On the occasion of Dr. Suryadi’s visit, Nuffic Neso Indonesia and IKANED organized a half day seminar entitled ‘Urban and Rural drainage in lowland areas, Case Study Palembang City and Delta Telang/Saleh South Sumatra’ for Dutch Alumni in Palembang on August 12. Professor Robiyanto Hendro Susanto from Universitas Sriwijaya (UNSRI) and Ms. Eka Gustini, an alumna of UNESCO-IHE, participated as co-speakers.
Dr. Suryadi presented the effects of land use change, mainly dealing with their effects on water management system in urban as well as rural lowland areas. He concluded that land subsidence and uncontrolled land use change have significantly more effects on water management systems than the impacts of climate change. Prof. Robiyanto Hendro Susanto explained the advanced role of UNSRI in lowland management, positively impacting beyond teaching on campus. Education for farmer community and cooperation with related institutions throughout Indonesia are part of its lowland management curriculum, which have booked significant results such as higher agricultural yield, better city planning and improvement in quality of life. Ms. Eka Gustini shared her personal experience of studying Land and Water Development at UNESCO-IHE and reflected on how this affected her career development at the Government of Palembang City. According to her, her study did not only provide her with management knowledge, but also with technical and modeling knowledge, such as DUFLOW modeling and GIS. This background enabled her to approach real-life problems faced by the city of Palembang, with many areas consist of lowlands and reclaimed lowlands.In addition, Mr. Marrik Bellen, Director of Neso Indonesia gave some updates regarding cooperation between Indonesia and the Netherlands on Higher Education, and latest news on the StuNed Scholarships/ modalities.
The seminar was the second seminar held outside Jakarta and attended by more than 30 alumni, as well as PhD candidates and current UNESCO-IHE students conducting research in Palembang/ South Sumatra. Among the guests of honor guests were the Rector of UNSRI, Prof. Badia Perizade, and Vice-Chairman of IKANED, Mr. Theo Lekatompessy.
