From Data to Action: Civic Engagement with Digital Tools

You are cordially invited to attend the roundtable event:

Date: 16 October 2025

Time: 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Venue: SDE4 Level 5, Forum

Please register your interest here.

Civic Resilience Laboratory
From Data to Action: Civic Engagement with Digital Tools
Civic Technology for Climate Action Collaboratory
National University of Singapore & Asia Research Institute

As cities face increasingly complex challenges, community engagement has become central to understanding and responding to diverse needs. From civic technology, data storytelling, and co-creation, new methods have emerged to link theory and practice to tap into local knowledge and capacity, transforming the urban environment towards more inclusive and equitable futures. Using emergent technologies and methods for participatory action raises critical questions about the balance between data-driven insights and lived experience; strategies for meaningful engagement; and communication towards action.

This roundtable brings together professionals and researchers who have worked closely with communities in Southeast Asia – Mr. Larry Yeong from Participate in Design, Ms. Nabilah Said from Kontinentalist, and Dr. Ryan Gordon Tans from NUS College. Their work exemplifies advancements in participatory methodologies and practice with each highlighting different aspects of the community engagement process. Our discussion will explore how diverse stakeholders collaborate to collect, use, and influence data to form coalitions and shape the urban future. The panellists will reflect on the challenges and opportunities they have faced in this field, as well as opportunities for future innovation. Together, we hope to chart the trajectories from community engagement to action through the lens of knowledge production and communication.

As the inaugural public event of the Civic Resilience Laboratory (CiRe), a collaboration between the Department of Architecture and Asia Research Institute, this roundtable marks the beginning of broader conversations at NUS concerning participatory engagement, civic technologies, and urban citizenship. Situating Singapore within regional and international debates on urban data and participatory governance, we aim to foster and strengthen the pathways for collaboration between civic actors in ASEAN towards a more inclusive and adaptive urban environment.

Panelists
Mr. Larry Yueng, Founder, Participate In Design
Larry Yeung is the Executive Director of Participate in Design (P!D), where he champions participatory and community-centric urban planning. Trained in architecture at the National University of Singapore (NUS), he has led citizen co-creation projects in neighbourhood planning, public space design, and community arts. He was named a World Cities Summit Young Leader (2021) and received the NUS-CDE Outstanding Young Alumni Award (2023). Larry currently serves on the CSC-MCCY Engagement Experts Panel and is an adjunct assistant professor at the NUS Department of Architecture.

Ms. Nabilah Said, Editorial Lead, Kontinentalist 
Nabilah Said is the editor of Kontinentalist and leads its Experiment & Research team. Her stories on land reclamation in Singapore and racial housing quotas have won and been shortlisted for awards at the Society for News Design Awards, SOPA Awards and the New Media Writing Prize. She was previously an arts correspondent at The Straits Times.

Dr. Ryan Gordon Tans, Lecturer, NUS College
Dr. Tans studies the political economy of coastal development and adaptation in Southeast Asia. His frequent collaborations with Tanahindie Urban Research Institute, in Makassar, Indonesia, have informed academic papers, a Global Experience (GEx) course, and Makassar Biennale 2023. He is a lecturer at NUS College. 

Moderators
Prof. Jeffrey Hou, NUS Department of Architecture
In a career that spans the Pacific, Professor Jeffrey Hou has worked with indigenous tribes, farmers, fishers, and villagers in Asia and inner-city immigrant youths and elders in North American cities, on projects ranging from the conservation of wildlife habitats to bottom-up urban placemaking.

Dr. Chaewon Ahn, NUS Department of Architecture
Chaewon Ahn is interested in critically investigating urban knowledge, mediated through urban data. Her research focuses on 1) epistemologies of urban data, 2) politics of urban development and counter-data practices, and 3) the development of civic technology tools towards pluralistic and inclusive future making.