Research & Innovation for Sustainability Center (RISC), a non-profit unit of Magnolia Quality Development Corporation Limited (MQDC), hosted its annual knowledge-sharing international conference “WATS Forum 2019” on 3 June at Centara Grand at CentralWorld, Bangkok.
WATS Forum 2019 presented the latest innovations and ideas in four main areas: wellbeing, architecture, technology, and sustainability, in their environmental, social, and economic aspects.
The forum attracted over 1,000 attendees, including property developers, architects, IT experts, journalists, and students, igniting their passion to preserve the planet, live in harmony with the earth, and make the world a better place.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Singh Intrachooto, RISC Chief Advisor, welcomed four keynote speakers to the podium: Mr. Dasho Tshering Tobgay, Former Prime Minister of Bhutan; Prof. Michael Steven Strano from the Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yodchanan Wongsawat from the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University; and Mr. Stefan de Koning, Senior Associate Architect from the influential urban design practice MVRDV.
In his opening remarks, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Intrachooto said: “Natural disasters, air pollution and climate change are happening around the world and they affect not only the environment but all of us. WATS Forum was born from the core value of sustainability. We believe that through sharing knowledge we stand a chance of creating a brighter, better, and happier future.”
WATS Forum 2019 brought together world-renowned experts to share their ideas, innovations, and success stories to help preserve the planet. The four keynote speakers shared their inspirations, innovations, and ideas.
Mr. Dasho Tshering Tobgay, Former Prime Minister of Bhutan, inspired the audience to investigate ways to achieve happiness. He shared a story from 400 years ago when the King of Bhutan imprinted a philosophy of nurturing happiness and wellbeing among his people. Since then, all the governments of Bhutan have followed this philosophy.
“Over the past 40 years, the government has valued Gross National Happiness (GNH) over Gross Domestic Product (GDP) because it believes that the economy alone does not provide wellbeing for people. The government has been using a holistic approach to protect the environment, while building security and trust among the people, and giving them the opportunity to fulfil their potential as human beings, be it socially, economically, or spiritually.
“GNH has become like Bhutan’s brand image. Many countries in Europe and the United Nations have come and learned to apply the concept in their countries for the benefit of their people.
“Every five years, the government interviews a large group of people in-depth for around two hours to gauge their level of happiness based on the country’s ‘Nine Domains’ index, including living standard, health, education, environment, and others.”
Professor Michael Steven Strano, Carbon P. Dubbs Professor of Chemical Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the author of over 50 published papers on various innovations, explained about his invention that can light up a whole city without electricity.
Through research and development in nanotechnology, Prof. Strano and his team have made watercress shoots emit light for up to four hours by using luciferase, an enzyme that enables fireflies to glow.
“We have a theory and it seems to work well. We can put particles inside plants to interact with them. There is a longstanding idea of making trees light up the roadside. These glowing trees could replace streetlamps and help reduce power consumption.”
Prof. Strano is committed to creating more effective light-emitting trees. He and his team are also experimenting with enabling communication with plants through sensors that make it possible to detect remotely when the plants need water. The information is sent to mobile phones using WiFi. This technology is being developed to help farmers manage their farms effectively.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yodchanan Wongsawat from the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University, is known as a pioneer who helps people with disabilities improve their quality of life using the Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) to stimulate electrical activity that helps patients make basic movements.
“Today, there are about 2 million people with disabilities in Thailand and 190 million people around the world who are suffering from some disability.
“Half of my life has been dedicated to solving the problem. I want to create opportunities for people with disabilities to move by themselves because their dream is to do things by themselves instead of relying on a cane, wheelchair, or another person.”
Dr. Yodchanan has combined technology available in the market with his engineering skill to create a sensor that can activate the human brain and muscles to help disabled people move their arms and legs. He believes that this would be the best gift for people with severe paralysis.
“We cannot do something big without a big motivation. My motivation is to create accessible devices that can transform the lives of people with disabilities. It’s a miracle! Any successes are not for oneself but for all humanity,” Dr. Yodchanan said.
Mr. Stefan de Koning, Senior Associate Architect from MVRDV, one of the world’s most influential urban designers, shared his innovative ideas on Bangkok’s potential as a mega metropolis.
The Thai capital’s population is forecast to reach 9.4 million by 2020 and 12.1 million by 2030. He suggested that Bangkok could benefit from imitating architectural features used in other countries around the world, such as in Kemang, Jakarta, where traditional villages are built as a vertical city.
“How can we improve the quality of life while the city is growing? There are 10,000 km of backroads (sois) in Bangkok where people feel safe because a sense of community and tradition is attached.”
“In Kemang, Jakarta, we were asked to build a large mixed-use property development where restaurants and gardens are located together. So we stacked the village up literally. Housing is in a tower formation with each unit occupying the same size space on the ground level.
“What we can try to achieve here is to have a community-centered, high-rise property development in Bangkok. Can we stack the backroads on top of each other?”
He noted that Bangkok ranks in the top three on the pollution scale in the world. One way to alleviate that problem, he said, is to have buses run underground and use sky bridges to connect principal destinations. Sky bridges can be fitted with educational walkways planted with local trees and cultivating nature. With the present rate of climate change, there is no way to escape floods but there are ways we can work around the problem by preserving nature. His other inspiring ideas include growing trees alongside the Chao Praya River, and adopting models that have worked in other cities to make Bangkok resilient for the future.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Singh concluded: “If all of our thoughts are about society and the environment and we make them the priority, maybe we still have a chance to create a happy future. The environment has never been the top issue considered so far but we can change that now by focusing on the world’s needs, not just for humans but for all living beings.”
As one of the leading property developers in Thailand, MQDC hopes to improve the industry through its “sustainnovation” concept, which embraces novel solutions for individuals and communities to live well, both physically and psychologically.
WATS Forum will continue to be an international conference with the primary objective of promoting the creation of sustainable wellbeing for all living beings.