THIRD SPACES NEED MONEY & MISSION W/ CITY SPROUTS + GROUND-UP INITIATIVE (GUI)

• Date: 18 Sept 2026, Fri

• Time: 7PM – 9:30PM

• Price: $35 (incl. GST)

• Location: Common Ground Civic Centre, 21 Bedok North Street 1 Singapore 469659

CITY SPROUTS and GROUND-UP INITIATIVE (GUI) both care deeply about sustainability – and they've built very different homes for it. City Sprouts turns underused urban spaces into green community hubs. GUI runs Kampung Kampus, a community-built space for people to reconnect with the Earth, each other, and themselves.

Both believe change happens when people come together and that starts with having the space to do so. But building that space is one thing. Resourcing it, year after year, without losing sight of why it started, is another.

In this Circle, we hear from the practitioners leading each space – Simone Lim, co-founder of City Sprouts, and Bingyu Cai, GUI's Kampung Architect – on what it's taken to start and sustain their work, and the different pressures each has faced along the way. We'll also sit with the tension behind this Circle's title, Money and Mission, and explore what it takes to resource a space without losing sight of why it started.

In this session, we will:

• Hear how City Sprouts and GUI have started and sustained their work, as practitioners, with their funders, and with their community.

• Unpack "Money and Mission" as a tension to navigate, not a problem to solve.

• Reflect on how the principles and practices that emerge may apply to our own work.

• Meet and connect with other practitioners through small and large group conversations.

Founded in 2019, CITY SPROUTS is a Singaporean social enterprise building communities through shared green spaces. We transform underutilised urban spaces into community hubs where people connect with nature and one another.

Through engaging programmes and events, we foster meaningful connections, environmental stewardship, and collective action. By empowering individuals to take an active role in their communities, we work towards a more resilient Singapore that can adapt and thrive amid social and environmental change.

Find out more: Website | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook

About the Speaker

SIMONE LIM is the co-founder of City Sprouts, an organization that aims to foster communities through shared discovery, founded on the belief that we are all enriched by spending time as active participants in nature.

Simone leads the Business Development team and has been a dedicated volunteer with City Sprouts since its inception.

With experience conducting eco-workshops, she is passionate about promoting sustainability awareness through creative community engagement and creating inclusive green spaces that inspire collective action.

GROUND-UP INITIATIVE (GUI) is a Singapore non-profit that believes the greatest threat to the climate crisis is not a lack of solutions, but apathy.

For 18 years, GUI has been creating opportunities for people to move from apathy to action through participation—growing food, building with their hands, restoring the land, reducing waste, learning practical skills, and, most importantly, doing these things together.

At the heart of GUI is Kampung Kampus, a community-built space where people can reconnect with the Earth, one another, and themselves. Rather than simply teaching sustainability, GUI believes people begin to care when they are given the opportunity to participate and contribute meaningfully.

Through farming, making, environmental education, volunteering and community programmes, GUI explores how everyday actions can rebuild our relationship with the natural world and with each other—nurturing a more grounded, caring and resilient society, one person and one relationship at a time.

Find out more: Website | Instagram

About the Speaker

CAI BINGYU is the Kampung Architect of Ground-Up Initiative (GUI), a Singapore non-profit reconnecting people with the Earth, one another, and themselves.

An architect by profession, Bingyu left practice in search of meaning, thinking his time at GUI would last only a few months. Fifteen years later, he is still there. What kept him was not sustainability or community-building—terms that can easily become buzzwords—but the people. Together, they built, struggled, celebrated, grieved, and discovered that caring for a place can also mean caring for one another.

Through his journey with GUI, Bingyu has become convinced that the greatest threat to the climate crisis is not a lack of solutions, but apathy.

Today, he is interested in understanding why people choose to care, what truly builds community, and how architecture can create the conditions for belonging, stewardship, and collective action—for people, communities, and the Earth.

Come for this session if you:

• Lead, work in, or are thinking about starting a practitioner-led third space.

• Are curious about different third space models in Singapore, and what it takes to start and sustain these spaces.

• Want to hear from and connect with other practitioners in the space.

Early bird pricing

From 21 Aug – 4 Sept, this Circle is $22 (incl. GST), instead of the usual $35 (incl. GST). A small thank you for registering early.

A note on pricing

We've priced each Circle at $35 (incl. GST). This helps to cover the costs to keep the session running smoothly — the materials, refreshments, and a small token of appreciation for the practitioners who open up their spaces and their work for this conversation.

We think that's worth it, and we hope you do too. But we also believe in accessibility. If the price is a barrier, email us at civiccentre@ourcommonground.com.sg to explore other options.

Group purchases and organisation invoices

For group purchases (>3 pax) or if you need an invoice to claim this from your organisation, email us at civiccentre@ourcommonground.com.sg.