SPACE

Intra-CREATE: Science of Sustainable Cities. Shaping Public Adaptive Capacity For Environmental Infectious Diseases 

CNRS@CREATE is pleased to announce, as host institution, the selection of the project “Shaping Public Adaptive Capacity For Environmental Infectious Diseases” as part of the INTRA-CREATE call for projects on “Science of Sustainable Cities”.

Project team members

• Lead-PI FR Project Lead, AVELINE-DUBACH Natacha, CNRS / UMR Geographie-Cités 
• Lead-PI SG Project Lead, HO Shirley, NTU 
• Lead PI 3, COOK Alex, NUS 
• Lead PI 4, JOYCE Sam Conrad, SUTD (Meta Design Lab)
• Lead PI 5, LANDY Frederic, Université Nanterre / UMR LA VUE 
• Lead PI 6, MUKHERJEE Ishani, SMU 
• Lead PI 7, PEYROUX Elisabeth, CNRS / UMR PRODIG 
• Lead PI 8, TELLE Olivier, CNRS / UMR Geographie-Cités 
• Co-I 1, DE BERCEGOL Remi, CNRS / UMR PRODIG 
• Co-I 2, ESPOSITO Adele, CNRS / IRASEC 
• Co-I 3, HYE KYUNG Kim, NTU 
• Co-I 4, LIM Jue Tao, NTU 
• Co-I 5, ORTNER Peter, SUTD 
• Co-I 6, PADAWANGI Rita, SUSS 
• Co-I 7, ROSENTHAL Sonny, SUTD 
• Co-I 8, TAILLANDIER Patrick, INRAE 
• Co-I 9, VACCHIANI Celine, Université Reims-Champagne / UMR Géographie-Cités 
• Co-I 10, WOODS Orlando, SMU
• Co-I 11, DICKENS Borame Sue Lee, NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health 
• Collaborator 1, ASCHER John, NUS 
• Collaborator 2, HSU Yang, NUS 
• Collaborator 3, MORAND Serge, CNRS / UMR ASTRE 
• Collaborator 4, PULLIAT Gwenn, CNRS / UMR Art-Dev 
• Research Fellow, CHEN Ying, CNRS@CREATE 
• Research Fellow, Dr. GUHA Panchali, SMU

Lead-PI SG Project Lead, HO Shirley, NTU

The SPACE team during their first physical meeting in August 2022. 

Many experts agree that even if populations can be immunized against particular viruses using drugs or vaccines, they must be prepared to live with infectious diseases because of the interrelations between infection agents and climate change. The management of epidemics therefore requires a paradigmatic shift in disease control. To achieve sustainable responses to health challenges, it is critical that local communities and urban stakeholders be regarded as active players in the production of knowledge, surveillance, and responses to epidemics.

The SPACE project builds on this premise to develop a dynamic, adaptive approach to urban sustainability. The project draws upon analyses of the risk factors and sociospatial patterns that drive dengue transmission in Singapore, as well as the social and technical skills developed by individuals, community groups and state actors in response to disease propagation. The project will use the concept of “adaptive capacity” (AC) to explore the potential of community-based “latent social capital” as key assets for adaptive responses to health challenges related to dengue in its interplay with COVID-19 in the context of Singapore’s Smart Nation initiative.

Based on the AC approach, the project targets four outcomes: a) improve the current spatiotemporal forecasting framework for dengue and Covid 19 outbreaks in Singapore using an Agent-Based Model; b) develop innovative policy ideas to enhance disease prevention and mitigation in Singapore’s built and green space; c) improve governmental communication strategies towards epidemic mitigation and control, and; d) assist in reshaping or building urban configurations at various scales so as to achieve an “antivirus-built environment”.

SPACE conceptual scheme

SPACE organisational scheme

A dengue prevention banner displayed in Serangoon, Singapore. Credits: B. Cautis/CNRS@CREATE.

This research is supported by the National Research Foundation, Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore under its Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) programme.

CREATE is an international collaboratory housing research centres set up by top universities. At CREATE, researchers from diverse disciplines and backgrounds work closely together to perform cutting-edge research in strategic areas of interest, for translation into practical applications leading to positive economic and societal outcomes for Singapore. The interdisciplinary research centres at CREATE focus on four areas of interdisciplinary thematic areas of research, namely human systems, energy systems, environmental systems and urban systems. More information on the CREATE programme can be obtained from www.create.edu.sg.

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