Dr. Daniel Schmuecking
Country Director | Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Cambodia
Daniel Schmuecking was born in 1982 in Germany. He studied political science and sociology at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena (Germany) and the Palacky University in Olomouc (Czech Republic). His professional and scientific focus is on political communication and election campaigns. He worked as a campaigner for the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), In his dissertation he devoted himself to the topic of the effects and development of negative political advertising in Germany. As part of his doctoral studies, he spent time at the University of Maryland (USA) and the University of California (USA). He taught at universities in Jena (Germany), Erfurt (Germany) and Budapest (Hungary). From 2015-2017, he headed the Konrad Adenauer Foundation’s (KAS) office in Mongolia. Since 2018, he has been country director of KAS in Cambodia, In the beginning of 2021, he went on a special mission to become the campaign manager of CDU for the elections in the free state of Thuringia.
Dr. Günter Riethmacher
Country Director | GIZ Cambodia
Dr. Günter Riethmacher joined GIZ in 1987 as a research fellow in the Philippines, working on Biological Pest Control in Asian cabbage production. During his whole working life, he changed between positions abroad and in Germany. Before starting his current position as GIZ Country Director of GIZ in Cambodia in 2018, he was Director of Global Financial Services in GIZ HQ, Germany for six years, supporting field projects in co-financing and financial reporting. From 2005 to 2010 he was the GIZ Country Director in Vietnam, after being Regional Director for India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Timor-Leste in GIZ HQ. He holds a PhD in Biology/Tropical Ecology from the Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany and a BA in Business Administration from the University Uetrecht, the Netherlands. Beside this he is a certified Yoga Therapist and Yoga Teacher from different schools in the USA and Germany.
Ms. Sao Sotheary
Self-Enployed – Policy, Environmentalist and Human Rights Advocate
Sao Sotheary is an environmentalist and human rights advocate with over 20 years of experience in Cambodia.
Throughout her career, she has supported a wide range of environmental and community rights issues ranging from climate awareness, livelihood, gender mainstreaming, ecotourism, forest protection, and environmental justice.
Ms. Monika Nuon
Program Manager for Sustainability | Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Cambodia
Monika works for KAS Cambodia as a program manager since 2022. She has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and Japanese Language Education. She was chosen for the first batch of the “South-North-Component of Weltwarts” program in Germany because of her enthusiastic participation in the international work camp. Following that, she honed her project management and coordination skills through various independent consultancy works.
Dr. Jürgen Stäudel
Advisor Solid Waste Management | Department of Solid Waste Management, Ministry of Environment
In 2000, for the first time, Jürgen Stäudel came as student to Cambodia to work on a pilot composting plant on the old dumpsite in Stung Mean Chey. His time in Cambodia, studying, playing and working with the wastepicker kids on the dumpsite, changed his life. He fell in love with Cambodia, her people and with waste management and he is until now. In his study as Civil Engineer he focused on water supply, wastewater treatment & sanitation and solid waste management (SWM). According to him, we must learn to seeing the possibility of transformation in everything that stinks, the value of garbage and the beauty, which can manifest from well-functioning solid waste systems. Since more than 20 years Dr. Jürgen Stäudel works in the field of environmental engineering for different organizations (e.g. MSF, GIZ, Siemens, tennet and as freelancer) in Europe, Africa and Asia in various positions. He holds a PhD in Civil Engineering with focus on Integrated Sanitation Systems based on Material-flows at the Bauhaus-University Weimar, Germany. Currently he is working at the Ministry of Environment in Phnom Penh in the Department of SWM as an integrated expert and advisor for strategic SWM.
Mr. Christoph Janensch
Business & Cooperation Desk Cambodia, Business Scouts for Development Programme (BSFD)
Christoph Janensch is currently the coordinator of the Business & Cooperation Desk of the GIZ Business Scouts for Development Programme (BSFD) within the German chapter EuroCham Cambodia. He provides information, advice and guidance to support local, German and other European businesses and institutions in engaging in development cooperation.
He is convinced that the Sustainable Development Goals can only be achieved once the private sector is actively involved.
Prior to joining GIZ Cambodia and EuropCham, Christoph worked as a project manager at GIZ Dusseldoft, Germany. He has been working for German development cooperation for the last 7 years. Christoph is German and received his higher education degrees in East Asian studies and public management from universities in Berlin, Beijing and Copenhagen.
Dr. Tilman Floehr
CTO and Co-Founder | Everwave
Timan Floehr is an environmental scientist with focus on pollutants in water bodies and their socio-ecological impacts on humans and nature. He holds a PhD from RWTH Aachen University, Germany and published his thesis on a holistic assessment of the pollution in the Yangtze River in China.
He is Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of the impact startup everwave, which is dedicated to protect rivers, lakes and the ocean from plastic waste, in order to secure them as precious habitats, food resources and economic regions.
Mr. Uch Rithy
Deputy Director | COMPOSTED
Uch Rithy is the Deputy Director of the Environmental Education and Recycling Organization (COMPOSTED), which has its profound experience and knowledge on waste management in Cambodia, Asia and Europe since 1997. Up to now, Rithy has been working together with COMPOSTED for more than 16 years, having strong professional experience in waste management program and closely worked with various key local to international partners, waste management stakeholders to raise awareness of local people, capacity building, promotion of 3R and conducted several studies and researches in Cambodia.
Ms. Phavan Va
Junior Research Associate | Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Cambodia
Phavan is a junior research associate at KAS Cambodia. She’s also a senior student majoring in Media Management and English for Education.
Mr. Rafael Winer
Photographer/Filmmaker |
FILM+STILLS
Mr. Rafael Winer is the Photographer/Filmmaker of FILM+STILLS.
Mr. Barak Ekshtein
Founder and CEO | TONTOTON
Barak Ekshtein is an impact entrepreneur and environmental advocate, founder of the TONTOTON plastic credit program, and developer of solutions to treat hard-to-recycle plastic. For the past 18 years, Barak developed initiatives to reduce disposable plastics, promote public awareness of environmentally friendly products and services, and build a certified plastic credit system that treats non-recyclable plastics in the ocean-bound as part of Global Producer Responsibility (GPR). In addition, he is lecturing on CSR and Social-environmental entrepreneurship, recycling and “profit for impact” at business universities and leadership programs and promoting environmental transparency and education regarding non-recyclable plastics.
Ms. Aok Sochenda
Founder | ZEROW
Sochenda Aok, known as Cambodia’s “Zero Waste Girl”, is working on raising awareness on sustainable consumption and climate action. She introduced the concept of zero waste in Cambodia in late 2018. Now working on building a conscious community through digital platforms, by launching ZEROW, a zero waste education platform. She started creating content to inspire people to take action by showing simple ways that we all can do. With around 75,000 followers on Facebook, around 50,000 on TikTok, and growing audience on YouTube and Instagram. Sochenda has been a role model for the Cambodian youth to be mindful of their consumptions and to take climate actions.
Mr. Dy Kiden
Director | Department of Solid Waste Management, Environmental Protection Directorate, Ministry of Environment
Dy Kiden works as a director of the Department of Solid Waste Management, Environmental Protection Directorate, of the Ministry of Environment of Cambodia, since 2015. He earned a master’s degree of engineering from Toyohashi University, Japan, in 2005.
Ms. Sarah Kolbenstetter
Founder | Little Green Spark
Sarah Kolbenstetter is the founder of Little Green Spark, an environmental consulting company based in Phnom Penh which specializes in waste reduction and improved waste management, also known as Zero Waste. The objective of Little Green Spark is to contribute to the reduction and better waste management by businesses and organizations working in Cambodia through awareness-raising trainings, training of trainers, project design and implementation and support towards the TRUE (GBCI) certification.
Ms. Melanie Gerster
Head of Program & Program Manager for Digitalization | Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Cambodia
Melanie Gerster is the Head of the Program Department and Program Manager for Digitalization at KAS Cambodia. Her research focus includes education policies, digitalization and global governance. Trained as a political scientist, her professional experience has included short-term associations with the United Nations, international conferences, national and local governments as well as the private sector. She holds a B.A. in Political Science and German Philology and an M.A. in Governance and Public Policy.
Ms. Long Chanbormey
Program Manager for Youth Empowerment & Rule of Law | Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Cambodia
Chanbormey began her journey with KAS Cambodia as an intern in early 2019. She, later on, earned the opportunity to become a project officer and later, a program manager in 2020. With her bachelor’s degree in international studies, her continuous pursuit of law degree, and her passion to connect, and empower youths in Cambodia, she is now in charge of youth empowerment and rule of law projects.
H.E. Dr. Sovuthy Pheav
Under Secretary of State | Ministry of Environment
H.E. Dr. Sovuthy Pheav is the Under Secretary of State at Ministry of Environment of Royal Government of Cambodia.
H.E. Noun Samnavuth
Director | Waste Management and Environment Division, Phnom Penh Municipality
H.E. Noun Samnavuth is the Director of Waste Management and Environment Division of Phnom Penh Municipality.
Mr. Georg Jahnsen
Team Leader Waste Component of GIZ Supported Project “Improved Service Delivery for Citizens in Cambodia (ISD)”
Mr. Georg Jahnsen is a specialist in the field of sustainable urban development with over 20 years of work experience. He has been working as Chief Town Planner for a City Administration in Germany. He did scientific research and teaching in the field of urban development and design. And he worked in urban development projects in Germany and worldwide consulting cities and communities to sustainable shape their environment with informed decision-making processes. Mr. Jahnsen is currently living and working with his family in Phnom Penh heading the component on waste management of the GIZ supported project “Improved Service Delivery for Citizens in Cambodia (ISD)”.
Mr. Sebastien Ung
Business Development & Strategy Manager | EcoBatt Energy Cambodia
Sébastien is of French nationality and has a Cambodian father. After more than 20 years in the hotel industry, he joined EcoBatt Energy Cambodia upon its creation in 2019 with the objective of fighting battery obsolescence in Cambodia. Under new ownership since January 2022 and the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Environment in July of the same year, his mission is now to help EcoBatt Energy become a pioneer in clean e-waste management in Cambodia.
Dr. Pierre-Olivier Maquart
Medical Entomologist | Institut Pasteur du Cambodge
Pierre-Olivier Maquart is a medical entomologist working at the Institut Pasteur du Cambodge. In the team of Dr. Sébastien Boyer, his work focuses mainly on the impact of change in land use on mosquito borne diseases. Previously he did his PhD on waste bioconversion using the Black Soldier Fly
Ms. Alix Langlois
Founder | Trash Is Nice
Ms. Alix Langlois is the founder of Trash is Nice.
Mr. Florian Werthmann
Founder & CEO of ECOLOGICON Gmbh
Mr. Florian Werthmann is founder and CEO of ECOLOGICON GmbH. As a thoroughbred entrepreneur, he started his activities in the waste and recycling sector in the early 2000s. He has been working under the slogan “Circular Economy and Consulting”, as a service provider, consultant, and entrepreneur in the sectors of WEEE, EPR schemes and systems and application of recycling technologies. He is skilled on expert level in the WEE/E-Scrap’s sector and is fostering circular economy projects with a focus on reuse, EPR and optimized treatment solutions. He is also active in numerous international industry federation and NGO working groups as well as member of board.
Mr. Noy Chek
Chief of Public Work, Transportation, Hygiene, Environment and Public Order Office
Mr. Chek NOY, Deputy of Municipal Public Transportation, Sanitation, Environment and Public Order office. Mr Chek have been in charge of Municipal Solid Waste Management for 10 years. He has obtained his Master Degree of Philosophy , Columbo, Sri Lanka in 2009 and Municipal Solid Waste Management in Osaka , Japanese in 2014. Under his roles and responsibilities, he have been leading and coordinating to set up various local regulation such as (1) Dekha on Municipal Solid Waste Management, (2) Dekha on setting up fee for Municipal Waste Management, (3) Legal Enforcement agency (4) Municipal Solid Waste Management Master Plan.
Mr. Yusuke Okumura
Founder, CEO and Chairman | Gomi Recycle
Mr. Yusuke Okumura is the Founder of Gomi Recycle Group, CEO and Chairman of Gomi Recycle (Phnom Penh) and Gomi Recycle 110.
Mr. Tony Kao
Deputy General Manager | Mizuda Sanitation (Cambodia)
Tony Kao is currently working as a Deputy General Manager at Mizuda Sanitation (Cambodia).
Ms. Heng Kunvuthy
Soutr Nikom Administration
Ms. Heng Kunvuthy is currently working at Soutr Nikom Distict Administration.
Mr. Kim Vannak
Governor | Soutr Nikom District
Mr. Kim Vannak is currently serving as the Soutr Nikom District Governor.