A New Systems Thinking Approach to Sustainable Resource Management

Dr Kok Siew Ng is UKRI/NERC Industrial Innovation (Rutherford) Research Fellow at the Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford and the Principal Investigator of the NERC fellowship project “A Systems Approach to Synergistic Utilisation of Secondary Organic Streams” (SYNERGORS). His research vision is to develop systems thinking and circular economy approaches in resource management and develop best practices in response to the challenges arose during the transition from fossil to biorenewable economy. Prior to joining Oxford, he was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Environment and Sustainability (CES), University of Surrey, after working as an engineering consultant at Process Integration Limited (PIL). He completed his MEng Chemical Engineering with Chemistry (First Class Honours) at The University of Manchester in 2008, and later gained his PhD from the Centre for Process Integration (CPI), The University of Manchester in 2011. Kok Siew was the lead researcher for the multidisciplinary NERC project “Resource Recovery from Wastewater with Bioelectrochemical Systems” and had further secured two NERC funded projects (2015-2017) under the Resource Recovery from Waste (RRfW) programme during his time as a Research Associate at University of Surrey. He has been actively involved in various research activities funded by NERC, Innovate UK, Royal Academy of Engineering and EU FP7 projects. A chemical engineer by training with core research and industrial expertise in process modelling and integration, techno-economic analysis and integrated sustainability assessment, Kok Siew has contributed extensively in the areas of resource recovery from waste/wastewater, integrated biorefinery systems, decarbonised energy systems and polygeneration. These areas are highly relevant in developing systems thinking methodologies for engineering systems. He has published more than 20 peer-reviewed publications (h-index: 13) including journals, textbook and book chapters. He is also the co-author of the advanced engineering textbook “Biorefineries and Chemical Process: Design, Integration and Sustainability Analysis”. Kok Siew’s contribution in low carbon energy system has been recognised by the IChemE Junior Moulton Medal award (best publication) in 2011. Elias Martinez Hernandez is a senior researcher at the Mexican Institute of Petroleum (IMP) in the Energy Efficiency and Biofuels Division. He obtained his first-class degree in Chemical Engineering from UNAM (Mexico) in 2009 and his PhD in Process Integration from the University of Manchester (UK) in 2013. He then worked as a Research Fellow at the University of Surrey and the University of Oxford, and later took up the position as a Lecturer in the Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Bath. He is a recognised scientist by the National Researcher System in Mexico. He has co-authored the textbook ‘Biorefineries and Chemical processes – Design, Integration and Sustainability Analysis’ and more than 60 peer-reviewed journal publications. He is an Editorial Board Member of the IChemE's journal Food and Bioproducts Processing. Elias has led research in digital chemical engineering applied to bioenergy and biorefinery process development, the food-energy-water nexus and more recently in property prediction and process simulation combining neural networks and community detection in molecular and process graphs. He has developed Biorefsys® – biorefinery systems analysis tool; Nexsym® a first-of-its-kind food-energy-water nexus simulator which has been featured and reviewed in several articles in this field, as well as the IMP Bio2Energy® – a tool to evaluate the techno-economics of biomass and bioenergy production considering the whole value chain and employing thermodynamic modelling of steam and water properties. Other developments include IMPES® a decision support platform for bioenergy implementation and policymaking in Mexico as part of a Newton Fund Impact Scheme project. His areas of research comprise biorefineries, food-energy-water nexus, process modelling, life cycle assessment, bioenergy sustainability indicators, modularity, neural networks, and machine learning methods applied in chemical process systems engineering. Aki Yamaguchi is the Climate Change and Energy Policy Officer at the British Embassy in Tokyo. She conducts independent research outside of work. Her research focuses on urban sustainability, circular economy of plastics and food systems, and sustainable resources management. Previously, Aki was a Coordinator for the NERC-funded Sprint projects under the Agile Initiative at Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford, and supported the operation of interdisciplinary science research projects responding to urgent and critical environmental policy needs. Prior to this role, Aki focused on the nexus between environmental policy and development at national and international levels. She managed projects at UNESCO, OECD, and UNEP in the areas of water resources management, financing urban water supply and sanitation, sustainable waste management, urban resilience, and the circular economy. She has co-authored/contributed to publications including: Towards Sustainable Solid Waste Management in Malaysia (Oxford University and Brunel University London, 2023), Guidelines for Performance-Based Contracts in the Urban Water Sector in Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (OECD, 2004), and “Environmental Priorities for China’s Sustainable Development,” in China in the World Economy: The Domestic Policy Challenges (OECD, 2002). Aki has an MA in Environment and Development from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. This publication is in not affiliated with the British Embassy Tokyo or the UK government and was written and submitted in a personal capacity.

Part 1: Introduction to Systems Thinking for Resource Management
1. What is a “System”
2. A New Systems Thinking Approach to Sustainable Resource Management

Part 2: System Definition, Mapping, and Integration
3. Problem and System Definitions
4. System Modelling and Mapping
5. System Integration

Part 3: Integrated Sustainability Assessment
6. Economic Assessment
7. Environmental Assessment
8. Social Assessment

Part 4: Applications of New Systems Thinking Approach to Resource Management
9. Case Study 1: Plastic Packaging System
10. Case Study 2: Food-Energy-Water System
11. Case Study 3: Biorefinery System