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Green Mark for Parks
Singapore National Parks Board
Singapore

The Problem

Urban parks are a vital part of community infrastructure influencing the social capital (livability), economic vibrancy and environmental impact of cities. Increasing urbanization trends subjects’ city land to greater resource competition. There were no internationally accepted objective tools to rate the environmental, social and economic sustainability of urban parks. This resulted in urban parks being considered as desirable rather than essential to the development of a healthy city. Consequently, urban parks are accorded low resource allocation status resulting in a diminution of their potential contribution to improving the livability of the city for all resident, working and visiting social groups.

Solution and Key Benefits

 What is the initiative about? (the solution)
Green Mark for Parks (GMP) is a world’s first comprehensive, objectively measured aspirational sustainability benchmark for parks based on interdependent economic, social and environmental parameters. As a fresh approach to park sustainability GMP promotes responsiveness of government to environmental concerns through objectively quantifying environmental service benefits balanced against the environmental costs of resource demands. GMP derives credibility from BCA’s internationally accepted assessment framework for sustainable buildings with extensive expert adaptation for social, economic and environmental sustainability assessment within the parks context. GMP tools allow parks to be appropriately valued with consequent improvement in resource allocation status.GMP benchmarking encourages positive environmental behaviour from park managers and actively solicits public park user feedback and engagement.

Actors and Stakeholders

 Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
Green Mark for Parks (GMP) is a joint initiative of the Singapore Building Construction Authority (BCA) and the Singapore National Parks Board (NParks). It was developed and implemented by a team of experienced NParks park managers plus BCA representatives led by NParks Industry Development branch. Assessment criteria were tested in public parks in Singapore and Australia. Consultation was undertaken across a wide range of external public and private stakeholders including Singapore’s Housing Development Board, Sentosa, Surbana, Jurong Town Corporation, Town Councils, National University of Singapore and Ngee Ann Polytechnic and Australia’s Parks and Leisure Australia and Brisbane City Council.

(a) Strategies

 Describe how and when the initiative was implemented by answering these questions
 a.      What were the strategies used to implement the initiative? In no more than 500 words, provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom.
Objectives: - Provide quantitative standards evaluating parks sustainability, focusing on resource management, quality and environmental impact of parks; Recognize owners achieving parks sustainability benchmarks; Identify parks design and management best practices;Incorporate a virtual cycle of parks sustainability improvements;Create public recognition of Green Mark Parks. Through the development of internationally credible awards for parks and other landscapes. Assessment quality and credibility is maintained by: - Development of an extensive subscription based supporting website;Licensed partnerships;GMP assessors, manager, designer, auditor and operator accredited trainingThe Green Mark consultative committee established the GMP objectives and implementation strategies validated by BCA and NParks Exco’s.

(b) Implementation

 b.      What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
2006 – Investigation of UK Green Flag parks programJune 2007 – Formation of Green Mark development teamOctober 2007 – Development of draft assessment criteria with stakeholder consultationDec 2007 – Trial assessments across range of parks in Singapore & AustraliaMar 2008 – Pilot assessments May 2008 – Green Mark for Park Launch with first 3 AwardsJuly 2008 – Business plan / roadmap developedOctober 2008 - draft Technical guidelines developedNovember 2008 – Australian GMP promotional workshops December 2008 – Development draft Green Mark for Park design assessment criteria

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

 c.      What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
Understanding the interdependence of triple bottom line sustainability conceptMost managers wanted to focus on environmental sustainability without understanding that the social use, resource requirements and evaluating all benefits have a substantial impact on the capacity to develop environmental sustainability. This was overcome through inculcating social and economic benefit calculations within the framework.Ensuring that the assessment framework was sufficiently robust and flexible to enable application across a wide range of international operating environments. This was overcome through hosting an International Benchmarking Workshop in Singapore and a built environment professional’s parks assessment workshop in Brisbane Australia.

(d) Use of Resources

 d.      What resources were used for the initiative and what were its key benefits? In no more than 500 words, specify what were the financial, technical and human resources’ costs associated with this initiative. Describe how resources were mobilized
Part-time human resources for 18 months included- NParks Industry Development Assistant Director (10% Full Time Equivalent - FTE)- NParks Industry Development Manager (25% FTE)- NParks Parks Managers x 5 (<5% FTE each)- BCA Green Mark Deputy Director (<5% FTE)- BCA Green Mark Senior Project Officer (5% FTE)- Volunteer Workshop participants (Singapore half day x 30) (Brisbane 1 day x 40)Funding to date – approx. $40K (excluding labour above)Technical resources – web based applications development

Sustainability and Transferability

  Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
The GMP Business plan has been developed to ensure ongoing sustainability beyond the resources of the two parent organisations, BCA and NParks. Development and maintenance funding will be recouped from fee for service charges. International transferability is achieved through developing licensed partnerships for roll out in other nations, including Australia, ASEAN and India.Commercial and institutional landscape sustainability assessment criteria and recognition programs are under development.Social, environmental, institutional and economic currency is maintained through - Publicized public e-feedback website link - 3 year accreditation life for each award- Annual international benchmarking workshops- Professional body partnerships

Lessons Learned

 What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
Fulfills an existing need for Park managersKey support from NParks leadershipPragmatic development by a team of experienced Parks managersExtensive trial and pilot implementation across a range of park types and operating environmentsStrategic marketing to key national and international stakeholdersInformed consultation and development of industry champions

Contact Information

Institution Name:   Singapore National Parks Board
Institution Type:   Government Agency  
Contact Person:   Neil Power
Title:   Assistant Director  
Telephone/ Fax:   +65 96755489
Institution's / Project's Website:   +65 64695332
E-mail:   neil_power@nparks.gov.sg  
Address:   National Parks Board Headquarters (Raffles Building), Singapore Botanic Gardens, 1 Cluny Road
Postal Code:   Singapore 259569
City:  
State/Province:  
Country:   Singapore

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