PA launches Community Innovation Spaces as part of 60th anniversary milestone of CCMC

People's Association launches Community Innovation Spaces as part of 60th anniversary milestone of CCMC

         The Community Club Management Committees (CCMCs) will be commemorating their 60^th anniversary on Monday, 4 November 2024, 7.00pm at One Punggol. To mark the milestone, the People’s Association (PA) will be announcing two new initiatives - Community Innovation Spaces (CIS) and Community Innovation Hackathon. Chairman of PA, Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong; Deputy Chairman of PA, Minister of Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong will join about 700 CCMC chairpersons and grassroots leaders at the event.

2         The PA’s CCMCs were set up in October 1964 to offer residents greater say and ownership in their CC’s activities and programmes. They have come a long way since. Today, the CCs located islandwide serve as focal points in their respective neighbourhoods, providing a common space for residents to come together with their neighbours, friends and family. These would not be possible without the CCMC volunteers, who ensure that the many facilities, programmes and activities offered by the CCs meet their residents’ needs. Their efforts and contributions towards nation-building will be recognised at the commemorative event.

3         PA launched its refreshed mission in September 2024 to spark and nurture community participation. In line with our refreshed mission, CCMCs will activate more CC spaces to drive community participation and foster community ownership. Residents can look forward to use CC spaces to work together on community projects – to discuss, engage community stakeholders, plan initiatives, and rally the community.

Community Innovation Spaces
4         To facilitate this, the CCMCs will be setting aside dedicated “Community Innovation Spaces (CIS)” in the CCs for residents, volunteers and corporate organisations to come together to ideate and test innovative solutions to address community needs. This will be piloted in 10 CCs in the next 12 months.

5         With the support of the CCMCs, the CIS aims to provide a community innovation ecosystem with community networks, resource support and capability building programmes to inspire residents to champion community-driven causes and drive greater social impact through co-creation of ideas, while fostering a stronger sense of belonging and connection to the community.

6         Each CIS will also be equipped with smart features, tools and software. This includes a central innovation area equipped with advanced digital tools, such as a digital display white board to aid in real-time data visualisation and discussion. Additionally, the CIS will serve as community incubators, providing a physical platform for individuals and organisations to host presentations, workshops and talks to generate impactful solutions for the community.

Community Innovation Hackathon
7         Aside from the CIS, a Community Innovation Hackathon will also be announced at the event. Slated to take place in the first quarter of 2025, the hackathon is designed to drive social innovation through enabling like-minded participants to come together to cross-share experiences and insights to solve local community challenges. Members of the public will be invited to form teams to submit problem statements to address pertinent community issues with innovative solutions.

8         As part of the selection process, shortlisted teams will be matched with suitable mentors, tech experts and/or partners during the project development stage. There will also be design thinking and problem-solving workshops as part of the pitch preparation process.