FOURTH BRIEFING SERIES OF IPOH DONUT ECONOMY CITY STRENGTHENS MBI STAFF’S UNDERSTANDING OF REGENERATIVE DEVELOPMENT AGENDA

IPOH, 17 SEPTEMBER 2025 (WEDNESDAY) – Ipoh City Council (MBI) through the Ipoh Donut Economy Secretariat Unit conducted its continuous internal education programme by organising the Fourth Briefing Series at the MBI Operations Room.

This programme serves as an important medium in strengthening MBI staff’s understanding of the implementation of urban regenerative development policies.

The session began with a presentation by Secretariat Unit Chief Executive Officer TPr Dr. Zulqarnain Mohamad, who elaborated on the current progress in the implementation of the Ipoh Donut Economy Action Plan. He emphasised the vital importance of active involvement from all departments in ensuring that this model is truly translated into the daily operations of the city administration.

The briefing continued with Secretariat Unit Assistant Research Officer Muhammad Norman Fikri Muhamad Anhar, who explained in detail how the concepts of Ecological Ceiling and Social Foundation can be applied in the local context.

As an interactive learning approach, he introduced Concubine Lane, Tasik Cermin and UTC Ipoh as demonstrator locations to link the donut economy indicators with real issues on the ground:

• Concubine Lane was highlighted as an example of the social and economic dimensions via heritage tourism, as well as the challenges of balancing cultural sustainability with the pressures of commercialisation.
• Tasik Cermin was used to illustrate the importance of ecological dimensions, specifically how a former mining area can undergo a transformation process into an ecotourism destination that preserves biodiversity while adding value to the local economy.
• UTC Perak was showcased as a project demonstrator for the social foundation dimension, focusing on the provision of public services, equitable access and urban amenities for diverse communities.
• The Abandoned Building Regeneration Project was also featured as a concrete example of the application of regenerative principles – converting unused old buildings into Green Building Index (GBI)-rated buildings by applying the SPAH system (Rainwater Harvesting System) and installing solar panels as a renewable energy source.

Through an interactive quiz based on these three locations, participants were asked to link the challenges and opportunities of each demonstrator to the dimensions of the donut economy. Participants who answered correctly were rewarded with local coffee and Ipoh teabags as tokens of appreciation.

The briefing concluded with a Q&A session themed "How can your department improve the donut economy model for MBI?" Among the insightful suggestions put forward included:

• Expanding green practices in every departments via digital intersystem communication to reduce reliance on paper usage,
• Encouraging scheduled work from home (WFH) methods to reduce carbon emissions from daily commutes.

Overall, this Fourth Series Briefing not only succeeded in providing MBI staff with a deeper understanding of the application of the donut economy in the local context, but also demonstrated increased internal support for the shift towards this model.

The commitment expressed through discussions, green ideas and suggestions put forward reflect that MBI staff are increasingly willing to play an active role in making the city’s regenerative agenda a success.