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Human geographer and multimedia storyteller Lillygol Sedaghat speaks to fellow National Geographic Explorers Arthur Huang and Andie Ang, as well as industry leaders Lee Cheh Hsien and Rohit Bhattacharya, on the solution-focused shift from linear to circular in travel and tourism.

Today’s travelers are looking to minimize their environmental footprint and engage in meaningful experiences; they want to connect with local communities and contribute to nature. All this points to a growth in circularity within the travel industry, and the need to provide spaces and experiences for travelers to fulfill their personal and environmental goals.

For travelers, the journey to circularity first begins with research—choosing businesses that align with their values. Certain travel destinations offer experiences where travelers can support conservation and regeneration efforts directly and indirectly—by hiking through forest canopies, helping to plant trees, and living in accommodations that are carbon neutral.

And it continues with action—using public transport, eating local, and engaging with communities in volunteer activities like beach clean-ups and citizen science nature walks. By embracing the circular mindset, travelers not only lower their carbon footprint, they can live low-impact lifestyles, reducing single-use plastics, reusing materials, and experiencing the magic of everyday life.

To adapt to such changes, the travel industry needs to reimagine the way it operates. How can it apply the principles of circular economy and create systems that design out waste by recapturing, reusing, or repurposing materials? How can it provide more opportunities for travelers to feel fulfilled by making a positive impact and giving back to the destinations they visit?

The National Geographic Reimagine Sustainability: Think Circular, Travel Better discussion explores these questions and more through the lens of food, wildlife, infrastructure, and their intersections within destinations.

Discover how you can embrace sustainability – whether you are a traveler or a tourism business – and contribute to the growing movement of circularity in travel.

HUMAN GEOGRAPHER, MULTIMEDIA STORYTELLER

LILLYGOL SEDAGHAT

Lillygol is a National Geographic Explorer and multimedia storyteller, holding expertise in circular economies and sustainability. She was a keynote speaker at the Circular Living Symposium, Disney's D23 "Women of Impact" panel, and has moderated several panels under National Geographic. She is currently building one of the first human-story focused databases of circular economy initiatives in Taiwan, and has worked with government and industry representatives to construct a blueprint for the circular economy of plastics in the United States.

ENGINEER, ARCHITECT, FOUNDER OF MINIWIZ

ARTHUR HUANG

Arthur trained as an engineer and architect at Cornell and Harvard University, and is recognized by the World Economic Forum as the “technology pioneer” leading a circular economy revolution with four global invention patents granted, making decentralized upcycling a reality. He has completed over 300,000 sqm of circular environmental, social, and governance (ESG) development projects across major global cities, transforming local trash into modular upcycled building products with real estate developers and consumer brands like Nike, Starbucks, PMI, BAT, and McDonald’s over the last 17 years.

PRIMATOLOGIST, RESEARCH SCIENTIST AT MANDAI NATURE

ANDIE ANG

Andie is a primatologist with over 10 years of field experience studying wild primates in Southeast Asia. She is a research scientist at Mandai Nature, studying the critically endangered Raffles' banded langur in Singapore. She is also the president of the Jane Goodall Institute (Singapore), building programmes to promote awareness and protection of wildlife.

DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR, PLANNING AT SENTOSA DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

LEE CHEH HSIEN

Cheh Hsien is the Planning Division Director for Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC), and is responsible for incubating key initiatives within SDC, from crowdsourcing innovative ideas, data analytics and enterprise risk management. He is one of the shapers of the Sustainable Sentosa strategic roadmap. With the guiding philosophy that “there is no competition in sustainability”, he had led the formation of the Sentosa Carbon Neutral Network, one of the first carbon-neutral focused business alliances in Singapore.

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER AT TiNDLE BY NEXT GEN FOODS

ROHIT BHATTACHARYA

Rohit is the CFO of Next Gen Foods – the creators behind TiNDLE – a Singapore-based global food tech start-up helping make the global food system sustainable with delicious plant-based food.

Prior to TiNDLE, Rohit was championing sustainable agriculture and alternative protein at Temasek. He played a key role in enabling Next Gen’s inception, as he had first connected the co-founders of the company. Rohit has worked and lived in every inhabited continent and wants to bring the best of food innovation to these places.