Community Engagement

The NUS CDE Interdisciplinary Overseas Community Engagement Programme (IOCEP) brings students from architecture, design and engineering together to take learning beyond the classroom and make a meaningful difference across ASEAN. Through interdisciplinary collaboration, students apply their knowledge and creativity to real-world challenges, working alongside local partners and communities to co-create practical and sustainable solutions.

Bringing this initiative to life, IOCEP Batam offers students an immersive experience to engage directly with local communities, turn ideas into action and create tangible impact. From designing solutions to hands-on building and community engagement, students will learn, contribute and make a difference together.

About IOCEP Batam
The Batam IOCEP offers NUS CDE students a meaningful opportunity to apply design and engineering knowledge while engaging with local communities in Batam. Students will visit coastal stilt-house communities to understand challenges related to climate change, sanitation, water and hygiene. Working in interdisciplinary teams, they will explore solutions for climate-resilient housing, sustainable sanitation and passive cooling, and put ideas into action through hands-on house construction. Through community engagement, and cultural exchange activities, students will learn with and from local residents while developing empathy, teamwork, cross-cultural awareness and a deeper appreciation of community-centered design.

Programme Activities:

• Learning journeys beyond urban Batam into local stilt-house communities by the sea to better understand challenges associated with sanitation and rising sea level due to climate change faced by these local communities.
• Work in interdisciplinary teams to explore and ideate innovative solutions for climate-resilient stilt houses, sustainable sanitation, water and hygiene and passive cooling features through guided workshops and community-centric design discussions, leading to practical ideas that create safer and more sustainable homes for the local communities.
• Hands-on activities in constructing houses with passive cooling features in the rural communities.
• Cultural exchange activities to engage with local communities in Batam.

• Country: Batam, Indonesia
• Estimated Cost: Successful applicants will be fully supported by an IOCEP Student Award to cover the programme cost
• Application Deadline: Application has closed, do keep a lookout for the next intake
• Travel Period: 13 December to 20 December 2026
• Maximum Intake Capacity: 20
• Who can Apply: CDE students

For Enquiries, Contact: Jacqueline Chiang (jacqcjy@nus.edu.sg)