Nadia attended the International Conference on Green, Digital and Intelligent Built Environments (GDI 2025), hosted by Auckland University of Technology in Auckland, New Zealand, from 1–3 December 2025. The conference brought together academics and industry professionals to share ideas on the future of the built environment. The sessions focused on how sustainability, digital technologies, and … Continue reading
Category Archives: News
Engaging with Socialist Realism: Dorina Pojani’s ecofeminist reflections from Albania
While undertaking her GERMIN research project in Tirana, UQ|UP’s Dorina Pojani has been actively engaging with the city’s rich and vibrant cultural life. One recent highlight was her participation in the Film Club, a government-supported initiative dedicated to revisiting films produced during Albania’s communist dictatorship. The program pairs public screenings with critical discussion, archival material, … Continue reading
UQ|UP presenting at the annual TAP Showcase
The Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) held its annual Transport Academic Partnership (TAP) Showcase 2025 at the headquarter on Mary Street on 3rd of December. The Transport Academic Partnership 2025–2030 is a $4.3 million agreement between TMR, the Motor Accident Insurance Commission, Queensland University of Technology, University of Queensland and the University of … Continue reading
Dorina Pojani at the Venice Biennale: Podcast on design and politics
This November, UQ|UP’s Dorina Pojani participated in the recording of Podcast No. 6, titled “Governance and Design,” at the Albanian Pavilion of the Venice Biennale. The session formed part of the Pavilion’s public program and brought together a dynamic group of contributors working at the intersection of architecture, planning, and urban governance. The conversation was … Continue reading
Dorina Pojani speaks at UN-Habitat SUMP workshop in Skopje
UQ|UP’s Dorina Pojani was recently invited by UN-Habitat to deliver an expert talk on parking management at a regional workshop on Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs). The workshop, held in Skopje, North Macedonia, provided an opportunity to engage with urban mobility specialists. Despite its compact scale, the workshop assembled an impressive and diverse group of … Continue reading
New article on cycling infrastructure terminology in CSTP by UQ|UP team
A new article in Case Studies in Transport Policy examines the surprisingly inconsistent terminology used to describe cycling infrastructure. The study—led by Scott Lieske in SENV and co-authored by former UQ|UP doctorand Weichang Kong, his advisor Dorina Pojani, and UQ colleagues Richard Buning and Simone Leao—reviews 113 policy documents and draws on three rounds of … Continue reading
New book chapter on water-land interactions in Semarang by Sonia Roitman and colleagues
A new book chapter examines the relationship between water and land in Semarang, Indonesia. This article provides a systems-thinking approach to flood management in Semarang. It is the first output of the KONEKSI project assessing the socio-ecological impacts of flood infrastructure in Semarang. It was written by Ron Johnstone (UQ), Sonia Roitman (UQ) and Idha … Continue reading
Reclaiming grassroots engagement: Dorina Pojani on gender, space, and community activism in Tirana
In contemporary planning practice, much attention gravitates toward large institution-led initiatives, major events, and high-profile urban transformations. Yet UQ|UP’s Dorina Pojani also emphasises the importance of grassroots engagement — the domain where citizens’ creativity, agency, and lived experience most visibly shape urban life. This commitment was evident during her recent participation in an event hosted … Continue reading
Sebastien Darchen presenting on music cultures in Amsterdam and Rotterdam
Sebastien Darchen will present his latest book on music cultures https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-75499-9 on January 29th in Rotterdam at the Rotterdam Popular Music Studies (RPMS) research centre https://www.eur.nl/en/eshcc/research/rpms and in Amsterdam on February 13th at the School of Cultural Analysis, University of Amsterdam https://www.cities.humanities.uva.nl/news/2025-2026-sound-cities/ Continue reading
UQ|UP at the GUIDe Symposium, Brunei
On 4 December, UQ|UP team members Dorina Pojani, Ali Cheshmehzangi and Mubeen Ahmad will join urban scholars and practitioners from around the world at the Global Urban Innovation & Development Symposium (GUIDe), an event organised by Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) and Chongqing University (CQU). 🔗 Check out the program below and register to attend online: … Continue reading
Dorina Pojani discusses Tirana’s growing housing pressures on Zëri
In a recent conversation with journalist Loreta Koleci at Zëri in Albania, UQ|UP’s Dorina Pojani discussed the growing housing pressures reshaping Tirana. She highlighted the sharp rise in rents, the rapid expansion of short-term rentals through platforms such as Airbnb, and the city’s increasingly vertical skyline dominated by new high-rise towers. Together, these trends are … Continue reading
Sebastien Darchen part of the ARC Training Centre for Climate-Resilient Water (2026-2030)
UQ|UP’s Sebastien Darchen as well as other researchers in the School of ADP will contribute to a new $5 million ARC-funded training centre led by Professor Steven Kenway (EAIT, UQ) focusing on water security and water resilience: https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/project/70285. Congratulations Sebastien and team! Continue reading
Dorina Pojani mentors at GIZ workshop on eco-friendly mobility
UQ|UP’s Dorina Pojani participated as a workshop mentor at the ICTSlab CliMobility City Lab Hackathon, an event taking place from 19–21 November in Tirana and Vlora. The hackathon focuses on on eco-friendly urban mobility – issues that Dorina has long considered central to her research, teaching, and public engagement. The CliMobility City Lab Hackathon brings … Continue reading
Frank Zou awarded UQ Kx&T Research Grant
The University of Queensland has awarded $55.5k to a research project entitled “Building a Dynamic Demand Forecast Tool for Shared Electric Micromobility” through the Knowledge Exchange and Translation (Kx&T) Fund. The project will be led by UQ|UP’s new ECR member Frank Zou, with team members Richard Bunning (BEL), Dorina Pojani (UQ|UP), and Jonathan Corcoran (SENV). Lime … Continue reading
Albania’s urban past, present and future: Dorina Pojani on Gogocast
The Gogocast team at Gogo.al recently hosted UQ|UP’s Dorina Pojani for a wide-ranging conversation on urban planning in Albania, undertaken during her visit as part of the GERMIN Fellowship. This podcast has emerged as a notable platform in the Albanian media landscape, distinguished by the hosts’ commitment to thoughtful and rigorous public dialogue. Although Dorina … Continue reading
Sonia Roitman at climate resilience workshop in Surabaya
Last week we met in Surabaya to discuss how communities are developing climate resilience. In addition to UQ|UP Sonia Roitman and UQ Zane Goebel (School of Languages), the workshop was joined by colleagues from Universitas Indonesia (UI), Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), Institute of Technology Bandung (ITB), Universitas Diponegoro (UNDIP) and Institute Technology Surabaya (ITS) who … Continue reading
Densifying sprawling desert cities: new study in Journal of Urbanism, co-authored by Dorina Pojani
Many cities along the Persian Gulf have expanded rapidly in recent decades, encouraged by abundant desert land and cheap oil. This combination has fostered an urban model dominated by single-family homes and car-based travel between distant destinations. This sprawling approach is proving increasingly unsustainable — socially, environmentally, and economically. In a new open-access article published … Continue reading
Support Fred Fialho Teixeira and the Blue Biomass Team in the Shaping Australia Awards
We’re proud to share that our ADP colleague Fred Fialho Teixeira and the Building with Blue Biomass network have been selected as finalists in the Shaping Australia Awards. Their project, “Solar biotechnologies: harnessing light to power to solve global challenges | UQ”, is currently in second place — and your vote can help push it to … Continue reading
Is TOD good for the environment? New evidence from China by Pengxiang Ding and Dorina Pojani
A new study sheds light on how transit-oriented development (TOD) can help reduce urban carbon emissions in China. The article was authored by Pengxiang Ding, a former guest PhD student at UQ supported by a CSC scholarship, together with his PhD advisor in China Suwei Feng, and his UQ|UP mentor Dorina Pojani. The study examines … Continue reading
Are free outdoor gyms worth it? Dorina Pojani on ABC Radio Brisbane
UQ|UP’s Dorina Pojani recently appeared on ABC Radio Brisbane to discuss park programming and the role of public amenities in promoting community wellbeing. The conversation focused on the free outdoor gym equipment installed by the Brisbane City Council in many local parks. While opinions vary on the cost–benefit of such initiatives, Dorina supports these facilities … Continue reading