Accommodate

Accommodate is an education initiative which uses role-play and simulation to raise awareness about sustainability issues related to land redevelopment in Singapore.

Accommodate is a game where participants get to role-play and discover for themselves the complexity of issues related to land-redevelopment in Singapore, with issues involving environmental, cultural and socio-economic perspectives and multiple stakeholders. Various concepts such as trade-offs, priorities and the need for communication and collaboration during the decision-making process are also experienced.

In this interview, Chua Ying Xuan shares her experience working as the co-founder of Accommodate.

1. What is your role in Accommodate?

I am the co-founder who oversees the organisation’s operations and manage our partnerships. My co-founder, Sammie, takes charge of programme development – refining our programme content to bring better Accommodate experiences to everyone.

In short, Sammie is the head, and I am the hands and feet!

2. Why did you choose this role?

Sammie and I co-founded Accommodate in 2016 after we graduated from junior college. It was then that we realised that there are many social, environmental and cultural causes being championed by various groups, organisations and communities in Singapore.

With some experiences volunteering for some of them and attending events organised by many others, we realised that there is a need to actively attract an audience that is not already interested in a particular cause – that is, to engage the unconverted – a task that is as difficult as it is critical in the work of promoting civic engagement.

We initially asked ourselves “Which specific cause am I passionate about?” as we volunteered for various causes but came to realise that boundaries between issues and causes are often too clearly defined. In reality, the former are interrelated and the latter should all be united by the common language of the desire for social change.

To tackle our two main objectives, we came up with the idea of Accommodate as a land-use planning simulation game – a game that allows for dynamic outcomes by inviting participants to step into the role of the government and respond to real-world issues. The aim of the game is to encourage participants to think broadly in terms of issues and perspectives. We also want to challenge the notion of right and wrong, and instead suggest the idea of trade-offs and priorities.

While the game serves as an introduction to participants, we also want to promote deeper conversations about pertinent issues. The panel discussion with topics closely linked to the game allows participants to find out more about the real-world issues from different stakeholders. We also continue the conversation by sharing ways in which participants can get involved in whatever issues they find themselves drawn to, be it through volunteering for our partners or attending their events.

3. What’s the most interesting event that you’ve encountered in your role?

As part of the Year of Climate Action in 2018, Accommodate organised a public event – U-Heart: Accommodate for Climate Change, with the support of National Environmental Agency (NEA), Young NTUC and City Developments’ Limited Singapore Sustainability Academy.

Apart from running our land-use simulation game, we also hosted a panel discussion centred on “What can Public, Private and People do for climate action?”

We invited four speakers to share their personal journeys in combating climate change. They are Maxine Chen from Interface, Cheryl Lee from Singapore Youth for Climate Action (SYCA), Melissa Low from NUS Energy Studies Institute and Gina Goh, an Undergraduate from NTU School of Biological Sciences.

We were also invited to showcase Accommodate at the NEA Ecofriend Award Ceremony, and were heartened when Minister Masagos Zulkifli mentioned Accommodate in his opening speech.

4. What’s the greatest difficulty that you’ve encountered in your role?

Most of us at Accommodate are full-time students, so the difficulty is having to balance our workload while committing to Accommodate. We’ve got to sacrifice sleep and nights out with friends at times, but all of us are willing to make such trade-offs, fuelled by our passion for educating people on social, environmental and cultural issues.

5. What jobs are available in your organisation?

We are happy to onboard team members who share the Accommodate vision.

While there are no fixed roles in our organisation, we would definitely love to have extra hands for content creation, writing, marketing, social media, education programme development. We are always on the lookout for facilitators to join our team – our facilitators are all passionate youths who are active in society!

Above all, a keen desire to learn is of utmost importance. We are happy to see what skills and ideas potential team members can bring, and what skills they will pick up along the way.

6. What skills does Accommodate look out for in job applicants?

Job applicants need to be passionate about social environment and/or cultural issues related to land redevelopment in Singapore – that’s the essence of Accommodate, to raise awareness about the interrelatedness of these issues.

Team members are expected to take ownership and initiative, with a strong desire to work and learn.

Facilitators need to be comfortable with public speaking and engaging with our participants.

7. Does Accommodate welcome interns? If so, what are the eligibility criteria?

Yes, we welcome interns! A Geography background is not a prerequisite, but is definitely helpful and relevant to our work at Accommodate.

Our current intern, Chen Xin, just graduated from Hwa Chong Junior College and has been a wonderful team member for the past two months.

Email us at accommodateSG@gmail.com to express interest.

8. How can readers access more information about Accommodate?

They may access our website or Facebook page.