UNDIP, United States (16/5) – The Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Diponegoro (DPWK FT UNDIP) consistently strives to strengthen international networks and collaborations to contribute to realizing real solutions to climate change and environmental issues. As one concrete step, a lecturer at the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Diponegoro (DPWK FT UNDIP), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wiwandari Handayani, participated in a series of academic activities at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), United States. UPenn is one of the world’s top universities, ranked 15th in the QS World University Rankings 2026.
During the visit, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wiwandari Handayani gave a guest lecture on the course “Water Worlds: Cultural Responses to Catastrophic Flooding and Sea Level Rise,” taught by Prof. Simon Richter at UPenn. He also participated as a guest speaker at a seminar held at Perry World House on the topic “When Urbanization Meets Climate Risk: SDG Challenges along the North Coast of Java – Indonesia.” This activity focused on strengthening discussions related to climate resilience and sustainable development challenges, particularly in the northern coastal areas of Java.
As part of the collaboration that has been established between UNDIP and UPenn, Prof. Dr.-Eng. Wiwandari also presented one of the international collaborations carried out by UNDIP in the Global Center of Spatial Methods for Urban Sustainability (SMUS) network, namely the Science Communication Project (https://gcsmus.org/output-media/production-of-an-ecotone-time-map/) which raised the concept of ec(h)otone on the Semarang-Demak coast. The cooperation is one of the creative approaches to understand the dynamics of interaction between humans and the environment in coastal areas. This activity also opens up a space for interaction with students from Weitzman School of Design and Water Center at the University of Pennsylvania. The exchange of ideas and experiences is an important step to enrich the academic perspective as well as strengthen the synergy of cross-institution research.
“Cross-institutional collaboration at the international level is the key in encouraging the birth of innovation to answer various global issues, including climate change. Through this cooperation, it is hoped that we can contribute to presenting concrete and sustainable solutions for urban challenges in the future,” said Prof. Dr.-Eng. Wiwandari Handayani.
Through this activity, it is hoped that the international collaboration that has been built between UNDIP and UPenn can continue to contribute finding solutions for urban challenges and climate change. This effort is also one of the forms of DPWK FT UNDIP’s support for sustainable development goals (SDGs), namely realizing sustainable cities and settlements (SDG 11), handling climate change (SDG 13), and strengthening global partnerships (SDG 17). Thus, this collaboration not only expands the academic network, but also strengthens the contribution of UNDIP in the sustainable global development agenda. (Public Communication/UNDIP/FT)