About The Team

Rukuh Setiadi

Rukuh is a senior lecturer in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Diponegoro University (UNDIP), Indonesia and a researcher at the SDGs Centre of the university. He has background in urban planning (UNDIP), hold a master degree in environmental management (Flinders University) and received his PhD in urban environmental policy from Griffith University. He is interested on the intellectual space between urbanization and governance in various contemporary urban topics such as climate change, urban resilience and green development.

He also serves as an executive director of the Initiative for Urban Climate Change and Environment (IKUPI), www.ikupi.org  a non-profit organization based in Semarang, which focuses to support urban climate change initiative in Indonesia and is participating as a contributing author of the upcoming 6th Assessment Report of the IPCC. He gained training, research and planning experience in a number of projects funded by national and international organizations and programs such as ANU Indonesia Project, ASTRA International, Bintari Foundation, GIZ, IIED, MercyCorps Indonesia, Rockefeller Foundation, SIAP-SIAGA, UCLG-ASPAC, UN-Habitat and the World Bank.

Joerg Baumeister

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Joerg Baumeister founded in 2019 "SeaCities" (SeaCities.org) as transdisciplinary research hub at the Cities Research Institute. SeaCities shifts the focus of research and its application from defining and managing increasing risks for coastal communities towards the exploration and development of novel design, engineering and infrastructure solutions. The aim is to relieve land-based population pressures and foster innovative amphibious and aquatic development solutions.

Current projects of SeaCities include (from large to small) adaptation scenarios for coastal cities which turn hazards of sea-level rise into urban opportunities; floating cities and villages; legal and economic aspects which support the development of an urban seascape; evolution of an aquatic bio-economy for sustainable urban growth; integration of marine expansions into ecological systems; CO2 capturing marine material production; aquatectural structures and floating reefs.

Joerg is an accredited and award-winning Architect with a higher Doctorate in Engineering and broad experience in city planning. Therefore his projects are based on the transdisciplinary nature of his thinking that links architecture, technology, science and society. His additional research interest comprises ecological cities, housing in serial building technology, and design innovation through creative thinking.

Joerg has been researcher, consultant, inventor, practitioner, and educator for more than 25 years throughout Europe, Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, Asia, and Australia. His experience includes the consultation of private industry, NGOs, and governmental institutions on the federal, state and regional level; executive appointments as Director of a Research Centre, CEO of a private company, Scientist For Future and DAAD Ambassador; and the development, acquisition, and management of a variety of middle to large research grants for the Commonwealth and the European Union.

Alex Lo

Alex Lo is an environmental social scientist specializing in the study of public and policy response to climate change. He is recipient of the World Social Science Fellowship, Endeavour Research Fellowship, Universitas 21 Fellowship. Pete Hay Prize, Li Ka Shing Prize, Dr. Stephen S.F. Hui Prizes, and Ada and Arthur Hill Prize. He was an invited plenary speaker at the International Conference on Regional Development (2016). He is an editorial board member of Environmental Values (White Horse Press) and Population and Environment (Springer), and Associate Editor of Geographical Research (Wiley), the journal of the Institute of Australian Geographers.

Lo played a lead role in a number of successful external grant applications. His ongoing projects are supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, University Grants Committee (Hong Kong Government), the Regional Studies Association (UK), and Hui Oi Chow Trust Fund. He is commissioned by the Hong Kong Government’s Environment and Conservation Fund to assess the impacts of its flagship funding programme, and involved in a collaborative applied research project funded by Australia’s National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility. Previously he led several other research projects on climate change governance and politics, which were supported by and Australia’s Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia with co-funding from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Lo received his PhD from the Australian National University in 2011, followed by a permanent lectureship at the Griffith University in Australia, a position he held until 2015. Previously, he held a research appointment at Vienna, Austria, and coordinated environmental education projects for the Hong Kong Government. Since 2018, he has been and Adjunct Professor at the Guangzhou University, China.

Luna Perita

Luna is an Urban and Regional Planner. She received her undergraduate degree from UNDIP. During her studies, Luna has focusedon analyses and practices through urban and regional planning studios. She is alsointerestedin the study on global environmentalissues such as climate change.