Inaugural Cities of Love Award (COLA) launched to honour sustainability
Singapore, May 22, 2017 – A new award – called the Cities of Love Award (COLA) – to recognise and honour the sustainability efforts of ordinary individuals, businesses and communities has just been launched in Singapore.
The brainchild of Mr Tai Lee Siang and his wife Ms Valerie Ang – joint authors of the book Cities of Love – both directors of Inception Pte Ltd, a creative consultancy, focused on developing unique creative projects that benefit individual, communities, and cities.
On the COLA objectives, Mr Tai said, “Awards for sustainability are often given to prominent figures such as government or business leaders who have helped to implement large-scale transformational projects. While this has made important impact on cities, we must not ignore the contributions of the individuals or the smaller organisations. The Cities of Love Award or COLA is therefore an award to recognise the efforts made by the ordinary person or enterprises – especially those that have shown much innovation, care, and love for the communities they live in. For us, no project is too small or insignificant. So, if your actions have made positive impact in any way, we welcome you to take part in the award as we believe that every positive effort should be given a chance to be appreciated and recognised.”
Mr Tai is also the current Chairman of the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC), Honorary Advisor of the Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC) and a member of the Presidential Advisory Commission of the Design Business Chamber of Singapore (DBCS).
The inaugural Cities of Love Awards 2017 builds on the sustainable roadmap laid out by Mr Tai’s recently-launched book, Cities of Love.
The award is also open to all entries from small homegrown projects to large-scale corporate developments, and comprises three categories: Social Sustainability, Economic Sustainability, and Environmental Sustainability.
Social Sustainability aims to highlight initiatives, actions or organisations that will sustain their social group or community in the long-term. The criteria that these awards will be judged on include: Administration, Communications, Community Bonding, Community Care, Education, Family Support, Finance & Financing Operations, Parental Assistance, Social Services, and Others.
Economic Sustainability highlights business models or actions that balanced growth with contributions to the local economy and the welfare of the workforce who helped achieve it. The judging criteria include: Administration, Communications, CSR, Finance & Financing, Human Resource, Marketing, Operations, Organisation, Products, Services, and Others.
Environmental Sustainability highlights actions that create a sustainable and friendly environment, or help to protect or maintain existing environments. The criteria for judging include: Building, Construction, Design, Gardens, Landscape, Maintenance, Materials, Operations, Products, Services, and Others.
The Award is in support of SG Cares, a national movement dedicated to support the goodwill of Singaporeans and guide them to help those in need. The supporting partners include Green Living, Reed Exhibitions, Design Business Chamber of Singapore (DBCS), Raffles Design Institute, World Scientific: Connecting Great Minds, Waste Management and Recycling Association of Singapore, Institute of Parks & Recreation Singapore, Sustain Ability Showcase Asia (SASA) and Media partners such as Green in Future, ABC Carbon Express, The Avenue for Creative Arts and Fifth Avenue Media & Editorial Services.
The awards are open to all residency in Singapore. Corporate entities must be registered in Singapore to qualify for the business application.
The entry fee for the awards are S$100 for individuals, S$300 for community groups and S$300 for businesses, and is now open for submission at http://www.inception.city/. The closing date is on 31 July, 2017.
Ms Valerie Ang said: “Amidst trying times and an uncertain economic climate, we need heroes – people we can look up to as examples of inspiration. They are people with insight and foresight who look beyond the confines of the norm to set a new and better benchmark of quality living. These are significant changers. The awards are our way of providing a platform for new heroes to lead by example towards a green and sustainable future.”
The Cities of Love Awards 2017 Ceremony will be held at Marina Bay Sands on 22 September 2017. Winning entries will also be displayed at the 2017 Green Living exhibition at Marina Bay Sands in September. For more information, please visit http://www.inception.city/about-the-awards/.
ABOUT THE CITIES OF LOVE (COLA) AWARDS 2017
Inception launched the COLA Awards 2017 to recognise ordinary people who do extraordinary things that contribute to sustainable issues. Besides prominent figures such as government or business leaders who have helped to implement large-scale change, Inception aims to show that no project is too small, no step is too insignificant – if actions have made a positive impact in some way, they should not be discounted.
ABOUT INCEPTION
Inception was formed in Singapore in August 2010, by Valerie Ang and Tai Lee Siang, out of a passion to transform lives, environments, and societies. It believes that everyone has the capability to bring change. Inception hopes to be a vehicle of change through holistic creations that promote sustainable living. Its long-term vision is to develop a basket of diverse creative projects that could include products, publications, multi-media productions and even gastronomic experiences. By introducing new innovations and perspectives that are sustainable and economically feasible, it hopes to contribute to harmonious and peaceful living on this Earth we call home.
