​About The Event

​Over the past few years, awareness around environmental sustainability in Cambodia has grown significantly, with businesses, youth groups, and institutions focusing on "doing less harm." However, young practitioners increasingly realize that basic sustainability measures are insufficient to reverse habitat loss, soil degradation, and urban waste pressures. At the same time, "sustainability" and "regeneration" risk becoming trendy marketing buzzwords rarely backed by authentic, net-positive action.

​Rather than treating regeneration as an abstract slogan, the YRegenLab Cambodia Activation—featuring Dr. Puthearath Chan, Monorom Tchaw, and Allan Michaud—grounds the concept in real-world economic and operational realities. Crucially, the event aims to demystify the idea that regenerative action requires massive capital. By pairing an academic policy researcher, a grassroots practitioner, and a field-level conservation enterprise manager, the panel illustrates how regenerative principles can be applied at any scale—from low-cost household initiatives to capital-backed eco-enterprises.

​From zero-budget urban composting and commercial eco-enterprises to national green economic frameworks, we’ll explore one core question:

​Is Regeneration Hard, or Are We Overcomplicating It?

​We’ll explore:

• ​What separates regeneration from basic sustainability—and why "doing less harm" isn't enough.

• ​How to start small and local: Proving that net-positive action can begin at the household or early-venture level without a big budget.

• ​Commercial eco-enterprise: How business models can fund active ecosystem restoration and anti-poaching patrols while remaining profitable.

• ​Policy & systemic frameworks: How national policy, green economic frameworks, and systemic shifts align with grassroots actions to pave the way toward landscape-level regeneration.

• ​Navigating real trade-offs: Balancing economic survival, cash flows, and market growth with long-term ecological investments in Cambodia.

​🍽 Refreshments will be provided.

​Grounding regeneration in Cambodian realities requires confronting core development trade-offs: balancing economic survival, career building, and market growth with long-term ecological restoration. During this discussion, we will explore:

• ​Moving Beyond Buzzwords: How to transition from basic "do less harm" sustainability measures to genuine net-positive outcomes without falling into greenwashing.

• ​Economic Growth vs. Ecological Restoration: How early-stage ventures and young leaders balance immediate financial viability with long-term environmental investments.

• ​Tourism Revenue vs. Biodiversity Conservation: Navigating the pressures of tourism expansion alongside active habitat protection, anti-poaching patrols, and wildlife recovery.

• ​Urbanization vs. Circularity: Managing rapid urban expansion in cities like Phnom Penh alongside fragmented waste management systems and soil recovery.

• ​Livelihood Creation vs. Resource Extraction: Transitioning local communities away from extractive income sources into durable, regenerative roles.

• ​Grassroots Experimentation vs. National Policy: Bridging the gap between small-scale, low-cost community initiatives and formal green economic policy frameworks.

​ABOUT THE SPEAKERS & MODERATOR

​Speakers

​1. Dr. Puthearath Chan

​Founder & President, Advanced Sustainability Institute (ASI) | Fellow, Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities

​Focus: Academic Research, Policy Frameworks & Environmental Reality

​Dr. Puthearath Chan is President of the ASI Research Group, a Fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities, and one of the Editors of Cambodia’s First National Climate Report. He has served as a Regional Expert for the ASEAN State of Finance for Nature (SFN) Regional Case Study 2025 with the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management.

​With over 15 years of professional experience as a Public Policy Coordinator, Senior Researcher, and Lecturer, Dr. Chan has advised intergovernmental and Cambodian governmental agencies—including the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Economy and Finance, and the National Council for Sustainable Development—on green economics and circular development. He holds a PhD in sustainable urban and regional development from Hanyang University and brings a vital macro-level policy framework to align grassroots and commercial initiatives with national sustainability goals.

​2. Monorom Tchaw

​Founder & Co-Director, Leng Dei

​Focus: Grassroots Action, Accessibility & Urban Soil Health

​Monorom Tchaw is a grassroots ecological practitioner and advocate dedicated to building accessible, low-cost circular solutions in urban environments. As Founder and Co-Director of Leng Dei, he leads initiatives focused on urban soil restoration, local composting systems, and organic waste recovery in Phnom Penh.

​Monorom’s work demonstrates how household-level waste recovery and biological soil building can transform everyday consumer waste into active life without requiring large capital expenditure, proving that community-led regenerative action can begin at any scale.

​3. Allan Michaud

​Lodge Manager, Cardamom Tented Camp

​Focus: Field Enterprise, Capital-Backed Conservation & Biodiversity Recovery

​Allan Michaud is a veteran conservationist and wildlife photographer with decades of experience managing critical biodiversity hotspots across Cambodia. As Lodge Manager at Cardamom Tented Camp, Allan oversees a commercial eco-tourism venture operating under a "tourism as a tool for conservation" model.

​His work directly integrates commercial revenue into landscape protection, funding anti-poaching ranger patrols, eradicating illegal snaring, and actively restoring wildlife populations across 18,000 hectares of rainforest in Botum Sakor National Park.

​Moderator

​Sarim Sethaka

​Event Director, Cambodia Youth Consulting

​AGENDA

​1:30 PM | Registration

​2:00 PM | Panel Discussion: Is Regeneration Hard, or Are We Overcomplicating It?

​3:40 PM | Refreshments & Networking Break 🍽️

​4:10 PM | Audience Q&A & Closing

​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 Regen 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.