United Nations Public Service Awards Case Studies

With the Japanese invasion in 1942, most of Singapore’s infrastructure was destroyed, including the rubber estates and crop plantations. When Singapore faced its independence in 1959, it faced serious problems of a rapidly-growing post-war population. Singapore has to struggle to survive and prosper on its own, it also had to create a sense of national identity and consciousness among a disparate population of immigrants.

In the 1960s, the government embarked on nation building on a large scale. A massive industrialization program was launched with the extension of industrial estates and creation of smaller estates. Huge building projects sprung up to provide cheap, affordable housing to resettle the squatters. With improving standard of living and urbanisation, larger and higher-standard apartments were built.

Through rapid and tremendous development over the past 40 years, Singapore has transformed itself into a highly urbanized and industralised nation. In parallel with this, the greening of the island sprouted when Mr Lee Kuan Yew, then Prime Minister, presented his vision of Singapore as a Garden City – with a series of government and civic activities to buffer the negative impact of urban growth, culminating in the garden city environment of today. His vision was to grow a city-state within the garden environment. He believed that a well-tended Garden City would not only benefit its inhabitants, but also serve as an example of a good, efficient government that would attract investors. It took not only a foresight, but also courage to invest in a concept that some regarded as an intangible benefit; yet, history has proved it to be the right decision.

In 1963, then Prime Minister Lee launched the first Tree Planting Campaign. Today, the annual Tree Planting Day re-affirms the nation’s commitment towards maintaining a clean and green environment.

The National Parks Board (NParks) is responsible for providing and enhancing the greenery of the Garden City. Beyond green infrastructure, NParks is committed to enhancing the quality of life through creating memorable recreational experiences, a gardening culture and green lifestyles. Today, Singapore is globally recognised as a premier Garden City and the challenge is to bring greenery closer to people and to inculcate a better greenery appreciation and awareness on the importance of community ownership of the common greenery spaces.

A Community Gardening Programme named “Community in Bloom” spearheaded by NParks, was launched in May 2005 to encourage greater participation and involvement in community gardening activities by communities and residents of HDB estates, private residential estates, schools and other organizations. The key thrusts are firstly to encourage residents in private residential estates to collectively take up community gardening, secondly to work in partnership with Town Councils and grassroots organizations to encourage more residents in HDB estates to start community gardening projects and thirdly, to engage other organizations and institutions to implement gardening-related activities for enhanced social interaction.

What is the initiative about? (the solution)
Community in Bloom gardens are safe, beautiful outdoor spaces on public or private lands, where neighbours meet to grow and care for ornamental and flowering plants, vegetables, herbs/spices and other garden species. The gardeners take the initiative and responsibility for organizing, providing, maintaining and managing the garden area. Participation in ‘Community In Bloom’ builds skills and creates positive community development that is widely accessible to a diverse range of people. It brings people of different backgrounds and ages together in a fun environment. Gardening transcends racial and political boundaries. Gardening together as a community promotes interracial bonding which is crucial to Singapore’s multicultural society. Since its inception in May 2005, Community in Bloom has witnessed a number of positive changes to the communities it has affected. Examples are: · neighbours returning to outdoor green spaces; · school teachers using gardens as outdoor classrooms; · daycare providers integrating outdoor play with indoor activities; · senior citizens gathering and socializing in the gardens · Therapeutic benefits for residents All of these are evidence that increased community involvement and improved environment provide better community bonding and better neighborhoods generally. There are now 350 active community gardening groups island-wide, located in residential estates, schools and organizations.

Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
NParks initiated the CIB programme, which aims to nurture a gardening culture among the population by encouraging and facilitating urban community gardening efforts. It is based on collaborative partnerships with both the public and private sector organizations, and volunteer groups to facilitate community gardening efforts in residential estates, schools and organisations. The key partnerships involve more than 50 organizations such as the 5 Community Development Councils, Peoples’ Association, Residents and Neighbourhoods Committees, Singapore Gardening Society, National Youth Achievement Award, Singapore Environment Council, Nature Society of Singapore, Singapore Institute of Landscape Architects, Institute of Parks and Recreation, Landscape Industry Association Singapore, Housing and Development Board and private plant nursery companies.

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.
The CIB movement is built on five key strategies as briefly described below: a Engagement. The community gardening message is always conveyed to connect with its target audience and engage, inspire and move them to participate in community gardening activities. It is presented as a meaningful and enriching, but inexpensive, lifestyle activity. b Empowerment. To empower communities and participants with greater roles and responsibilities in their community gardening projects and activities; Community gardening, over time, has developed beyond the current vegetable gardening to include landscape gardening at common areas, creation of landscaped estate identity markers, flower gardens, and rooftop gardens. For private estates, community gardening includes landscaping and gardening at neighbourhood parks and creation of estate identity markers. c Partnership. As the lead agency, NParks establishes key partnerships as well as strengthens existing key partnerships with various stakeholders to secure greater and more broad-based buy-in and support. d Extensiveness. To achieve critical mass through systematic and targeted approaches. In the initial stages, NParks and its key partners focus and work with communities and groups that are passionate about community gardening or that have already initiated community gardening projects, to build these up as successful models. This has resulted in many successful community gardening models throughout our island, which are the catalysts in generating and breeding more interest and participation, building up towards critical mass. NParks works with its key partners to encourage and facilitate interested communities and participants to form gardening clubs and groups, to promote community gardening among fellow residents, students, and colleagues, and to initiate community gardening projects at their estates, schools and workplaces. NParks then works with these gardening clubs and groups to share horticultural and technical skills and knowledge to members to better equip them to start their own community gardening activities. Successful community gardens are widely showcased, publicized and given recognition. This helps to generate a community gardening “buzz” and healthy pride among participants, as well as motivate more participation. Extensive and regular media coverage helps generate sustained and wide-reaching interest. e Sustainability. To facilitate community gardening in residential estates, estate-planning authorities are now providing adequate community gardening spaces during planning for new estates and upgrading of existing estates. This also allows community gardening areas to be more seamlessly integrated with common landscaped and green areas. Continuous equipping and imparting of technical knowledge to communities and participants helps sustain their interest and enthusiasm. This is facilitated through regular workshops, study visits to model community gardens, access to information-sharing networks and gardening knowledge databases etc. Residents are, through continued empowerment, encouraged to adopt a mindset of self-help, self-learning and experimentation. To foster a similarly strong community gardening ethic and culture in our next generation of citizens and communities, community gardening is becoming part of the schools’ core education curriculum.

b. What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
Community Gardens in Public Housing Estates Residents from public housing estates are encouraged to set up community gardens on common public green spaces within their estates, together with support from the Residents’ Committees, the local association of residents. These gardens are usually small-scale, with plot sizes ranging from 30 m2 to 1000 m2. There is a preference for growing food plants such as vegetables, herbs and spices, which can be attributed to an instinctive need among the gardeners to relieve the ‘good old kampong (community village) days’. As such, these gardens become a means of bringing a sense of belonging, especially for the retired and senior citizens. Community Gardens in Private Housing Estates Community gardening is largely carried out on small pockets of space available on the roadside green verge typically in front of their homes. Collectively, these individual roadside gardens make up a community garden. Volunteering residents formed the Neighbourhood Committees, supporting the community gardening initiative at their estate. For private housing estates, the key function of their community garden is to beautify their home frontage. Collectively, their roadside gardens also enhances the existing streetscape greenery, adding splashes of colours and vibrancy to their estate. Community Gardens in Schools Community gardens within the green common spaces of schools allows students, teachers, parent-volunteers and non-teaching staff to have the opportunity to grow and care for their plants. Used as outdoor classrooms for experiential learning, schools often have more than one type of thematic gardens. These includes Herbs and Spice Garden, Butterfly Gardens, Cactus Gardens, etc., and many more. Gardening is included in the curriculum of the teaching programme to enrich topics such as science. With the urban youth becoming more detached from nature, experiences through gardening are beneficial to the young who hitherto had little opportunity in our urban city. In this way, the love of nature and gardening is fun and introduced to the kids, to start them from young. Community Gardens in Organisations Organisations such as hospitals, welfare homes and place of worships, staff and volunteers are the ones who nurture the community gardens within the compound. The roles of the community gardens vary widely according to the needs of the organizations. For example, community gardening activity in hospital is one good form of therapy for patients. The garden setting provides a good therapeutic environment where patients relax and heal faster. Community Gardens in Public Parks Community gardens complement public parks in providing the population with the benefits of green spaces and recreation yet also fulfilling a role in community development. Set up and tended by park users who reside nearby, these community gardens become a focal point for the neighbouring community as well as providing for an alternative source of activities and attractions for the people.

c. What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
Obstacles 1. People in our urban setting and lifestyle (especially the young and young working adults) are out of touch and have little regard for nature. Natural places and soil were seen as “dirty”. Some negative perceptions of gardening – seen as “dirty” or “lowly” (the latter carried out by foreign workers) 2. Values like respect for life, responsibility towards the environment are lacking in a large sector of the population as a result of the earlier point 3. Some people are indifferent or even intolerant of gardening, preferring artificial lawns and plastic plants 4. Gardening is mostly at an individual level – in private homes, within homes and along corridors. Not many people engage in community gardening. 5. With the flood of new media, virtual plants and gardens could replace “real gardening”. 6. The perception that people have no time for gardening. Outside work is percieved as arduous in the tropical heat. Solutions 1. Help people to get in touch with nature and “connected” to their nearby parks and gardens E.g. programmes at a park or garden to appreciate plants there e.g. spices, common wayside trees, opportunities for sharing gardening successes etc. 2. Help these groups of people to understand the benefit of gardening, see the need to garden and discover the joy of gardening (to illustrate that virtual or plastic gardens are far inferior to a living garden). 3. Change the attitude of people e.g. from indifference to tolerance and acceptance; to raise the perception of gardening 4. Inculcate values like respect for life 5. Promote environmental stewardship (understand the importance of respecting and enhancing the environment). 6. Channel new gardeners to existing “starter-kit” resources from CIB, NParks and other organizations. 7. Encourage more community gardening projects through 3P partnerships etc. 8. Reach out to principals and teachers to help them see the relevance of gardening to their curriculum. E.g. Teachers can be encouraged to garden as a first-hand experience of curriculum or as project work. 9. More can be done to link curriculum to gardening – Many Topics in Primary Science and Secondary Science and Geography syllabi are illustrated and experienced during gardening.

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
The National Parks Board (NParks) is responsible for providing and enhancing the greenery of the Garden City. Beyond green infrastructure, NParks is committed to enhancing the quality of life through creating memorable recreational experiences, a gardening culture and green lifestyles. Today, Singapore is globally recognised as a premier Garden City and the challenge is to bring greenery closer to people and to inculcate a better greenery appreciation and awareness on the importance of community ownership of the common greenery spaces. NParks provides a team to initiate, plan, implement, and start up the gardening groups and provide training to generate more gardeners in the community. Town Councils, Residents and Neighbourhood Committees, companies, schools, organizations such as hospitals and charities providing resources – seed capital and infrastructure for the gardens. Local NGOs such as Singapore Environmental Council, Singapore Gardening Society and Green Culture Singapore provided their members’ time and resources for continual sustenance of movement. MND, NParks, SLA, HDB, Town Councils and PA through policies – promoted and encouraged the community to convert open spaces into land for gardening through their polices on land and resource management.

Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
NParks recognises that the setting up, management, running and maintenance of community gardens should be left to the communities, as this will promote self-reliance and foster closer community bonding among the participants. The involvement of the community is central in the sense of empowering those involved with improving the environment within their own neighbourhood. The cost of setting up and maintenance, such as the purchasing of tools, plants and fertilisers, is borne by the community. This is instilling a greater sense of ownership, which in turn, ensures a greater chance of success. NParks also facilitates community-base self-help through activities for sharing of gardening information, website resources and materials. NParks organises forums for gardeners from different communities to share and exchange knowledge. We encourage interactions between communities through facilitating visits to other gardens. This is especially helpful for start-up community gardeners to gain knowledge, and at the same time, form partnerships with the more experienced gardeners. With the formation of such community-base self-help network, community gardens become self-sufficient. This resulted in gardeners becoming more passionate about gardening and go on to influence others with their knowledge and enthusiasm. NParks cannot be alone in driving the community gardening movement. It is essential that we establish partnership with other public agencies, such as Town Councils, National Library Board, Housing Development Board and Community Development Councils, to provide additional support for the communities. This includes provision of gardening spaces and amenities, funding, and the expansion of gardening knowledge base. This multi-agency approach is a cornerstone of the success of the CIB programme. NPark’s inclusive approach also encourages collaboration with non-government organisations (NGOs) such as the Singapore Gardening Society, Singapore Environmental Council and Green Culture Singapore (an online gardening forum). These pro-green NGOs are valuable in cultivating community gardening interest among their members and to the public. Furthermore, many of their members are gardening enthusiasts, whom are enlisted to share their knowledge with the community gardeners, and thus, form part of the community-base self-help network. This systematic approach flows naturally into the formal performance management system of the organization so that the vision is integrated into the “DNA” of the CIB programme. The “DNA” is scalable and it could be replicated and be transferred to start new movements.

What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
NParks is developing a strategic plan to understand what is changing in the external environment, and how this affects gardeners. We ensured that our plans take into account the driving forces that were shaping and influencing our environment and community. Galvanising support from the grassroots level is also central to the CIB programme. Various grassroots organisations, such as the Residents’ Committees and Neighbourhood Committees, have a better understanding of their locality and will be in a better position to influence and promote community gardening to their residents. In addition, these grassroots organisations are empowered to manage the community garden projects within their estates, as well as facilitating to resolve problems at the local level. Developing a gardening culture in Singapore means a long-term commitment in preparing the people from school-going age onwards in the whole lifestyle of gardening, which is at present foreign to most school-going children. This is done through the involvement of students in creating community gardens in schools ranging from the pre-school to the tertiary level. Recognising the importance of nurturing a love for gardening, NParks realises that our current practice of providing only the basic guidance to schools in the initial set up of community gardens may not be sustainable. Sometimes we have seen such gardens become derelict once the initial enthusiasm dies down. There is an important need to pass on the pride and responsibility in the garden from cohort to cohort. As a result, NParks through a new partnership with MOE’s Programme for Active Learning (PAL), schools will soon be able to gain many potential learning outcomes in terms of knowledge, awareness and the understanding of different cultural, social, economic and environmental issues with each other. More importantly, these activities will be fun so as to enhance the interest of the students in gardening and interacting with each other. The benefits of community gardening are immensely valuable to Singapore. Besides providing a means of recreation, they also present a great opportunity to bridge the divide between age, ethnic, political and socio-economic groups. NParks recognises the importance of creating awareness, adopting best practices, nurturing people and community, forming valuable partnerships and rewarding gardening efforts to achieve a sustainable gardening culture and environmental consciousness in Singapore. Moving forward, the pervasiveness of the gardening network offers immense opportunities for highly developed cities to benefit from urban farming.


Institution Name:		National Parks Board
Institution Type:		Government Agency
Contact Person:		Ng Cheow Kheng
Title:		Assistant Director / Streetscape (Project)
Telephone/ Fax:		65-64650322
Institution's / Project's Website:		65-67621383
E-mail:		ng_cheow_kheng@nparks.gov.sg
Address:		1 Cluny Road
Postal Code:		259569
City:
State/Province:
Country:		Singapore

The Problem

Solution and Key Benefits

Actors and Stakeholders

(a) Strategies

(b) Implementation

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

(d) Use of Resources

Sustainability and Transferability

Lessons Learned

Contact Information