Tuesday, 24th June 2025
Inaugural Singapore Water Association’s Southeast Asia Symposium on Coastal Protection @ SIWW Spotlight 2025 (24th June 2025, 2.00pm – 5.00pm)
Inaugural SWA–Southeast Asia Symposium on Coastal Protection
Resisting Rising Seas – A Strategic Imperative for Southeast Asia
24 June 2025 | 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM | Singapore EXPO Meeting Rooms, ROOM 5 & 10
Convened by the Singapore Water Association, the symposium, with a focus on Southeast Asia, centres on the implementation of innovative solutions and collaborations between industry stakeholders to address the challenge of coastal protection in the region. Working with partners, this symposium aims to bring together experts, practitioners, engineers and industry partners as well as international organisations to share and discuss real-life case studies on implementation and collaborations to bring about solutioning for coastal protection in Southeast Asia.
Co-located with SIWW Spotlight 2025 and the 41st IAHR World Congress, this session also aims to bring about solutioning and networking between industry stakeholders to uplift the capability and capacity of the industry to support the new focus area.
Objectives:
1. Promote Regional Collaboration
- Facilitate knowledge sharing and strategic partnerships among stakeholders across Southeast Asia to address shared coastal protection challenges.
2. Showcase Innovative Coastal Protection Solutions
- Highlight successful real-life case studies and technical solutions—especially nature-based and engineering approaches—to inspire regional adoption.
3. Enhance Industry Capability and Capacity
- Strengthen the region’s ability to address coastal threats through professional development, collaborative research, and policy alignment.
4. Encourage Multilateral Support and Financing
- Promote opportunities for financial and technical assistance from institutions like the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank.
5. Bridge Policy and Practice
- Drive actionable dialogue between policymakers, practitioners, and private-sector players to integrate coastal resilience into planning and implementation.
6. Support Singapore’s Works in Coastal Protection
- Position Singapore in climate adaptation and coastal infrastructure development.
Who Should Attend?
- Government agencies & policymakers
- International development & financing institutions
- Engineering & environmental professionals
- Academia & researchers
- Private sector & Industry Practitioners
- NGOs & Community-Based Organizations
- Professional Associations & Think Tanks
Programme Highlights
SEGMENT 1: Regional Perspectives and Case Studies
1. Regional Plans on Coastal Protection and Case Studies
– Mr Norio Saito, Senior Director, Head of Water & Urban, Asian Development Bank
2. Coastal Resilience as a Regional Imperative
– Ms Maria Angelica Sotomayor, Water Practice Manager, East Asia and Pacific Region, WorldBank
3. Key Technologies and Applications for the Urban Seawall of High-standard Construction in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA)
– Mr Ma Zhipeng, Deputy Director, Pearl River Water Resources Research Institute, Ministry of Water Resources of China
4. SWA Coastal Protection Chapter Update
SEGMENT 2: Case Studies in Coastal Resilience by Coastal Protection Chapter Members
1. Economic Evaluation of Coastal Resilience Investments
– Mr Alexus van der Weyden, Economist and Director, Frontier Economics
2. Coastal Resilience in Action: Nature Based Solutions for Coastal Resilience
– Mr Adam Hosking, Global Director Resilience & Climate Response, Jacobs
3. Adaptation Pathways for Singapore’s Coastline
– Mr Matthijs Bos, Leading Professional Flood Risk International, Royal HaskoningDHV and invited guest
4. Building Climate Resilience through Coastal and Inland Flood Modelling in S.E. Asia
– Prof. Philip Liu, Emeritus Professor, Cornell University and National University of Singapore: Advisor to NUS on the National Coastal Inland Flood Model (NCIFM)
5. Coastal Risk Assessment: A Southeast Asian Perspective Sharing global best practices and recent research on coastal flood risk assessment—drawing lessons from Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, and other regional contexts
– Prof. Guus Stelling, Emeritus Professor, TU Delft: Advisor to H2i on the National Coastal Inland Flood Model (NCIFM)
SEGMENT 3: Local Projects and Regional Collaboration
1. Building a Resilient Coastline: Singapore’s Coastal Protection Roadmap
– Ms Hazel Khoo, Director of Coastal Protection Department, PUB
2. Perspective on Future Cities and Climate Adaptation
– Mr James Lam, Coastal Protection Chapter Chair, Executive Director, Coastal Engineering and Management, Surbana Jurong Consultants
3. Scaling Coastal Resilience through Collaboration, Innovation and Research
– Prof Adrian Law, Executive Director, CFIsg
– Ms Pritha Hariram, Coastal Protection Chapter Vice-Chair, Head of APAC, Water Infrastructure and Climate Adaptation, Ramboll
4. Panel Discussion: Coastal Protection for the Region – Enabling Policy and Practice
– Panellists:
– Ms Hazel Khoo, Director of Coastal Protection Department, PUB
– Prof Adrian Law, Executive Director, CFIsg
– Mr James Lam, Coastal Protection Chapter Chair, Executive Director, Coastal Engineering and Management, Surbana Jurong Consultants- FCCA Representative
– Moderator: Ms Pritha Hariram, Coastal Protection Chapter Vice-Chair, Head of APAC, Water Infrastructure and Climate Adaptation, Ramboll
5. Closing Remarks: Mr Charles Quek, SWA VP (General Affairs), Coastal Protection Advisor
Secure Your Seat Now!
Registration is complimentary but limited.
[Register Here]
We look forward to welcoming you to this pivotal event shaping Southeast Asia’s coastal resilience.
For more information, contact Singapore Water Association at enquiry@swa.org.sg