AT ONE Impact Week | Singapore

The city, at its origin, was not a machine for economic production. It was a common, a shared space where communities concentrated their intelligence, culture, care and creativity in service of collective flourishing. Its privatisation and financialisation were not inevitable. They were choices. This Lab explores alternative choices: ways in which cities across the world are laying in the economic and social foundations needed to achieve sustainability, coherently, and at scale. 
 
How often are we are attempting to make cities sustainable within an economic system that rewards their unsustainability? The familiar story points to the fact that cities lack the right technology, infrastructure and design, and that the fix is to scale what works. That story is partially true, and partially misleading. Beneath implementation lies the economic and social architecture that defines aspirations and guides capital and investment. 
 
This lab has a focus on learning by doing, across four worlds: Asia, Europe, Latin America and Africa, addressing the architecture within which every urban development decision is made. It holds two horizons at once: what can be built now (retrofitting infrastructure, integrating nature, decarbonising energy, closing the circular loop); and what deeper redesign will decide how urban value is defined, over what time horizon capital is deployed, how risk is priced, to whom governance answers, and how a city relates to the living systems it is embedded within. 
 
Not a portfolio of green projects sitting inside an extractive economy, but the redesign of the urban system as one coherent whole. 

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There’s an “elephant in the room” — except in impact investing, it swims. It circles. It’s the barrier everyone sees but rarely names out loud. 
 
This candid, interactive session — led by 1000 Ocean Startups, the World Economic Forum, and Climate KIC — drags those killer whales into the open. Through live polling and honest, unscripted conversation between founders and investors, participants will confront what’s really stalling early-stage impact ventures: funding that isn’t fit for purpose, impact evidence no one can agree on, and partnerships that never quite materialise. 
No panels. No pitches. Just the questions the ecosystem keeps avoiding — and the people willing to answer them. 
 
Breakout discussions turn naming into action, and the session closes with real commitments: one thing you can offer the room, one thing you need from it. 
Because the only way past a killer whale is to look it in the eye. Session is followed by networking. 

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ClimateLaunchpad, powered by Climate-KIC, is the world’s largest green business competition, with 20,000 applications, 5,450+ startups incubated since 2014, and alumni raising over €500 million. This session is its Asia-Pacific Regional Final at Impact Week: eight finalists from 11 countries pitch to an expert jury with live Q&A. Only the top two advance to October’s Global Grand Final in Singapore, facing winners from Africa, the Americas and Europe. Jury expected to include Temasek Foundation, Octave Capital and Bank of America. 

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Climate change is already affecting people’s health. Rising temperatures, air pollution, and food and water insecurity increase the risk of illness, especially for older adults, outdoor workers and lower-income communities. Climate-related stress, uncertainty and displacement are also affecting mental health, family well-being and community connections. But not everyone experiences these impacts in the same way. Factors such as housing, income, occupation, access to healthcare and social support all influence how well people can respond. 
 
Culture also plays an important role. It shapes how people understand health, who they trust, how families provide care and whether new behaviours are accepted. Even well-designed climate solutions may fail if they do not reflect local values and everyday realities. 
 
This lab explores climate, health and culture as one connected system. Through practical scenarios, such as extreme heat in ageing communities, and climate-related mental health challenges, participants will examine how environmental pressures affect people, families and communities. Together, they will identify solutions that not only reduce climate risks but also improve health, strengthen community resilience and support changes that people can understand, trust and adopt in their daily lives. 

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