Lecture: Constructing Edible Worlds?

A response to environmental crisis, founded on the fundamental assumptions of declining energy and resource availability, permaculture is described as an integrated and evolving system of consciously designed landscapes and everyday life that mimic the patterns and relationships found in nature, while yielding an abundance of food and energy to meet local needs. This lecture asks how do we construct our food systems for resilience in a time of rapidly changing environmental conditions? Bringing together Anne Lochoff, Programme Director of Singapore Agri-Food Innovation Lab, with Leong Tatt Man, Architect and Director of Projects at Tierra Design Studio, they will discuss food innovations, restorative aquaculture and community-supported agriculture systems. This lecture will begin with an introduction by Madeleine Collie, Visiting Researcher, CTP, and moderated by Professor Ute Meta Bauer.

Tuesday Lecture

25 November 2025, 6:30pm – 8:30pm

The Hall, NTU CCA, Blk 6 Lock Road, #01-10 Gillman Barracks, Singapore 108934

Image credit: Visualisation of modular coral reef design proposed under the Singapore Agriport project, a proposal to integrate restorative aquaculture and multi trophic aquaculture farming into the design of the agriport. Visual by Leong Tatt Man.

The Climate Transformation: Sustainable Societies Series is organised by members of the Climate Transformation Programme (CTP) Cross-Cutting Theme 1: Sustainable Societies research team, Principal Investigator Professor Ute Meta Bauer, research fellow Joshua Gebert, research associate Ng Mei Jia and research assistant Angela Ricasio Hoten.

Sustainable Societies

Principal Investigator, Professor Ute Meta Bauer (NTU ADM)

Principal Investigator, Associate Professor Laura Miotto (NTU ADM)

Principal Investigator, Professor Dr Thomas Schroepfer (SUTD)

This Lecture Series is supported by the Singapore Ministry of Education Academic Research Fund Tier 3 grant [MOE-MOET32022-0006] for the Climate Transformation Programme.

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Speaker Bios

Anne Lochoff is the Programme Director of the Singapore Agri-Food Innovation Lab (SAIL), a national platform managed by NTU that seeds partnerships between SAIL’s corporate partners, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), start-ups, research institutes and institutes of higher learning (IHLs) to drive agri-food innovations. She was previously the senior advisor partnerships at the United Nations Development Programme Global Centre for Technology, Innovation and Sustainable Development in Singapore. Her background spans government, academia, NGOs, and private-sector businesses.

Leong Tatt Man is an architect and Director of Projects at Tierra Design Studio Pte Ltd; a design studio focused on principles of landscape urbanism and ecologically sustainable practice. His current projects include the Singapore Agriport proposal, which includes the conceptualisation of food forest integration, including restorative aquaculture and multi trophic aquaculture farming, into Singapore’s landscapes. His previous projects include the 4th Desalination Plant which is PUB Gold Certified. The project also won the International Water Association Grand Innovation in 2022. He previously worked at OD 205 Planning Studio and Architects 61 and obtained his Master of Architecture (NUS) in 2001.

Madeleine Collie is a curator, writer, and researcher who creates platforms for the circulation of creative knowledges engaging with the politics and poetics of plants in contemporary art. She initiated the Food Art Research Network in 2020 as a platform for peer learning and slow, curatorial research. She is co-editor of Earth Ethics: Art, Institutions and Regenerative Practices (Monash University Publishing, 2025), and co-editor of Tastes of Justice: The Aesthetics and Politics of Food in Asia and Australia (Routledge, 2026). She holds a PhD in Art History, Theory and Curatorial Practice, Monash University, 2025 and MRes in Curatorial/Knowledge from Goldsmiths, University of London.

Moderator

Ute Meta Bauer is a Professor at the School of Art, Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU), and Acting Director and Principal Research Fellow at the NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore (NTU CCA Singapore). Having served as the Founding Director of NTU CCA Singapore for over a decade, her work as educator and curator over the past years has focused on Climates. Habitats. Environments. She co-organised the NTU CCA IdeasFest 2023 FOOD Eat. Secure. Sustain. in collaboration with Future Cities Laboratory Global, Singapore-ETH Centre. Her current research projects include Climate Transformation Programme: Sustainable Societies Research Cluster (2024–Present), Developing and Evaluating Digital Tools for Participatory Climate Change Mitigation (2025–Present) and previously, Climate Crisis and Cultural Loss (2021–2024).