UGM reviews comparative approaches and develops international best practice on tackling the SDGs through international collaboration and research with partners across Asia, Europe and beyond.
The Faculty of Agricultural Technology has maintained a research partnership with BOKU University in Vienna, Austria for more than ten years. During a visit to BOKU in April 2025, the two institutions reviewed their joint Soil Health Center initiative, developed with the Bangka Regency Government and the Indonesian National Development Planning Agency, and planned the 2025 ASEA-UNINET project. The project applies Nature-Based Solutions to rehabilitate post-mining land in tropical regions, with field implementation across Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. By comparing how the same restoration approach performs in three countries, the collaboration builds transferable best practices for land restoration in Southeast Asia, supporting SDGs 13 and 15.
UGM is also a partner in PolyUrbanWaters, a research and project network funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The network brings together universities, municipalities, government agencies, civil society and private-sector stakeholders from Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Germany to develop a polycentric approach to urban water management. The Indonesian team includes UGM’s Faculty of Geography and Department of Architecture and Planning, working with Kota Kita, AKSANSI, the Sariharjo village head and the Sleman Regency development planning agency. After a 2023 baseline study in Sariharjo Village and a 2024 community vision-building study in Rejodani, the team planned in 2025 to extend the work to a new sub-village in Sariharjo. Partners share and compare experiences and best practices from Southeast Asia and Germany/Europe, and foster region-wide dialogue between national and local decision makers, community leaders, civil society and academia. The project localises Agenda 2030 at the city level and supports SDGs 6, 11 and 13.
UGM, the Mount Fuji Research Institute (MFRI) and NPO Volcano Tokyo, supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Grassroots Cooperation Program, have run a multi-year partnership to reduce volcano disaster risk in Indonesia and Japan. The partnership culminated in the International Symposium on Disaster Risk Reduction held in May 2025 in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. The project coordinator, Dr. Wiwiet Suryanto of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, accompanied a delegation from Bali that included the Chair of the Bali Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Forum and Udayana University’s Center for Natural Disaster Studies. Dr. Suryanto noted that Japan’s experience in managing the risks of Mount Fuji offers valuable lessons for Indonesia, particularly in early disaster education and community-based early warning systems. The delegation observed how Japanese communities take part in mitigation and policy planning, and identified practices that can be adapted to Bali and other regions of Indonesia. The collaboration supports SDGs 11 and 13.
In February 2025, the Faculty of Law held the international seminar “Digital Enhancement for Blue Economy–Support Ecosystem” which brought international and national perspectives together to compare how digital governance can support sustainable marine and fisheries management. Prof. Sybe de Vries of Utrecht University (Netherlands) presented the European Union’s approach to governing digital markets. Dr. Raquel Lorenz Costa, a UNESCO consultant from the University of Lisbon, examined the role of higher education in advancing the blue economy. The Head of the Center for Data, Statistics and Information at Indonesia’s Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries outlined how digitalisation is being used to optimise the national blue economy. These discussions help identify lessons Indonesia can adapt from international practice in support of SDGs 14 and 16.
UGM and Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) signed a cooperation agreement in May 2025 focused on tropical forest management. Both universities are located in countries with extensive tropical forests, so the partnership centres on shared challenges in tropical biodiversity conservation, sustainable resource management and ecosystem restoration. It will be carried out through joint research, publications, supervision, seminars and staff and student exchange. UGM brings experience from managing more than 10,000 hectares of education forest in Central Java, restoring Wanagama Forest in Gunungkidul, and its new 600-hectare forest in the Nusantara Capital City area. The collaboration aims to develop and share nature-based and ecosystem-based approaches to climate change and the biodiversity crisis that can be applied across the region, supporting SDGs 13 and 15.
References
- Collaboration with BOKU University in Vienna, Austria to rehabilitate post-mining land
- International collaboration in a polycentric approach to urban water management
- Extended work in urban water management to a new sub-village in Sariharjo
- Multi-year partnership to reduce volcano disaster risk in Indonesia and Japan
- International Seminar on Digital Enhancement for Blue Economy–Support Ecosystem
- International partnership on tropical forest management