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Reimagine Sustainability: Think Circular, Travel Better

National Geographic and SingapoReimagine Global Conversations presented a conversation on 24 March 2022 with human geographer and multimedia storyteller Lillygol Sedaghat as she spoke to fellow National Geographic Explorers Arthur Huang and Andie Ang, as well as industry leaders Lee Cheh Hsien and Rohit Bhattacharya on the solution-focused shift from linear to circular in travel and tourism.


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Moderator

Lillygol Sedhagat
Human Geographer and Multimedia Storyteller

Lillygol is a National Geographic Explorer and multimedia storyteller, holding expertise in circular economies and sustainability. She was a keynote speaker at the Circular Living Symposium, Disney's D23 "Women of Impact" panel, and has moderated several panels under National Geographic. She is currently building one of the first human-story focused databases of circular economy initiatives in Taiwan, and has worked with government and industry representatives to construct a blueprint for the circular economy of plastics in the United States.

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Panellist

Andie Ang
Primatologist, Research Scientist at Mandai Nature

Andie is a primatologist with over 10 years of field experience studying wild primates in Southeast Asia. She is a research scientist at Mandai Nature, studying the critically endangered Raffles' banded langur in Singapore. She is also the president of the Jane Goodall Institute (Singapore), building programmes to promote awareness and protection of wildlife.

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Panellist

Arthur Huang
Engineer, Architect, and Founder of Miniwiz

Arthur trained as an engineer and architect at Cornell and Harvard University, and is recognised by the World Economic Forum as the “technology pioneer” leading a circular economy revolution with four global invention patents granted, making decentralised upcycling a reality. He has completed over 300,000 sqm of circular environmental, social, and governance (ESG) development projects across major global cities, transforming local trash into modular upcycled building products with real estate developers and consumer brands like Nike, Starbucks, PMI, BAT, and McDonald’s over the last 17 years.

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Panellist

Lee Cheh Hsien
Divisional Director, Planning at Sentosa Development Corporation

Cheh Hsien is the Planning Division Director for Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC), and is responsible for incubating key initiatives within SDC, from crowdsourcing innovative ideas, data analytics and enterprise risk management. He is one of the shapers of the Sustainable Sentosa strategic roadmap. With the guiding philosophy that “there is no competition in sustainability”, he had led the formation of the Sentosa Carbon Neutral Network, one of the first carbon-neutral focused business alliances in Singapore.

Cheh Hsien is the Planning Division Director for Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC), and is responsible for incubating key initiatives within SDC, from crowdsourcing innovative ideas, data analytics and enterprise risk management. He is one of the shapers of the Sustainable Sentosa strategic roadmap. With the guiding philosophy that “there is no competition in sustainability”, he had led the formation of the Sentosa Carbon Neutral Network, one of the first carbon-neutral focused business alliances in Singapore.

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Panellist

Rohit Bhattacharya
Chief Financial Officer at TiNDLE by Next Gen Foods

Rohit is the CFO of Next Gen Foods – the creators behind TiNDLE – a Singapore-based global food tech start-up helping make the global food system sustainable with delicious plant-based food.

Prior to TiNDLE, Rohit was championing sustainable agriculture and alternative protein at Temasek. He played a key role in enabling Next Gen’s inception, as he had first connected the co-founders of the company. Rohit has worked and lived in every inhabited continent and wants to bring the best of food innovation to these places.