Mon: September 18
Problem-solving Workshop
Circular Economy
Circular low-carbon business models are necessary for our society to reach net-zero by 2050. With this in mind, NESS is encouraging youth in Hong Kong to use their creativity and passion for a better tomorrow. This session will be a platform for like-minded individuals to communicate with each other and generate ideas, and hope that these come to fruition. NESS also aims to showcase the existing circular businesses in Hong Kong to create a support system and raise awareness.
Time | Activity | Speaker(s) |
|---|---|---|
4:00 PM | Introduction by NESS | |
4:05 PM | Circular Economy 101 - Presentation introducing circular economy concepts | Conducted by Dr. Shauhrat Chopra - School of Energy and Environment,
City University of Hong Kong |
4:25 PM | Sharing Sessions from Business Representatives | TBC |
4:45 PM | Facilitated Workshop - create your business model incorporating a circular system and developing value proposition | TBC |
5:45 PM | Participants' presentations of business models |
Knowledge Partners
Prof. Shauhrat S. Chopra
Prof. Shauhrat S. Chopra obtained his Integrated Masters of Science in Systems Biology from the University of Hyderabad, India in 2011. He received his PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the Swanson School of Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, USA, in 2015. His doctoral dissertation was focused on resilience of complex systems including economic systems, industrial symbiosis, and critical infrastructure systems at urban and national levels. Before joining the School of Energy and Environment, Shauhrat worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Institute for Environmental Science and Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago, on the U.S. EPA funded LCnano project focused on sustainable design of future transformative nano-enabled products. His data-driven research is focused on designing indicators for sustainability and resilience of the built environment in support of environmental decision-making.
Nick Leung
With a profound interest in food and its relationship with our everyday life, Nick sets his path on sharing his passion and bringing its associated issues to light. After receiving his Master's in Food Studies from NYU, he returned to continue on advocacy work with Zero Foodprint Asia (ZFPA) as a Content & Communications Strategist to promote better food in Asia, and aims to educate the public and the industry of the urgency for change.
Pavan Kumar Arasppa
Pavan currently works as a Customer Excellence and Innovation manager at Spare-it, a sustainability-tech startup with operations in the US and Hong Kong. Spare-it helps companies reduce office waste by gathering waste data and driving behaviour change. Pavan questions data, turns data to insights and uses actionable insights to effectively communicate and change user behaviour towards sustainability. Convinced that driving behaviour change starts with understanding the users, he conducts user surveys, communicates the insights gathered to all stakeholders and thus ensures that Spare-It's solution offers a good user experience. He also handles operations in the Hong Kong office and continuously improves the processes to achieve better efficiency.
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Well-versed in Systematic Inventive Thinking, Pavan conducts workshops to unleash creativity and helps develop a culture of innovation within the organisations.
Tim Parker
Tim Parker is the founder of Circular City, a Hong Kong enviro-tech startup developing zero waste solutions through reuse & return technology. Circular City is the company behind the award winning CHOOSE: REUSE and ch00ze.club shared coffee cup networks. Circular City's technology platform enables brands and businesses to lend out reusable tablewares to customers with no deposits required, offering a convenient borrow and return takeout experience. Tim is a former subsea engineer, and design educator, whose frustration with plastic pollution on Hong Kong's beaches has led him to change careers and kickstart the reuse revolution in Hong Kong.
Carla Martinesi
Carla is the Co-Founder of CHOMP, Hong Kong's food-saving app. Their mission is to reduce food waste by connecting F&B businesses, like restaurants and cafes, with customers who can purchase discounted meal boxes containing unsold items. Since 2021, they’ve saved over 3000 kg of edible food from going to landfills, partnering with 130+ establishments, including Maxim, Shangri-La, Flash Coffee, and more. Carla is also a nominee for Forbes 30 Under 30 and Tatler’s Gen T. 2023 for her work with CHOMP and continues to spread awareness about the importance of tackling food waste to help our planet.
Chaucer Ma
Chaucer Ma is the Manager of partnerships and marketing at The Mills Fabrica. Chaucer oversees partnership, incubation, and marketing initiatives to strategise cross-sector collaborations among The Mills Fabrica’s startup ecosystem, industries, corporates, and accelerators.
Before Fabrica, Chaucer worked in the fields of trade promotion and technology transfer and led sizeable marketing campaigns focusing on Hong Kong smart city and tech startup development. He was also responsible for forging partnerships with business associations, financial institutions, MNCs, SMEs and startups.
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Clement Li
Clement was originally focusing on the event & marketing industry. taking the experience and skillsets, transforming into the sustainability field, and has around 3 years of experience now. Passionate and focused on circularity, behavioral change, and creating greener workspace/community.
An interesting transformation is that Clement was a client of Spare-it and turned into the working team as the Business Development Manager. Having both perspectives helps to understand the needs of different clients, and assist them in the waste reduction journey. Currently working with property developers, tech, consulting, insurance companies, and energy services leaders, driving change across 10+ buildings and engaging with over 6,000 stakeholders.