Department of Urban and Regional Planning (DURP) UNDIP receives KONEKSI grant in Collaboration with Griffith University and National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN). KONEKSI is a flagship program from Australia in the Indonesian knowledge and innovation sectors funded by Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) of Australia (2023-2027). This collaboration is a multi-stakeholder research on “Forced labor and climate change: Keeping focus on women and children”. The aim of this research is to examine the issue of forced labor in the context of climate change, especially for women and children. The research location is on the north coast of Java, especially Jakarta, Pekalongan, Semarang, and Demak.
Initial briefing from the Australia and KONEKSI were carried out at 1st August 2023. This meeting was attended by the entire research team as an initial introduction to research objective and plans. Dr. Amy Young as the Person in Charge (PIC) of the Griffith University Team who has experience and interest in promoting children’s right and protection. The team from Department of Urban and Regional Planning UNDIP led by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wiwandari Handayani who has extensive experience in climate change adaptation research, and the team from BRIN led by Dr. Laely Nurhidayah who has experience in leads the environment law and natural resources (marine and forest) research portfolios. Furthermore, this research project is also involving NGOs. Local NGOs engaged in the project include Inisiatif Kota untuk Perubahan Iklim/IKUPI (https://ikupi.org/en/home/) and Pattiro Association Semarang (https://ikupi.org/en/home/).
Through this program, URP UNDIP participates in supporting research development, especially on climate change issue. Moreover, this research is one of URP UNDIP’s efforts to participate in achieving SDGs targets. SDGs goals number 8 and 13, decent work and economic growth and climate action are the SDGs goals emphasized in this research and specifically target vulnerable groups, especially women and children. Through this collaborative research, it is hopes that URP UNDIP can plays a role on improving their international reputation.