Seeds of Change: Contested Nature with 4D Mapping
Singapore’s nature is often framed as nature versus development. In fact, planners now map ecological connectivity across land and sea, and use it to guide land and sea use plans. But space is scarce, so some green and blue spaces will still be developed. The harder question is how those trade-offs are weighed, and who gets a say.
What’s at stake is more than any one site. It’s the network of green and blue spaces that sustains wildlife. It’s also our relationship with land and sea: the stories, identity and sense that nature is ours to care for, not just something managed for us.
Agencies, developers, the public and conservation groups each see a different part of this system. To shift it, we may need to sense it before we can see it. So we ask: How are decisions about Singapore’s nature made, and who has a say?
We use the 4D Mapping, an embodiment method from Social Presencing Theater to ground ourselves in how decisions about our terrestrial, coastal and marine ecosystems are made today through embodying the key stakeholders to map the system.
Date: 9 Jan 2027, Saturday
Time: 9am – 12.30pm
Location: JR Fitness, #02-14 Waterloo Centre
In just three hours, you'll:
✔️Hands-on experience of 4D Mapping, a Social Presencing Theatre method for sensing systems through the body.
✔️A clearer sense of how trade-offs over land and sea are made, and where influence really sits.
✔️Insight into how different stakeholders, including nature itself, experience the same situation.
Who should attend:
Conservation and nature practitioners
Urban planners and policymakers
Public sector professionals
Built environment and development professionals
NGO and social enterprise practitioners
Educators and students
Community organisers
Anyone who cares about Singapore’s nature
Case Study Provided by
Facilitated by
Pei Ya Boon, Founder, The Shoal Co
Tay Hwee Bin, Founder, Purpose Field Works
This is part of a series of eight environmental sustainability themed workshops on systems thinking and futures till 2027. See here for more information on the other workshops.
This workshop series is supported by SG EcoFund.