On 11–16 August 2025, a field survey was conducted in IKN (Nusantara Capital City) for the 2025 Fundamental Research scheme under the topic: “Smart Innovation and Waste Management Systems to Support the Implementation of a Smart City in Indonesia’s New Capital.”

The 2025 Fundamental Research Team is led by Prof. Dr. Rini Rachmawati, S.Si., M.T. (Head of the Regional Development Program, Master of Geography UGM, and Director of the Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies UGM), with research members Prof. Dr. Eko Haryono, M.Si. (Lecturer at the Department of Environmental Geography and Head of the Doctoral Program in Environmental Science) and Ir. Agus Prasetya, M.Eng.Sc., Ph.D. (Lecturer at the Department of Chemical Engineering).

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The Seminar and Final Monitoring-Evaluation (Monev) of the Indonesian Collaborative Research (Riset Kolaborasi Indonesia, RKI) for 2024 took place successfully on 5-6 November 2024 at Hasanuddin University, Makassar. The event commenced with an opening speech from the Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, followed by parallel monitoring and evaluation sessions.

Representing Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), Prof. Dr. Rini Rachmawati, S.Si., M.T., Head of the Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies (CESASS), actively participated in the seminar and Monev sessions. Prof. Rini serves as the lead researcher for the RKI project, collaborating with partner researchers from Universitas Indonesia (UI), Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Universiti Sains Malaysia, and the University of Yangon, Myanmar.

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We are pleased to provide an update on the CESASS UGM Flagship research project, titled “Sociocultural Resilience of Society: Is It Social Polarization or Social Cohesion in the Nusantara New Capital City of Indonesia?”, lead by Prof. Dr. Rini Rachmawati, S.Si, M.T., held from October 24 to 28, 2024, in East Kalimantan.

The research activities included observations, structured interviews with community members, in-depth interviews with representatives from the Social Service and the OIKN, as well as discussions with village and sub-district officials. Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were held with village heads and traditional leaders. The research locations encompassed the Central Government Core Area (KIPP), the IKN Area (KIKN), and the IKN Development Area (KPIKN).

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We are pleased to provide an update on the fundamental research project titled “Carbon Capture and Storage Strategy: Opportunities and Prospects in the Nusantara Capital City for Achieving Smart City,” led by Prof. Dr. Rini Rachmawati. The research activities were conducted from October 1 to 6, 2024, in East Kalimantan.

The project followed several crucial steps. First, in-depth interviews were carried out both online and on-site with key representatives from the Authority of the New Capital (OIKN) in Balikpapan. These included discussions with the Deputy for Planning and Land Affairs, the Deputy for Social, Cultural, and Community Empowerment, as well as the Director of Forest Area and Water Resources Development.

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Internationalization of Higher Educations (HEs) is still mainly seen as a westernized, largely Anglo-Saxon, and predominantly English-speaking paradigm. Following Hans de Wit’s theory on comprehensive and inclusive approach of internationalization (2019) and using the rationales of Jane Knight in critically seeing the aspect of internationalization and the competitive agenda of HEs (2010), a joint research by Dr. Falikul Isbah (Universitas Gadjah Mada), Dr. phil. Vissia Ita Yulianto (Universitas Gadjah Mada & National Chengchi University), Dr. Le Thi-Nham (National Chengchi University) and Dr. Muhammad Rum (Universitas Gadjah Mada) investigates how the components of today’s neoliberal approach of HEs are at the cost of the issue of inclusion in Indonesia, Taiwan and Vietnam. The group is photographed with Prof. Ching-Ping Tang, vice president of International Affairs, National Chengchi University. They also had conducted interviews with university administrators, scholars and students in National University of Science and Technology (NTUST) and Tamkang University (TKU), Taiwan (ROC).

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An Op-Ed for Media Indonesia in Inspirasi Bulaksumur rubric just published last week (2021/07/29) written by Drs Muhadi Sugiono, MA (Department of International Relation UGM Lecturer, Institute of International Studies UGM and Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies UGM researcher). This Op-Ed calls attention to the role of Higher Education to contribute to the issue of global nuclear disarmament. Through the Institute of International Studies (IIS) research institute, UGM is actively campaigning and advocating for nuclear disarmament on the national and international levels.

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For those who want to learn more about our neighbouring country Vietnam. See more here on its ideology by a Vietnamese scholar Tran Ti Dieu here in IKAT current issue: https://jurnal.ugm.ac.id/ikat/article/view/56279

Climate crisis and the Covid 19 outbreak are key themes along with new research methodology strategies in the Pacific Journalism Review. This edition has been published in partnership with Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta with several papers from “Rethinking the Social World in the 21st Century” symposium in August being published. For full edition click here https://ojs.aut.ac.nz/pacific-journalism-review/issue/view/45

As a part of the working collaboration between the Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies, Universitas Gadjah Mada and the Graduate Institute of Futures Studies, Tamkang University, Taiwan, A joint paper by Prof. Jian Bang Deng, Prof. Hermin Indah Wahyuni and Dr. phil. Vissia Ita Yulianto is just published. This paper calls attention to the close linkage between transnational mobility and social inequality. It showed how the transnationalization of social inequality could get new faces through the new waves of labor migration. The issue of social inequality not only reflects the policy levels of receiving and sending countries, but it also is shown in experiences of the individual labor migrants in their transnational careers.
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Sebagai bagian dari kolaborasi antara PSSAT UGM dan Universitas Tamkang Taiwan, telah dipublikasikan joint paper oleh Prof. Jian Bang Deng, Prof. Hermin Indah Wahyuni dan Dr. phil. Vissia Ita Yulianto. Paper ini memberikan gambaran mengenai hubungan mobilitas transnasional dan ketimpangan sosial. Dalam penelitian ini, dijabarkan bahwa transnasionalisasi dari ketimpangan sosial dapat memberikan gelombang baru isi buruh migrant. Isu ketimpangan sosial bukan hanya direfleksikan oleh kebijakan pengirim dan penerima tenaga kerja namun juga terlihat dari pengalaman yang dialami para migran saat bekerja diluar negeri.

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The rise of China as a global power has led to the state of panic throughout the world. Despite the insistence by its leaders of China’s ‘peaceful rise,’ fear, anxiety and even hostility toward China has widely been spread. While most analyses are focused more on the implications of the growing power of China on various aspects of power relations, less attention has been given to the way in which China is perceived in other countries. Arguably, the construction of China as a serious threat has played similarly important role in the negative responses of other countries toward the rise of China. The proposed research will fill the gap in the academic discourse on this issue by focusing the analysis on the perception on China and on the framing of its rise. In addition, by focusing on the case of Indonesia, the proposed research will not only help us better understand Indonesian policy toward China but can also be of significance for design more appropriate policy toward China. Departing from constructivist theoretical framework, the research will be conducted through examining documents and speeches, media coverage as well as interviews or focused group discussion.

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