Department of Urban and Regional Planning (URP) Diponegoro University (UNDIP) is proud to announce the receipt of the KONEKSI (Australian and Indonesian Knowledge, Technology and Innovation Collaboration) grant in strategic collaboration with the University of Queensland (UQ ), Semarang City Government, and Brisbane City Council (BCC). This collaboration takes the form of a collaborative research project related to the socio-ecological impacts of flood infrastructure projects in Semarang City with the title “From Technical to Socio-Ecological Pathways for Climate Change Adaptation: Analysis of Flood in Semarang”.
On July 21 2023 at Bappeda Semarang City, an acquaintance with the core research project team took place with A/Prof Sonia Roitman as team leader and other researchers namely Wido Prananing Tyas PhD, A/Prof Ron Johnstone, and Prof Wiwandari Handayani with a team from Bappeda. At this meeting, the objectives of the research project and its outcomes and plans for implementing research activities were explained. From the government side, apart from the Semarang City Government, this project also involves the Brisbane City Council (BCC).
In line with one of KONEKSI’s goals, namely creating innovative solutions for inclusive and sustainable policy and technology through knowledge partnerships, the UQ-UNDIP-Semarang City Government-BCC research collaboration project, also targets the same thing as an outcome. Evidence-based improvement policies, guidelines to mitigate the impacts of infrastructure-oriented solutions for flooding, and the formulation of new indicators for climate change adaptation in Semarang, are at least three things that will result from this research project.
The KONEKSI grant will indirectly strengthen the capacity of URP UNDIP in the field of regional and city planning and support the development of research related to climate change and its impacts in Semarang City. Apart from that, this grant also includes a capacity enrichment program for URP UNDIP students in research, which is showed by the opportunity to be involved in projects as research assistants. This will provide a valuable opportunity for students to broaden their knowledge in urban and regional planning issues especially those related to climate change, as well as deepen collaboration between the two universities.
Research collaboration through KONEKSI grants is an example of collaboration involving universities, government and society (as research objects) in supporting sustainable development in big cities such as Semarang. Involving researchers, academics and practitioners, it is hoped that this collaboration will produce solutions that have a positive impact in facing the increasingly complex challenges of climate change in urban areas. URP UNDIP hopes that this KONEKSI grant will strengthen their role as a relevant research and innovation center in supporting planning and policy formulation in Semarang City as well as making a significant contribution in solving urban problems faced in Indonesia.