Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Diponegoro (DPWK UNDIP) organized the International Joint Course (IJC) that started on May 8 to May 17, 2023. The IJC is a collaboration between DPWK Undip, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, and Radboud University of the Netherlands. The IJCtheme was “Learning Urban Transformation: Ensuring Sustainability in a Changing World”
At the IJC opening ceremony session, the Head of the Department PWK Undip, Prof. Dr-Ing. Wiwandari Handayani delivered her speech that welcomed all of the participants and mentioned that the joint course is part of the routine activity at DPWK Undip which the participants can learn comprehensively about urban transformation through several activities such as lectures, FGD, and field visits.
The IJC selected two sub-districts at Semarang City as the case study. Hence, this activity also involved the Semarang City Government represented by Development and Planning Agency (Bappeda) as the facilitator. The head of the infrastructure section of the Development Planning Agency, Arwita Mawarti, also welcomed the participants and supported the IJC taking Semarang as the case study. She explained that Semarang had several progressive projects that transformed Semarang into a more sustainable one.
During the opening session, the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Diponegoro, Prof. Ir. M. Agung Wibowo, Ph.D., remarks that the faculty support the IJC because it gave benefits the students as well as can strengthen international relations with related parties.
IJC 2023 activities are held in a hybrid method. Whereas the offline session was held at Semarang (8-13 May 2023) and at Yogyakarta (14-17 May 2023), the online session was focused on the lecture sessions. The IJC participants were 24 master’s students from the university partners, such as students from Universitas Diponegoro, Gadjah Mada University, and Radboud University.
During the Semarang session, there were several activities, such as lectures from Undip, Radboud University, and Metro Java 2045, FGD with Semarang City government and private sector, and field visits to Mangungharjo and Kandri sub-districts as the case study. While the Yogyakarta session, the participants had also lectures from Gadjah Mada University and Kota Kita, the NGO involved in several urban transformation programs at Semarang and Yogyakarta. Moreover, they also visited Pentingsari and Sariharjo, tourist villages that were developed by the government. From the Yogyakarta field visits, the participants can compare with the case study.
Had a new experience through IJC, one of the participants, M. Deriel Ari Pranata, a student from MPWK Undip, explained that IJC was a good activity that enabled the students to learn the existing case study and interact with students from other countries. Hence, he can discuss existing urban problems and gain new experience related to urban management. Likewise, Muhammad Fahad Malik, an International Master Student of Law Department, from Pakistan, was impressed with this event. According to him, the IJC 2023 event provided a lot of experience related to how the management of cities in Indonesia is different compared to that in his country. “I am quite impressed with the City Governments in Indonesia in managing their cities,” he said.
Following were some IJC 2023 activities at Semarang session.
The participants were discussing with the Semarang government agencies, such as Development and Planning Agency, Public Work Agency, Transportation Agency, Communication and Information Agency, and representative from Kotaku at the Semarang City Hall. Besides, it was also attended by the private sector, which represented by the Wijaya Kusuma Industrial Estate Management
Pelaksanaan kunjungan lapangan, dan wawancara dengan masyarakat Kelurahan Mangun Harjo Semarang
Study Visit: Jatibarang Landfill, Jatibarang Reservoir and Kandri Village
Lecture, Workshop and Discussion