The Singapore Environment Institute Yearbook FY2007

SEI + PARTNERS = OUTREACH
Addressing Environmental Education

The year 2007 marks the 5th anniversary of SEI and represents a milestone in its growth towards greater maturity.

SEI is not alone in its journey. Right from its beginnings, the Institute has adopted a collaborative and partnership approach in fulfilling its role as a provider of environmental education. More than 200 partners and trainers have come onboard, through the effort of staff in both SEI and NEA, to train, nurture and empower people with us.

Recognising SEI’s relentless striving for educational excellence, the partners have come forth not just with their technical competencies, but their belief in imparting skills and knowledge.

Indeed it is through capacity building that the people of today face up to new environmental challenges. To provide these people, be they from Singapore or beyond her shores, with holistic “green nourishment”, SEI enters into different modes of working relationship with its partners.

SEI led the signing of an eight-party memorandum of understanding to formalise commitment to the Singapore Environmental Training Programme (SETP). Besides SEI, other SETP members are the Public Utilities Board (PUB), National Parks Board (NParks), National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law (APCEL), Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) and Singapore Polytechnic (SP).

Harnessing the combined resource and expertise pool, SEI has worked with its SETP partners to roll out programmes in key training areas. In its constant effort to expand outreach, SEI also collaborated with partners like the Civil Service College International (CSCI) and the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan.

I cannot over-emphasize the importance of strategic partnership in the delivery of the best in education. The Programme for Environmental Experiential Learning (PEEL) that SEI launched would not have come to fruition without the wonderful work from partners such as Envac Private Limited, SembCorp Environmental Management Private Limited and VICOM Inspection Centre. Today, PEEL has developed to become SEI’s flagship programme that is increasingly gaining recognition locally and overseas.

Last year, SEI formed its Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) with established opinion leaders in their respective fields to offer advice on SEI’s programmes, as well as its goals and direction. The formation of TAC has invariably added a strategic and integrative dimension to SEI’s partnership network.

SEI and all its partners have a pivotal role to play in environmental education. However moving forward, we need to respond to two challenges in particular.

The first challenge we face is to create more effective partnerships.

Environmental Education covers a wide range of issues. SEI cannot address it singly and neither can anyone else. A common vision is of paramount importance - a “Whole-of- Partnership” approach and an alliance for actions and outcomes shared by individuals, business organisations and the government alike.

We are fortunate that many of the key players in environmental education are already our partners. Nevertheless, SEI will continue to reach out and foster new partnerships, and constantly strengthen existing ones. To enhance value-add for our partners, SEI will also facilitate partnership integration.

The second challenge requires SEI and its partners to align all strategies for concerted action.

Partnership is not plainly working together. There must be an aligned strategy that we collectively adopt to respond to the myriad challenges coming our way. Aligning partners within a holistic environmental training framework to meet a wider capacity-building objective of Singapore might be imminent.

We now see several spectrums of training programmes conducted by SEI and its partners, the next step could be to streamline the programmes and focus resources wherein the greatest impact lies. Putting our thoughts together and working towards the common cause, our desired outcome would be to deliver more than the sum of all partners.

Operating effectively in today’s world requires partnership, co-operation, engagement and dialogue. In the spirit of “Whole-of-Partnership”, I thank all partners for the many tasks completed together. In the many fruitful years ahead, joining hands and making friends, SEI remains committed to work with and support our partners in knowledge sharing and capacity building not just for Singapore, but the rest of the global community.

Last updated on 25 Jun 08