Majlis Pengisytiharan Pro-Canselor & Konvokesyen Ke-57 UTM
Women's role in development of sustainable cities highlighted in new exhibit
KUALA LUMPUR: In this modern era, women across the globe have demonstrated beyond a doubt that they are capable of matching their male counterparts in almost every field, given the right exposure and opportunity.
At the “Female Faces & Malaysia Sustainable Cities” exhibition, taking place at the National Visual Arts Gallery (NVAG) here, around 20 Malaysian women are featured, from policy makers to social entrepreneurs, who play a key role in formulating and implementing policies for sustainable development in Malaysia.
Some of the female faces include National Council of Women’s Organisations Malaysia president Professor Tan Sri Dr Sharifah Hapsah Syed Hasan Shahabudin, Students Volunteer Foundation founder and chairperson Datuk Zuraidah Atan, and former Bank Negara governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz.
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM)’s Institute Sultan Iskandar executive director Prof Dr Mohd Hamdan Ahmad said that in the process of studying sustainable cities development efforts, the programme captured the role of women as agents of change in Malaysia’s major cities, thus the exhibition intends to disseminate the message of the MSCP while honouring these Malaysian women.
The exhibition also includes a variety of physical, audio and immersive ‘artefact’ interviews and video documentaries on broad aspects of sustainability in Malaysian cities. It presents 75 works of field photography, 21 video interviews and 19 research documentaries as the findings of MSCP under one roof.
Supported by the Higher Education Ministry, the exhibition is a joint collaboration between Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), displaying the outcome of the UTM-MIT Malaysia Sustainable Cities Programme (MSCP).
UTM vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Ir Dr Wahid Omar said the five-year programme addresses pressing sustainable issues faced with rapid development, with the aim of making Malaysia an example of sustainable development. “Sustainable development issues featured include climate change, conservation of ecosystems, housing, tourism, traffic and transportation, green building and preserving cultural assets. “They are observed in five major Malaysian cities, namely Johor Baru, Kuala Lumpur, George Town, Putrajaya and Kuching.”
The exhibition, which began on Oct 8, was officiated by the Education Ministry’s director of higher education (excellence planning division) Prof Dr Raha Abdul Rahim. The first facet of the exhibition, entitled “Female Faces in Sustainable Places” was held at the MIT’s Wolk Gallery, from April 30 to July 31, 2015. The current exhibition at NVAG is a reciprocal arrangement which expands upon the history of the collaboration programme and findings from international scholars.
The exhibit will continue until Nov 13 and is open to the public.
In this modern era, women across the globe have demonstrated beyond a doubt that they are capable of matching their male counterparts in almost every field, given the right exposure and opportunity. At the “Female Faces & Malaysia Sustainable Cities” exhibition, taking place at the National Visual Arts Gallery (NVAG) here, around 20 Malaysian women are featured, from policy makers to social entrepreneurs, who play a key role in formulating and implementing policies for sustainable development in Malaysia. (Pix by MOHD YUSNI ARIFFIN) – NST
Source: NST (Tuesday, 11th October 2016)
JPBW Monthly Seminar “Spatial Modeling to Support Integrated Flood Risk Management”
Dr. Richard Sliuzas, an Associate Professor of Urban and Regional Planning and Geo-Information Management, University of Twente The Netherlands, gave an enlightening talk at the JPBW Monthly Seminar on 26th September 2016.
Associate Professor Dr. Richard Sliuzas graduated from University of South Australia (formerly SAIT) in 1979. He completed a Post-graduate Diploma and MSc in Urban Survey and Human Settlements Analysis at the International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC) in 1980 and 1988 respectively. In 2004 he obtained a PhD from the Faculty of Geographical Sciences, Utrecht University. Dr. Richard’s professional career began in Adelaide, Australia where he worked as town planner at town planning firm and at local government body from 1981-1983 and later joined ITC in December 1983. He has been involved in numerous projects abroad and since 1995 has been professionally active in China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Vietnam.
The talk on the 26th of September highlighted his work on integrated flood risk assessment in Kampala, Uganda, a project undertaken under the UN-Habitat Cities and Climate Change Initiative from 2012 – 2013. He was the team leader for the project. Kampala, the capital and largest city of Uganda is expected to experience even more frequent local flash floods, a result of the rapid growth and urbanisation. He also spoke at length on a detailed flood risk assessment which was developed with a dynamic modeling tool (LISEM) for the upper Lubigi catchment area with specific attention to the situation in Bwaise, one of Kampala’s best known flooding hotspots. The talk held at the Convention Hall, FAB, was attended by students and academic staff of JPBW and ended at 11.00 am.
Meeting of Bachelor of Urban and Regional Planning Students with Academic Advisors, Semester 1 2016/2017
The Department of Urban and Regional Planning (DURP), Faculty of Built Environment (FAB), had its first meeting with the respective Academic Advisors and advisees of Year 1 to Year 4 on 22nd September (Thursday) 2016 at the Convention Hall, B12. Prizes for academic excellence Semester 2, 2015/2016 were also presented to respective students for each Year at the meeting. Students who received prizes were Josephine Lee Siaw Ling (Year 1-GPA 3.79, CGPA 3.89), Siti Nabila bt Mokhtar (Year 2-GPA 3.67, CGPA 3.70), and Tay Suet Yi (Year 3-GPA 4.00, CGPA 3.93). Prizes comprising of the Malaysian Institute of Planners, Planning Malaysia Special Issue IV-2016 Journal entitled “Towards an Asian Urban Agenda : Planning Asian DiverCity, IntenseCity, ComplexCity & AuthenticCity and certificate were presented to the best students by the Deputy Dean (Academic), Associate Professor Dr. Mohammad Rafee bin Majid. The meeting ended at 4.00 pm with refreshments for all DURP students and academic advisors.
