From waste to sustainable nutrition

June 7, 2022

Year 3 student TOO Fang Ning is fascinated by urban environmental challenges such as climate resilience and the role of cities in sustainable development.

She therefore opted to read the Major in Environmental Studies under the Faculty of Science to gain a deeper understanding of ecology and biodiversity. She is also taking a Minor in Urban Studies under the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences to understand the complexities of cities, and how to formulate nature-based solutions that make the built environment more liveable and sustainable.

Fang Ning strongly believes that the youth of today have a unique opportunity to champion positive change in the issues they care about.

In a bid to encourage others to make sustainability a way of life, she led a team of five in the Environment and Sustainability track of the Youth Action Challenge (YAC) 2022 to create sustainable food made from black soldier fly protein, so as to tackle the issues of food waste and resource constraints in food production.

She says “Our project aims to feed the population sustainably by changing how the current food production system works…this also reduces food waste dumped at Pulau Semakau landfill,” which is set to run out of space by 2035.

In recognition of their project's viability and potential to scale, Fang Ning and her team received the 'Outstanding Award' and >$60,000 in project funding.

Fang Ning aspires to work in the sustainability sector with the goal of making cities more sustainable and liveable.