Experimenting with city-to-city diplomacy
In the coming weeks Asialink Diplomacy will host a visiting delegation of diplomats, experts and business leaders as part of the Australia-Indonesia Leaders Program. Managed by the Australia Indonesia Centre, this program includes a series of academic workshops and policy roundtables exploring the theme Future Cities.
As large-scale urbanisation reshapes Indonesia and Australia, the public and private sectors in both countries need to think creatively about how to manage disruptive challenges for urban communities. With relevant skills and knowledge in global cities like Melbourne and Surabaya, the policy framework for urban communities is an opportunity to deepen Australia-Indonesia relations outside formal diplomatic channels.
At the University of Melbourne, Asialink will be running an all-day “policy hackathon” for the Leaders Program. This learning activity will focus on developing new ideas for bilateral collaboration in urban governance and city planning. Drawing on the expertise of participants from both countries, the hackathon will explore challenges and opportunities in transport, infrastructure, social inclusion, or service delivery in water and energy.
This is the fifth iteration of the Australia-Indonesia Leaders Program. Previous visits to the University of Melbourne included experts from a variety of cross-disciplinary institutes, including the Melbourne School of Government, the Victorian Eco-Innovation Lab, and the Melbourne Networked Society Institute. During this program, the participants will develop and refine their ideas in breakout groups with industry experts, and pitch them to the Director of Asialink Diplomacy, Erin Watston-Lynn.
During this visit participants will also have the chance to hear from leading academic experts in future cities and urban infrastructure. Participants will tour the Melbourne University node of the Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network (AURIN), a digital repository which collects and fuses data from different Australia’s cities, providing an insight into the latest application of data-led research and policymaking.