What makes you passionate about planning?

Growing up in Indonesia in one of the most densely populated cities in the world (Bogor, West Java), I saw firsthand how prime agricultural farmlands and rice paddies were quickly paved over for sprawling housing development, big box stores, and highways. These changes then impacted community food security, biodiversity and access to land, especially for marginalized communities. I felt that it was important for me to contribute to an alternative vision, one that truly lives up to the vision of planning, which is to ensure environmental protection, support thriving communities, protect public interest, and ensure food sovereignty for seven generations to come.

Tell us about a project you are working on and why it excites you.

I am excited to partner with many amazing organizations and local community partners on a project called “Countering Collective Forgetting: Investigating the Role of Land Based Learning in Advancing Climate Resiliency and Intergenerational Food Literacy.” I am working on this project in Canada and in Tanzania. In Canada, we are working with Kitselas Nation in Terrace B.C. and with land-based educators in the Sunshine Coast. In Tanzania, we are working with the Arusha Climate and Environmental Research Centre, as well as the Nashipay Maasai Initiative. It’s so great to work with local heroes, uplift their voices, and understand how planners can better contribute to strengthening place-based knowledge, help facilitate land-based learning initiatives and support climate resiliency initiatives through planning for more sustainable food systems. I am also working with other planners from around the world on an upcoming Routledge Handbook on Critical Food System Planning (co-edited by Dr. Samina Raja, Dr. Subhashni Raj and Dr. Catherine Brinkley). There is so much to share in this growing field!

What do you think the most important challenge will be for planners in the future?

I am a food system planner and have been specializing in this sub-field of planning for over a decade. With the current geopolitical and economic contexts, as well as climate change, there will increasingly be issues around food access, food self-sufficiency, and challenges faced by the farming sector. Planners need to do more to think about emergency preparedness, the connectivity of our food systems and food supply chain,  and supporting initiatives for Indigenous food sovereignty as this will directly contribute to better health and strengthen the local food system, and also exploring ways to increase farming in B.C’s Agricultural Land Reserve areas. Most of all, planners need to understand that we do have a role and a stake in bettering our local food systems. Food production, at the end of the day, comes back to the issue of land access.

What are you most excited about at your planning school?

Every year I get so excited about the new cohort of planning students, both our undergraduate and graduate students. Many of my students come to the planning school with extensive and diverse professional and lived experiences. From farming experience, to working in public health, to working in solid waste management and many more. This means every year there is a new adventure, more systems thinking and growth for our interdisciplinary program.

Please tell us about a place or plan that has been influential to you.

In addition to my work in B.C, I work internationally. Tanzania has been very influential for me, especially my partnership with ACER (Arusha Climate and Environmental Research Centre) and the Nashipay Maasai Initiative and their Eco Boma (Eco-Village). When I work on planning issues there, I participate in community-led projects at the intersection of food system planning, land tenure, and human-wildlife conflict. We might be worried about racoons and bears mucking around in our compost bins but, in Tanzania, my partners have to deal with elephants, hyenas, and lions. However, whether it is B.C. or Tanzania, there are many similar issues around challenges to land access, the impact of climate change and tensions around governance and community needs. Planning has prepared me to actively listen, to learn and engage with the public, and to work with communities to help them realize their aspirations, and these skills have carried me around the world. 

What makes you passionate about planning?

What really draws me to planning is how it sits right at the intersection of people, ecosystems, and governance. I love that it gives you a way to connect ecological knowledge with public decision-making — turning scientific principles into policies and land-use strategies that are fair and grounded in local realities. I'm excited to build a career where I can take big sustainability goals and help turn them into actions that benefit ecosystems and communities.

Tell us about a project you are working on and why it excites you.

Currently, I'm working with the Saanich Peninsula Environmental Coalition (SPEC) on a project called "Check-Up!", which examines how municipal Official Community Plans align with bioregional planning principles. It involves policy analysis, interviews, and many great conversations with community advocates who are actively engaging with their local governments.

What I love most about it is that the findings are feeding into real advocacy and land use discussions happening right now across the Saanich Peninsula. It's one thing to do academic research, but seeing it directly support community-driven work is genuinely rewarding.

What do you think the most important challenge will be for planners in the future?

Honestly, I think the big one is going to be closing the gap between ambitious climate and sustainability commitments and what actually gets implemented. A lot of communities are setting bold goals, but turning those into coordinated action across zoning, infrastructure, development, and shifting political timelines is really challenging.

Planners have to deliberate between some tough trade-offs, such as balancing housing affordability with ecosystem conservation. I think the way forward involves better cross-jurisdictional collaboration, serious capacity building, and really leaning into ecosystem-based approaches to planning.

What are you most excited about at your planning school?

At SFU’s School of Resource and Environmental Management, I really enjoy the program's interdisciplinary approach. It combines planning, resource management, governance, and environmental science, providing a solid foundation for understanding land use from an ecological perspective. I love that the program also emphasizes applied research and collaboration with real-world partners, which has influenced my views on implementation and impact. Being part of a cohort focused on reconciliation, climate adaptation, and community resilience makes it feel like meaningful work, not just coursework.

Please tell us about a place or plan that has been influential to you.

The Saanich Peninsula has really shaped the way I think about planning. It's got this fascinating mix of coastal ecosystems, farmland, an urban-rural mix, and multiple municipal jurisdictions all layered together, making it a really compelling case for bioregional planning. Working there has highlighted both the potential and the limits of implementing environmental policies when ecological systems span beyond political boundaries. More than anything, it's reinforced my belief that good planning has to be collaborative, locally rooted, and genuinely attentive to the ecological realities shaping where and how people live.