SDE5406 Circular Economy and Design

Dr. René Van Berkal is a leading international sustainability, innovation, and industrial development professional. He has 35 years of experience in resource efficiency and circular economy, responsible business, and associated policy and strategy.

Dr. Van Berkel is currently an international faculty member at the School of Global Studies, Thammasat University (Thailand), and works as a Senior Expert (Circular Economy) focused on Southeast Asia. He is a co-convener of the ASEAN Circular Economy Business Alliance, launched in July 2024.

He has over 15 years of leadership experience with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, serving in India, Indonesia, and Austria. He previously held academic positions, including over seven years as a Professor of Cleaner Production at Curtin University of Technology, Australia, and more than a decade in applied research and leadership roles at the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands.

He is an interdisciplinary environmentalist with a PhD in Environmental Science from the University of Amsterdam. He has published extensively and presented regularly at government and intergovernmental forums and industry and professional meetings.

Jeffrey, a transdisciplinary experiential designer, has spent most of his life in Toronto, Canada, but has had the opportunity to live, work, and study in numerous global cities such as Sydney, Zurich, London, Rotterdam, Berlin, Seoul, Singapore, and Tokyo. With his diverse background and expertise, he has worked on a range of projects, including catwalk and fashion show designs for PRADA, advertising and gallery curation for KesselsKramer, and architecture and exhibition design for the Office for Metropolitan Architecture/Rem Koolhaas.

As a practicing artist, he has showcased his work in prestigious venues such as the Barbican and Southbank Centre in London, the Singapore Design Festival, and in galleries located in Munster, Berlin, Vienna, Crete, and Tokyo, among other world-class venues. He has studied semiotics and fashion photography and obtained his BFA in Monumental Kunst from the Aki Academy of Art and Design (ArtEZ) in Enschede, the Netherlands, as well as an MA in Creative Practice for Narrative Environments from Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design in London, United Kingdom. He also earned a d.MBA in business design in 2021.

Moreover, his research interests have focused on various topics related to HCI, HRI, interactivity, and transdisciplinary experimental creative practice. He obtained his PhD from the National University of Singapore and was a visiting research scholar at Keio University in Japan. Previously, he served as the UX Lead at the National Gallery Singapore, a Peer of the Australia Council for the Arts, a faculty Lecturer at UNSW, Vice President of Transmedia at Villains, and a Partner at Chemistry. He currently serves as an Advisory Board Member at Chemistry, as well as Ngee Ann Polytechnic's School of Design, is a founding member of the World Economic Forum Singapore Chapter, and is an Associate Professor at SIT, focusing on regenerative design and the circular economy.

Mark Teo is an Assistant Professor of Design in the Business, Communication and Design cluster at the Singapore Institute of Technology. He has more than 15 years of experience, straddling practice and higher education, and has practiced in Singapore, Australia, and Canada. Mark is interested in how spaces impact people’s lifestylesand vice versa. He has crafted and overseen projects ranging from small lighting installations to conservation shophouses and multi-unit high-rise residential developments. Mark is a member of the Singapore Institute of Architects and served on the Sustainability Committee in 2009, during which he was a contributor to the institute’s policy paper on the attributes of a sustainable built environment. He is also serving on both the Sustainability Education Committee and the Sustainability Work Group at  the Singapore Institute of Technology. His current research interests are in human-centred design, sustainability, urban agriculture, and food security.