SparkRegen: Singapore Wants to Be a "City in Nature." Is That Even the Right Goal?
About The Event
Recycling more, polluting less, protecting what's left. Much of sustainability has focused on reducing the harm we cause.
But what if doing less harm is no longer enough?
Across ASEAN, a growing number of practitioners are asking a different question: how can we actively restore the ecosystems, communities and systems that development depends on?
Join Louis Ng, Dr. Anuj Jain and Prof. Paul Teng for a conversation on what it would take for Singapore, and the wider region, to move from simply protecting what remains towards actively restoring it.
We’ll explore:
What actually separates regeneration from sustainability and conservation
What nature-positive urban design could look like in Singapore
How food systems and regenerative agriculture are evolving across ASEAN
What Singapore's role could be in supporting regenerative transitions across the region
What it would take for regenerative approaches to move beyond isolated projects
Whether you're working in sustainability, policy, design, food systems, or simply curious about what comes after "sustainable development", join us for the conversation.
🍽 Dinner will be catered. Please bring your own containers and utensils.
About the Speakers
Louis Ng
Founder, ACRES; former Member of Parliament, Singapore
Louis founded ACRES (Animal Concerns Research & Education Society) and has spent decades working on animal welfare, conservation and environmental advocacy in Singapore and the region. He previously served as a Member of Parliament and has since joined the National University of Singapore, where he works on sustainability-focused community impact programmes across Southeast Asia.
Dr. Anuj Jain
Founding Director & Principal Ecologist, bioSEALouis Ng
Founder, ACRES; former Member of Parliament, Singapore
Louis founded ACRES (Animal Concerns Research & Education Society) and has spent decades working on animal welfare, conservation and environmental advocacy in Singapore and the region. He previously served as a Member of Parliament and has since joined the National University of Singapore, where he works on sustainability-focused community impact programmes across Southeast Asia.
Dr. Anuj Jain
Founding Director & Principal Ecologist, bioSEA
Anuj is a tropical ecologist, conservation biologist and biomimicry designer with a PhD in urban ecology and wildlife conservation. He is the Founding Director of bioSEA, an ecology and biomimicry design consultancy, and co-founder of the Biomimicry Singapore Network. His work spans urban biodiversity, nature-positive design and biomimicry, including the development of ecological design approaches for dense urban environments.
Prof. Paul Teng
Senior Fellow (Food Security), RSIS, NTU
Paul is a food security and agriculture expert with over 30 years of experience across the Asia-Pacific region, spanning academia, international organisations and the private sector. He is currently a Visiting Senior Fellow at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, where his work focuses on climate change impacts on food security and agriculture across ASEAN.
Moderator
Toh Jun Jie (Jake)
Data Engineer at Singapore Global Network; Co-founder, YRegenLab
About YRegenLab
This conversation is part of YRegenLab, an initiative exploring what regeneration means across ASEAN and connecting young people with the practitioners, researchers and communities already putting these ideas into practice.
The dialogue will also feed into conversations at Regenerative Asia Summit 2027 in Singapore, bringing Singapore perspectives into a wider regional discussion on what regeneration could mean for ASEAN.
Proudly supported by Singapore Global Network
Supported by Singapore Global Network (SGN), a division under Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB). Join SGN to become a member of our global network of professionals and friends with Singapore at its heart. Learn more at www.singaporeglobalnetwork.gov.sg.