly coloured bench at a retail mall to enable seniors to seek assistance they may need for their electronic devices and mobile applications. This table could be equipped with a bell counter, reading materials, power sockets and even a tablet to highlight interesting social programmes and services at a mall. Students could sign up to volunteer and render community service by assisting seniors. 

Mental Well-being

To provide an avenue for active, retired seniors to make good use of their time, contribute to society and have a sense of purpose in their life, the team from Yumin Primary School put together the concept of a “Forever Young Club”, which can be located at a mall or residential property such as a condominium. This recreational space helps keep minds active by providing an inclusive space for active seniors to read books, share life stories with young children, organise talent shows to showcase their skills and experience, and a collective ‘babysitting’ service by engaging young children over games.

Social Living

Westwood Secondary School offered the idea of integrating green spaces into properties, with accessible facilities for seniors to rest, relax and interact with the community through activities, games and exercises. Named the “Neutral Storm Village”, their proposed space supports social networks and includes a greenhouse for social farming lessons and gardening activities, and recreational zones for movie screening, video gaming, and rest. It also houses a cosy library where seniors can enjoy a scenic and relaxing view of a waterfall conducive for storytelling sessions.

Please refer to Annex in the downloadable file for details on the entries by winners and shortlisted finalists, including quotes by winning teams.

To share learnings and provide its contribution to the industry and society, Frasers Property also launched its Inclusive Spaces social impact microsite today. This freely available digital resource is intended to promote greater inclusion in the built environment. It includes research on active ageing in Singapore, ideas and solutions generated by the top six teams, wider details on the initiative and its process. To learn more about Inclusive Spaces, please visit the microsite at https://www.frasersproperty.com/inclusive-spaces/bridging-generations.