Expert Statements

  • Stefan Bringezu
    Stefan Bringezu University of Kassel
    Stefan Bringezu

    Stefan Bringezu is Professor for Sustainable Resource Management and director at the Center for Environmental Systems Research (CESR) at University of Kassel, and heads the Sustainable Resource Futures (SURF) group. He is a member of the International Resource Panel. His main research subject is the multi-scale analysis of the socio-industrial metabolism and related land use, the indicators of sustainability and the implementation of the SDGs, modelling the bioeconomy, assessing innovative technologies such as CCU, urban mining and life-cycle-based assessments of infrastructures.

    Professor Bringezu is a pioneer in the field of material flow analysis and contributed to the formation of scholarly institutions such as the International Society for Industrial Ecology.

  • Cassandra Chong
    Cassandra Chong Embassy of the Republic of Singapore in Berlin
    Cassandra Chong

    Cassandra joined the Singapore Foreign Service in 2015. During her time in the Ministry’s headquarters, she served in the Europe and International Organisations Directorates. In February 2020, she joined the Embassy of the Republic of Singapore in Berlin as Second Political Secretary.

    Cassandra graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration (Honours) from the National University of Singapore in 2015.

  • Mei-Fong Chong
    Mei-Fong Chong Dia-Chemical Sdn Bhd - Selangor, Malaysia
    Mei-Fong Chong

    Mei-Fong Chong is currently Director of Dia-Chemical Sdn Bhd. She spent her past 15 years of research and development specialising in water and wastewater treatment technologies. Her research covers developing novel design for bioreactor treating palm oil mill effluent (POME), optimisation on the performance of wastewater treatment plants, develop new chemicals for water treatment and other specialty chemicals.

    She was presented with various local and international awards including the ASEAN-US Science Prize for Women (Highly Commended), Knowledge Exchange and Innovation Award, UK, and Biotechnology Award (Highly Commended), UK. Mei-Fong has published more than 40 international journals, 2 book chapters and a book. She has been awarded with research and commercialisation grants, and has commenced various projects in bioenergy and wastewater technologies across ASEAN countries.

    Mei-Fong was attached to The University of Nottingham and developed her research portfolio as her first career. As the Director of Dia-Chemical Sdn Bhd, her second career, she is now focusing at the commercial side. She would like to contribute and share the knowledge she gained from her research works with the industry and hope to close the missing gaps between research and commercialisation.

  • Marion Huber-Humer
    Marion Huber-Humer University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna (BOKU)
    Marion Huber-Humer

    Marion Huber-Humer is Full Professor for Global Waste Management and Head of the Institute of Waste Management at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna (BOKU). She is managing board member of the International Waste Working Group (IWWG), board member of the ÖVA (Austrian Association for Management of Contaminated Sites), and vice president of ISWA-Austria. She teaches bachelor and master courses in the study programs “Environment and Bio-Resources Management”, Civil Engineering and Water Management, and she is faculty member in the Doctoral School “Transition to Sustainability” at BOKU.

    Marion’s current research focuses on the investigation of sustainable global waste management concepts and circular economy approaches, biological waste processing, nano-waste treatment, sustainable landfill technologies, process and emission monitoring.

  • Charles Kofi Owusu
    Charles Kofi Owusu TU Dresden / KITE Ghana
    Charles Kofi Owusu

    Charles Kofi Owusu is currently a Research Fellow at the TU Dresden undertaking a research on Business Models for Renewable Minigrid Electrification in Rural Ghana. He has over nine years practical experience in consulting, research and project management within the renewable energy and climate change sectors. Charles has worked on over 25 renewable energy and sustainable development research projects for the private sector, the Government of Ghana and over 10 multilateral organisations. His special interest includes researching and consulting on renewable energy market development, sustainable development, climate change, rural economic development, and renewable-based rural electrification.

    Charles holds 2 masters – MSc Economics and MSc Development Economics from the University of Ghana and Université Clermont Auvergne, France, respectively. He also has Certificates in Minerals and Energy Economics from the Australian National University and the University of Pretoria, South Africa and a Certificate in Impact Evaluation from the Department of International Development, University of East Anglia, UK.

  • Shyama Ramani
    Shyama Ramani UNU-MERIT
    Shyama Ramani

    Shyama Ramani is Professorial Fellow at UNU-MERIT. Her research focuses on the relationships between technology, innovation and their governance for inclusive development. Her work examines the role of technology and innovation in conjunction with actor (government, firms, citizens, public laboratories, NGOs etc.) engagements to attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to sanitation, sustainable cities and communities, education and climate change.

    Dr. Ramani holds a PhD in economics from Cornell University, USA. After the tsunami of December 2004, she founded a charity action-research unit ‘Friend In Need’, which aims to improve sanitation coverage and hygiene conditions in rural India. It is actively supported by the field participation of European and Indian students. She is a serial academic entrepreneur who has also co-founded a profit unit (Tecknowmetrix, Voiron, France) and a non-profit (Sti4Change, Bangalore, India), but currently she is active only in 'Friend In Need'.

    Finally, in 2017, she co-founded SITE4Society in UNU-MERIT, to bridge gaps between academics and society, via events and understandable publication briefs dealing with science, innovation, technology and engagement - for societal welfare.