On behalf of Learning Environments Australasia, I welcome you to our 2017 Regional Conference.  This year, we return to the beautiful city of Singapore where in 2007 our conference was held. Since that time, many changes have occurred in education, design and our association. There is a greater understanding about the need to embrace a global mindset, and what better way to do this than in attending, LearningScapes – eXperience Asia. There is a belief that those with a global mindset have the ability to view cultural and geographic diversity as an opportunity to discover and explore innovation and good ideas from everywhere.

At this dynamic conference, you will certainly be part of our global association but with a local flavour.  You will be motivated by international speakers, inspired and challenged in stimulating breakout sessions and visit innovative learning environments.  There will be many opportunities to connect with colleagues from across our association on a global level.   Our Singapore conference team has prepared a programme that will challenge your thinking and engage you in the theme, LearningScapes – eXperience Asia. The theme has a focus on four main areas:  Building more on less, Collaboration and Community, Exploring New Learning Models - Improving Lives, and Digital Asia.

As Anita Kapoor, TV and Travel Host stated "There isn’t anywhere else on Earth where people confluence like the way they do in Singapore. From visitors and transients to citizens, this Progressive Island and gateway to South East Asia is a dynamic mix of cultures, ideas and histories neither ethnic nor exotic, instead, the essence of modern Asia - sparklingly savvy, with a touch of old school.”

Come join us for the Singapore LearningScapes –eXperience Asia conference and  be part of the global experience.

Deb O’Riley
Chair
Learning Environments Australasia

Invitation from the Learning Environments Conference Chair

It is with great pleasure that Learning Environments Australasia invites you to join us in Singapore in July 2017 for its 17th Annual Conference entitled ‘eXperience Asia’. The conference theme leverages on  Singapore’s strategic location to explore and examine how learning environments are evolving in Asia. This conference provides a unique platform to share innovative ideas and inventive solutions to unique challenges such as intensification of school developments and to discuss and debate pertinent issues ranging from the role of collaboration and community in learning, to new school models, technological and digital innovation, and how they shape the way we think about learning spaces and the experience of learning.

The last time this conference was held in Singapore was in 2007. Since then, there have been significant changes in the learning landscape in Singapore– new schools are being built, new universities have been set up (e.g. the Singapore University of Technology and Design in collaboration with Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston), new initiatives are in place in our public school system to foster creativity and entrepreneurship alongside its continued efforts to promote excellence in STEM, humanities, arts and sports, and new workplaces have been created, focused on promoting collaboration and innovation. We invite you to join us to experience some of these new and exciting learning spaces and settings.

It is also worth mentioning here that some of Singapore’s most iconic local dishes such as Laksa and Hainanese chicken rice are now on the Bib Gourmand list by Michelin and our Botanical Gardens has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. We therefore look forward to welcoming you to sunny Singapore for an exciting and extraordinary experience!

Pit Li Phan
Conference Chair