‘I do feel like I’m being perceived differently sometimes because I am a woman.’
Indriany Lionggo is an Urban Economics and Development Resilience specialist with a background in Architecture studies. At IHS, she works as an academic assistant in the "Urban Economic Development: Innovation and Entrepreneurship" course, developing resources for the Urban Management and Development specialisation track. She also works as a workshop coordinator for C40 Cities Climate Change Leadership Group at the Rotterdam-based Climate Adaption Academy. Her work experience in the Higher Education sector and in Architecture firms covers urban design, economics and place-based action planning.
Sustainability is a central theme across her work. Her expertise includes theoretical approaches to urban and regional economic processes helping explain the quality of life for cities, as well as innovative actions for urban areas to mitigate and adapt to climate change. The economics sector has a long history of sexism, and she notes how this extends to a lack of equal representation in many urban spaces and planning:
‘Gender definitely comes up in my line of work. I work with city officials and organisations worldwide and I see very few women decision makers or managers.’
Analysing the changing attitude to gender equality in urban development, she articulates that it is an extremely slow process:
‘There should be a great difference from 70 years ago but unfortunately, change is very slow albeit research and best practices about women as leaders.’
In her latest work at IHS she engages in project management and acquisition and assists in administrative support for several tailor-made-trainings (TMTs) funded by Nuffic. Ready to take on the challenges of fighting gender inequality, she affirms ‘I am equipped with strong skills and a powerful voice.’
