Research Team Germany and Indonesia: Sustainable Island Futures

Small islands and coastal areas are particularly vulnerable to climate change and its negative impacts such as sea-level rise, more frequent storm surges and saltwater intrusion. Island and coastal communities and municipalities of Indonesia and Germany are highly engaged in mitigating climate change and in developing sustainable solutions to these challenges, which could create benefits for climate change adaptation and mitigation, as well as for biodiversity conservation in the future.

Project Lead:
Jonas Hein
Irit Ittner

Fadjar I. Thufail (Research Center for Area Studies (PRW), National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Indonesia.

Project Team:

  • André Reinhold Cohn
  • Ramona Fröhlich
  • Chiara Gärner
  • Neele Hoffmann
  • Ana Carolina da Paula Romano
  • Amanda Petry
  • Abdul Fikri Angga Reksa (PRW, BRIN)
  • Bondan Widyadmoko (PRW, BRIN)

Financing:
Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)

Time frame:
2024 - 2025 / ongoing

Project description

The “Sustainable island futures” project will focus on the social construction of space on small islands in Germany (East Frisian Islands) and Indonesia (Thousand Island Archipelago). It will analyze natural resource use, spatial planning processes generally and conservation planning in and around marine national parks in particular. It will build on a novel approach to the production of space, as it will consider the role of human and non-human living actors, as well as of hydrological and geomorphological dynamics. “Sustainable island futures” contributes to the understanding of socio-ecological dynamics of island and coastal spaces, and their efforts in future making. By providing analysis on various islands´ challenges, strategies, resource use and solutions, findings will contribute to knowledge exchange among small islands within and between the two countries. 

The aims (objectives) of the research project are:

  • Inventory and analysis of spatial, development and conservation plans on island and for coastal areas (2018-2024) and identification of ecosystems that have been prioritised for conservation, restoration and coastal protection.
  • Analysis of governance processes leading to planning priorities.
  • Investigation of island municipalities´ and island dwellers´ role in planning, decision-making and implementation.