[SINGAPORE] Non-profit organisation EB Impact will launch two initiatives later this year to engage more youth and seniors with regard to sustainability and raise awareness of such issues, said executive director Gerald Wong on Friday (May 30) at the Seeds of Change gala.

The Singapore-registered charity raised nearly S$200,000 for these initiatives at the event.

The first initiative, also called Seeds of Change, is an intergenerational programme targeting seniors. Through partnerships with active ageing centres (AACs), EB Impact aims to increase awareness of sustainability issues while improving the well-being of the elderly. The programme will comprise urban farming and sewing activities, as well as hands-on craft projects within a makerspace.

In an interview with The Business Times, Wong said that the idea came from wanting to provide “more agency to seniors”.

“AACs want to reach a lot more seniors, and how do we do that? That’s when I started thinking that we can use sustainability as a tool to bring these seniors to the AACs.”

EB Impact will work with sector partners to train seniors, who can later on facilitate their own programmes and train others. The programme aims to engage 100 seniors across one to two AACs over the course of a year, and increase this to eight to 10 AACs over a three-year period.

Wong added: “The idea is to bring in people from all walks of life. We don’t want AACs to be seen as just a place for seniors. Yes, it’s focused on seniors, but why can’t it be a community space?”

“We can raise that awareness of sustainability and at the same time address a social issue, which is to get seniors to be more active and change the perception that they are active contributors to society rather than passive takers.”

Gerald Wong, executive director of EB Impact  

There is potential for AACs to host cafes or shops where seniors can sell the products they make or harvest. These can be open to the public, thus bringing the community together.

“We can raise that awareness of sustainability and at the same time address a social issue, which is to get seniors to be more active and change the perception that they are active contributors to society rather than passive takers,” he said.

To track progress, EB Impact will conduct well-being surveys and hold focus group discussions with seniors. It is also exploring partnering educational institutions to retrieve data and feedback on the effectiveness of the programme.

EB Impact aims to kick off Seeds of Change in the second half of this year.

Something for the young ones too

The second initiative is The Sustainability Youth Festival (TSYF), an annual event that offers a platform for youth to engage with sustainability topics. It will bring together students, schools, government agencies and corporate partners.

TSYF will target young people from the primary school to tertiary levels, and aims to deepen their understanding about sustainability. It will comprise booths, which may be hosted by sector partners, as well as hands-on activities, learning experiences and small-group guided discussions.

“The main idea of TSYF boils down to making sustainability as accessible as possible,” Wong added.

A key component of the festival is the TSYF Challenge, in which students can pitch sustainability solutions to win awards and grants to implement them in their communities.

TSYF will take place on Aug 1 at Capitol Theatre.

Established in 2019, EB Impact is dedicated to advancing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals in Singapore and Asia, with a focus on youth and education.

Last year, it launched a community space in partnership with City Developments Ltd, introduced an education grant with ComfortDelGro and ran its third edition of the Sustainability Media Academy for journalists.

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