Addressing the World’s Rising Urbanisation Challenge: International Leaders, Policy-Makers and Innovators Congregate at Global Platform to Share Innovation, Accelerate Collaboration & Drive Action

Tuesday, 03 July 2018 23:00

World Cities Summit, Singapore International Water Week and CleanEnviro Summit Singapore to bring together participants across some 100 countries to drive future-forward solutions

WCS, SIWW and CESS is the world’s leading platform to drive integrated urban solutions, connect global business experts, policy-makers, industry leaders and innovators through strategic collaborative efforts and cutting-edge technologies.

Delegates and trade visitors can look forward to an array of showcases of new innovations and technologies such as autonomous robotics, biomimicry, 3D eco printing and energy harvesting, virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) at the City Solutions Singapore Expo – the global marketplace for innovative urban solutions.

“Although the challenge of urbanisation is not new – the urgency is greater now than ever before because urbanisation is rising at an unprecedented rate, especially in ASEAN. This dramatically changes the landscape of cities, water consumption patterns and environmental challenges. Bringing World Cities Summit, Singapore International Water Week and CleanEnviro Summit Singapore together creates a meaningful platform to drive decisive action – from policy-making to planning to creating go-to-market innovations,” said Michael Koh, joint spokesperson for the three events. “The focus this year is to accelerate action so that we can concentrate not just on solving urbanisation challenges but anticipating problems.”

Singapore has also designated 2018 as the Year of Climate Action. In support of the effort for a sustainable future, organisers of the three events will continue to promote environmentally-friendly practices to reduce their carbon footprint (refer to Annex A for more information). Electricity consumed by the three events this year will be fully matched with locally-produced Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs)^[1].

This year is also significant because Singapore holds the chairmanship of ASEAN. In line with the Chairmanship, Singapore will host for the first time a number of key ASEAN meetings. The 6th Meeting of Governors/Mayors of ASEAN Capital Cities (MGMAC), ASEAN Mayors Forum, ASEAN Smart Cities Network Inaugural Meeting and the Special ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Climate Action.

At the forefront of accelerating collaboration for sustainability solutions

WCS, SIWW and CESS will convene global leaders and start-ups to engage in high-level sustainability dialogues to address emerging challenges, strategies and solutions in sessions such as the Opening Address and Plenary as well as thematic and business forums such as China Innovation Forum, South Asia Business Forum, World Bank Business Forum and many others.

World leaders from government, industry and international organisations will also converge at the inaugural Environment & Water Leaders Forum (EWLF) to share insights on cross-disciplinary environmental and water policies and governance issues, address emerging challenges and examine the respective roles of key stakeholders in co-creating liveable and sustainable cities of the future.

The Mayors Forum will welcome over 160 mayors and city leaders, the largest congregation of mayors and city leaders in World Cities Summit’s history. Amongst them is Shri Nara Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Park Won Soon, Mayor of Seoul; and Lucy Turnbull, Chief Commissioner, Greater Sydney Commission. Mayors will discuss how local governments can capitalise on disruptive innovations and attract financing for infrastructure projects.

“The combination of these high-level global discussions on pressing urban issues and sharing of best practices form the foundation for a concerted and integrated effort to make our cities better for people and ensure that our cities remain sustainable and liveable,” said Ms Adeline Lim, Deputy Director, Centre for Liveable Cities (WCS). “We need to ensure that our residents can continue to have a high quality living environment, even as our cities transform with technological development. The World Cities Summit 2018 is a great platform where efforts on urban planning can be shared and discussed, to encourage solutions and avenues which will ultimately make cities more liveable and resilient.”

Vital to Singapore's push for a high quality of life, a competitive economy and a sustainable environment, this year’s Singapore Government Pavilion will demonstrate the shared vision and collaborative efforts of driving a seamless integration of innovation, strategic planning and collaboration by various agencies.

Sharing of innovation for dynamic sustainability solutions

The integrated platform, City Solutions Singapore Expo, will host some 1,100 exhibiting companies and 28 group/country pavilions to catalyse new investment and partnership opportunities for the push of sustainable development ideas to fruition and commercial success.

At the City Solutions Singapore, expo attendees will have the opportunity to experience smart capabilities that are aimed at addressing the accelerated demand for cross-disciplinary solutions and resolving challenges of increasing urbanisation and rapid digitisation amongst other disruptive factors.

“The considerable implications of rapid urbanisation on the environment has made it increasingly critical to bring tangible solutions to transform and innovate the ways we can advance the waste management, cleaning, sustainable energy, pest management and pollution control sectors,” said Mr Dalson Chung, Managing Director of CleanEnviro Summit Singapore. “Anchored on Transforming Tomorrow’s Cities with Clean Environment Solutions, CleanEnviro Summit Singapore (CESS) plays a pivotal role in initiating discussions and collaborations with key stakeholders across the sustainable environmental services value chain. CESS’ Clean Environment Leaders Summit is a new strategic platform to connect and forge new partnerships to advance sustainability, address challenges and exchange ideas. Aspiring technopreneurs will also have the opportunity to showcase their capabilities and integration of cross-disciplinary and cutting-edge solutions at the summit’s Innovation Pitch.”

The second edition of the Innovation Pitch will draw focus to the themes of Robotics and Automation, Improving Energy Efficiency in Waste-to-Energy Plants, Technologies for Using Incineration Ash and E-Waste Recycling. It is a unique platform for innovators, entrepreneurs and companies to showcase and drive commercialisation of new technologies, innovations, products and services in the environmental sphere.

Transforming concepts into actionable insights

WCS, SIWW and CESS are global platforms focused on driving synergises across urban planning, water resources and environment sustainability with the aim to encourage public and private partnerships to actualise actionable insights, reach commercial opportunities and potentially identify resolutions for real-world sustainability issues.

“As the impact of climate change and rapid urbanisation continues to place further stress on the global water supply, it is imperative for key stakeholders to connect and co-create actionable steps that bring us closer to solving the global water crisis,” said Mr Bernard Tan, Managing Director of Singapore International Water Week.“Singapore International Water Week has established itself as a global platform driving thought leadership and innovation for the entire water value chain. As we celebrate a decade of innovation and excellence, SIWW is committed to continue driving business opportunities and accelerating the commercialisation of new water technologies to ensure water sustainability for future generations.”

This year, a range of tech-focused programmes such as the Water Convention and TechXchange & Innovation Pavilion, will spotlight the latest innovations and solutions in emerging technologies applied within water systems, as well as some of the novel technologies at SMART PUB that will be adopted in Singapore. The Singapore Business Forum will also feature Singapore companies, their range of engineering expertise and technologies, and their involvement in infrastructural projects around the world.

In addition, 2018’s Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize Laureate and Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize Laureate, will also present award-winning case studies to facilitate the sharing of best practices in urban and water solutions that can be replicated across nations.

About World Cities Summit, Singapore International Water Week, and CleanEnviro Summit Singapore

WCS, SIWW and CESS will be held concurrently from 8-12 July 2018 at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Marina Bay Sands. The three events provide a unique integrated global platform for government and industry leaders to share solutions for sustainable urban development and the latest innovations in water and clean environment solutions. Exhibitors and participants would be able to explore synergies, network and forge partnerships with a wider range of global industry leaders, policy makers and experts. Together, the three events showcase global thought leadership in sustainable development. For more information, visit: www.worldcitiessummit.com.sg, www.siww.com.sg, www.cleanenvirosummit.sg.

Media Contacts:

Ranjeet Kaur

Hill+Knowlton Strategies

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Email: ranjeet.kaur@hkstrategies.com

Rayner Lee

Hill+Knowlton Strategies

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Email: Rayner.lee@hkstrategies.com

Lim Guan Ling

Hill+Knowlton Strategies

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Email: guanling.lim@hkstrategies.com

Vylvianne Devajothi

Hill+Knowlton Strategies

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Email: Vylvianne.devajothi@hkstrategies.com

Annex A – Environmentally friendly measures at WCS-SIWW-CESS 2018

WCS-SIWW-CESS 2018 have taken several steps to adopt environmentally friendly measures. They include:

Additionally, sponsored locally-produced renewable energy certificates (RECs) would be used to match all the electricity consumed during this year’s CESS, SIWW and WCS. RECs are instruments that represent the rights to the environmental, social and non-power attributes of renewable electricity generation. The RECs for the events will come from PUB’s 1MWp floating solar PV testbed at Tengeh Reservoir.

[1] RECs are instruments that represent the rights to the environmental, social and non-power attributes of ren