The Department of Urban and Regional Planning – Diponegoro University is actively supporting Sustainable Development Goal 11, which focuses on creating sustainable cities and communities. This commitment is highlighted by their involvement in the Global Center for Spatial Methods for Urban Sustainability (GCSMUS/SMUS) network (https://gcsmus.org/). The SMUS network brings together academics and practitioners from around the world to collaborate on reducing social inequalities and enhancing sustainability across social, ecological, and economic dimensions. In 2020, the department played a key role in developing a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) titled “Climate Change Adaptation in Indonesian Cities: Promoting and Building Resilience from Below” (https://gcsmus.org/moocs/mooc-4-climate-change-adaptation-in-indonesian-cities-promoting-and-building-resilience-from-below/). This online course offers valuable insights into how cities in Indonesia are adapting to climate change. By making this information available online, the department is expanding access to important knowledge beyond traditional classrooms, allowing people to learn at their own pace and on their own schedule.
The Department of Urban and Regional Planning at Diponegoro University continues to play an active role by contributing in various events, such as the SMUS Mini Workshop in 2023 (https://gcsmus.org/news/measuring-urban-resilience-workshop/) and the SMUS Joint Teaching Research Course in 2024 (https://gcsmus.org/re-narrating-berlins-post-colonial-spaces-2/). The 2023 workshop, which focused on “Measuring Urban Resilience – from Multidisciplinary to Transdisciplinary Approaches”, brought together multidisciplinary academics and practitioners from institutions across the globe, including Diponegoro University (Indonesia), TU Berlin (Jerman), Chulalongkorn University (Thailand), India Institute of Technology Kharagpur (India), India Institute of Technology Roorkee (India), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (Malaysia), National University of Singapore (NUS), and Hysteria (Indonesia). The 2024 Joint Teaching Research Course, a collaboration between Department of Urban and Regional Planning Diponegoro University and Department of Humanities and Social Science IIT Kharagpur, highlights the importance of using a transdisciplinary approach to enhance urban resilience in the face of environmental challenges, offering students a unique learning experience.
From July 23-28, 2024, the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at Diponegoro University participated in the 4th International and Interdisciplinary Conference on Spatial Methods for Urban Sustainability (“SMUS Conference 2024”) held at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. The event featured a variety of activities, including a PhD Day (July 23), Method Course & Mobile Workshop (July 23-24), SMUS General Assembly (July 24), and the Main Conference (July 26-28). The conference attracted academics and practitioners from various social and spatial science disciplines across 40 countries on six continents. The focus of the conference was on exploring universal themes through sustainable spatial and urban analysis.
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wiwandari Handayani, ST, MT, MPS acted as the moderator in two sessions at the conference. The first session was titled “Diverse Geographies, (Dis)similar Empirics: Exploring Climate Risks and Resilience in Urban Deltas Using the ‘Comparative Urbanism’ Approach.” The second session was titled “Between Precarity and Formality: Interrogating the Gendered Spaces of Informality in the Global South.” Additionally, three research from the Department of Urban and Regional Planning – Diponegoro University were presented by Prof. Dr.rer.nat. Imam Buchori, ST (“Flood Planning Practices in Semarang City: A Preliminary Institutional Analysis”), Retno Sari Dewi, ST, MPWK (“Sustainable Infrastructure Approach Based on Knowledge Co-Production to Improve Disaster Resilience on the North Coast of Central Java”), and Tia Dianing Insani, ST, MPWK – Prof. Dr.sc.agr. Iwan Rudiarto, ST, M.Sc (“Rural-Urban Transformation: Assessment of Typology, Physical Environment, and Socioeconomic in a Rural-Urban Landscape”).
This conference serves as a valuable platform for building networks and collaborations, sharing methodological innovations in spatial analysis and sustainable urban development, and understanding sustainable urban issues from various perspectives. It also demonstrates tangible support for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities.
