Alliance Of River Three

17/10/2026

GREduAction Week 430 - Saturday, 17 October 2026

It was a wonderfully productive Saturday morning, with three students from Sayfol International School and Azwan, a Taman Melawati resident, joining us for a morning of hands-on community action.

As part of their school project, the girls are working towards community service targets linked to (Good Health and Well-being), (Clean Water and Sanitation) and (Life on Land). Syuen took the opportunity to share how we bring the SDGs to life through the way we build, restore and care for our river park.

We got straight to work!

Our first round focused on clearing litter, removing an unauthorised signboard stapled to a tree, and cleaning up the gazebo and biodiversity trail.

The second round into restoration work, putting up the 3D mural, clearing fallen coconut fronds and coconuts, trimming tree branches, tending to the garden, and putting measures in place to reduce the force of rainwater runoff that had been damaging the garden.

But beyond getting things done, there were lessons to take home for the girls.

01 Waste management starts at the source.
Keeping our environment clean is not just about picking up rubbish; it is about preventing waste from entering our waterways in the first place.

02 Healthy soil means healthy food systems.
The girls began to appreciate how soil health and pollinators are connected to the food we eat every day.

03 Nature is more than just trees.
Clean air, healthy soil, biodiversity and functioning ecosystems are all part of what makes a place liveable.

Azwan, who lives in Taman Melawati, he believes in taking care of what is around him so that the place he calls home remains a good place to live.

As he said it, sustainability doesn't need complicated explanations. It starts with caring enough to do something about the place we share.

Thank you to the three girls and Azwan for showing up, getting your hands dirty and being part of this community effort.

Every helping hand makes a difference, and every shared experience is an opportunity to grow a little more aware, responsible and connected to nature.

15/10/2026

15/10/2026

MESYUARAT JAWATANKUASA TEKNIKAL PELAN TINDAKAN PEMULIHARAAN SUNGAI-SUNGAI NEGERI SELANGOR BIL.2/2026 | 15 Oct 2026

Jumpa kawan lama: Eddie Malik, melaksanakan pemulihan hutan bakau dan pemulihan habitat kelip-kelip.

14/10/2026

Meet the other voices, besides Kennedy Michael, behind TUMBUH:
And discover the ideas they are bringing to the TEDxSetapak stage.
📅 31 October 2026 (Saturday)
⏰ 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
📍 TARUMT, Kuala Lumpur
🎟️ Get your tickets:
https://tinyurl.com/TedxSetapak2026V2,
TEDxSetapak 2026
Ideas Change Everything.
Be part of the conversation.
Be part of the change.

14/10/2026

Day 3 | GLOBAL TIPPING POINTS | 14 October 2026
ACTION WORKSHOP:
Doing Tipping Points Justice

Justice must be part of the conversation as we navigate Earth System Tipping Points and accelerate positive change.

In this Action Workshop during the Global Tipping Points Conference 2026, experts and participants explored what justice means in preventing and managing the impacts of Earth System Tipping Points, while ensuring positive tipping points are enabled and implemented fairly.

Through expert talks and group discussions, participants worked towards developing practical justice indicators and actionable steps to translate principles into practice.

The insights will help inform the Global Tipping Points Report 2027.

Because tipping points are not just about how our planet changes, but also about who is affected, who benefits, and who must not be left behind.

Thank you Patrick Lee and Hao E (in the last photo) for joining in this workshop.

Hao E is a current Sunway University student, also a SSV member (Sunway Student Volunteers), who volunteered with us at MVR3 SDG Park, we are very glad Hao E took the time to join in this workshop, first time for him joined such Action Workshop with diverse participants and experts in the room.

His feedback:

“Thank you for sharing the talk with me 🙏, first tine joining these kinds of events. Got bombarded with so many information and perspectives I never thought of. Eye opener. Lots to learn.”
SSV has been volunteered with us since 2018 until present.

ART!’s long-term relationship with SSV to the idea of planting seeds for change, showing that today's participation by one student is a meaningful step towards empowering more young people to engage with sustainability, justice and systems change.

13/10/2026

Day 2 | Global Tipping Points Conference 2026
13 Oct 2026

Started Day 2 at Sunway University with Breakfast Meeting Amid AI, a conversation bringing together diverse thinkers and practitioners to explore how we can shape a hybrid future that is pro-people, pro-planet and pro-potential.

Beyond technology, the discussion invites us to reflect on human agency, planetary health and how AI can be harnessed to bring out the best in people and the planet.

The future is not just about what AI can do, but what we choose to do with it.

13/10/2026

𝗗𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲

How do we ensure that justice is at the heart of addressing Earth System Tipping Points and enabling positive change?

On 14 October 2026, Kennedy Michael (ART!, CANB, GDIMB), will join experts and fellow changemakers as a speaker at the Doing Tipping Points Justice workshop at Sunway University.

The session will explore what justice means in preventing environmental tipping points, managing their impacts, and enabling positive transformations towards a more sustainable future.

We look forward to contributing community-led perspectives to the conversations shaping a more just and sustainable world.

12/10/2026

12 Oct 2026 | Day 1 | Global Tipping Points Conference 2026
at Sunway Centre for Planetary Health

What does it take to move the world from knowing there is a problem to actually changing the system?

That’s one of the questions we have in mind as Kennedy Michael attending the Global Tipping Points Conference 2026 and also as one of the Lightning Speakers on Day 3, 14 Oct 2026 for Workshop on Justice + Tipping Point.

Under the theme “From Understanding to Imagination to Action: Crossing Thresholds for a Thriving Planet,” today’s conversations explore the science behind global tipping points, the possibilities for positive transformation, and the leadership needed to make change happen.

For us, this conversation is deeply connected to the work we do on the ground.

When people, knowledge, partnerships and sustained action come together, they can shift how a community relates to nature.

Positive tipping points don't always begin with a grand gesture. It begins with people choosing to do things differently, together.

The challenge is how we scale these changes, connect local action with systemic transformation, and turn what we already know into the future we want to create.

Looking forward to learning from the diverse perspectives at GTP 2026 and bringing these insights back to the communities and ecosystems we work with.

Understanding the tipping points is important, but helping create the positive ones?

That’s where the work and challenge begin.

Some familiar faces we meet on Day 1! Patrick Lee

12/10/2026

GREduAction week 394 - Sun, 11 October 2026
Otterly Cute Encounters, Sponge City Thinking & SDGs in Action!

What do otters, garden beds, food waste and Kuala Lumpur’s Sponge City aspirations have in common?

More than you might think!

This morning, we welcomed GRN volunteers, a green initiative student organisation working together with the Occupational Health, Safety and Environment (OHSE) Department at Monash University Malaysia.

And what a welcome they received!

Upon arriving, we heard a familiar high-pitched sound from the riverbank. True enough, a group of four otters emerged and ran right past us!

Lucky morning for GRN! An unexpected opportunity to meet and greet our Otterly Cute neighbours.

Wildlife encounters demonstrated why healthy river ecosystems matter. Our urban waterways are not just drainage channels; they are living habitats that deserve our care.

𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗥𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿side 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴
Kuala Lumpur is advancing the idea of a Sponge City, an urban design approach that uses Nature-based Solutions (NbS), green infrastructure and permeable surfaces to absorb, filter and manage stormwater rather than simply draining it away.

Our every Sunday actions connect with this bigger vision.
01 Creating and maintaining green spaces.
02 Building garden beds for more planting.
03 Caring for soil and vegetation.
04 Composting food waste instead of sending it straight to landfill.
05 Keeping rubbish out of our waterways.
06 Making room for biodiversity to thrive.

These individual actions are not a substitute for city-scale drainage and flood-management infrastructure. But they demonstrate how community-led green spaces can contribute to healthier urban ecosystems and complement wider efforts towards urban resilience.

𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸. 𝗧𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀.
Today, the GRN team got their hands-on and made meaningful progress:

01 Collected 7.5 kg of rubbish to help keep waste out of the river.
02 Completed the second garden bed, thanks to Dustin for guiding the two boys, yay, can plant flowers next!
03 Levelled the site at Pillar 1.
04 Levelled the crusher run at the washing area.

A surprise visit from Felix (thank you to the Kebun-Kebun Bangsar / KRF team for connecting Felix with us). After being in touch with Ken for quite a while, Felix finally made it today!

𝗘𝗱𝘂𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗦𝗗𝗚𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀
Syuen shared with the volunteers that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are not just global targets printed on posters. They are connected to choices we make every day.

SDG 1 & 2 | No Poverty & Zero Hunger
Be a mindful consumer. Avoid wasting food, value the resources behind every meal, and turn suitable food scraps into compost.

SDG 3 | Good Health & Well-being
Green spaces can support mental well-being, encourage physical activity and give communities places to connect with nature.

SDG 4 | Quality Education
Learning happens beyond the classroom. Understanding the SDGs helps us see how everyday actions connect to bigger sustainability challenges.

SDG 5 | Gender Equality
Gender equality is about equal rights, opportunities, participation and respect — challenging stereotypes and barriers, not just promoting girls' or women's empowerment.

SDG 6 | Clean Water & Sanitation
Water security begins in the wider ecosystem. Forests, healthy soils and functioning watersheds help regulate water cycles, while forest fires threaten these vital systems.

SDG 8 | Decent Work & Economic Growth
Sorting recyclables supports resource recovery and recycling value chains. Even dried leaves can become a useful resource through mulching and composting.

SDG 12 | Responsible Consumption & Production
Think before buying, choose responsibly, reduce waste and make better use of the resources we already have.

SDG 14 | Life Below Water
Managing waste at source helps prevent rubbish from entering drains, rivers and eventually the sea.

SDG 15 | Life on Land
Plant more pollinator-friendly flowers! Good landscaping should be more than just green. A diversity of colourful flowering plants provides insects with food, shelter and habitat, whether in parks, roadside verges, dividers or roundabouts.

SDG 17 | Partnerships for the Goals
When universities, student organisations, communities and environmental initiatives work together, sustainability becomes a shared responsibility.

Thank you to GRN for spending your Sunday with us, to Dustin for guiding the garden-bed team, Yasmin for contributing food waste for composting, Felix for visiting, and everyone who helped make today's work possible.

Hannah Yeoh
Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur

16/09/2026

We had the opportunity to continue support Dr Aza from Management & Science University (MSU) and her students during their fieldwork at the Klang River on 14 Sep 2026.

Kennedy Michael brought the team to the accessible site to collect samplings as part of the Toyota Foundation Research Grant Project, a collaborative research effort looking at integrated watershed management, water environments and community resilience.

For the students, this was science beyond the classroom, getting their hands on the river, observing conditions on the ground, collecting samples and understanding that every stretch of a river tells a story.

For ART!, supporting research like this is part of what we believe in: connecting people, science and the river.

The Toyota Foundation project examines water-environment risks across Malaysian river watersheds through field sampling and scientific analysis, with the longer-term aim of strengthening capacity to respond to environmental change.

Research gives us the data.
The river gives us the reality.
Together, they help us understand what needs to change.

with Azzaliena Suziantie and her team, also align to