Build Project Co-ordinator Intan Putri has been working at Revitalising Informal Settlements and Environment (RISE) in Makassar, Indonesia since 2017. Over that time, her broad range of roles and experiences have provided her with technical, as well people and project management skills that will benefit the rest of her career.

Intan says, “My role at RISE has changed a lot in the last seven years. I started as a community architect and an engineer during the community design process until 2020. Then we started the detailed engineering design drawings, when I worked as a community facilitator and a draftsperson. Then, during the construction phase in 2023 until mid 2024, I worked as a design manager.

“That’s when I had the opportunity to become a project co-ordinator managing the tasks for the Build Team. We divided the task between the team where we had a team doing the operation and maintenance, visiting the sites and monitoring the construction and infrastructure. And we have another team doing community and government engagement. We hold meetings with the community to discuss how to operate and maintain the systems so that they can be sustainable.”

Working in partnership with communities to co-design and take ownership of new infrastructure is fundamental to the RISE approach. It has been important from the program’s very beginning.

Intan says, “Before RISE, I was working as an architect for a big developer and we were very far from understanding our community. We would just build something without them being aware of what was happening. So when I started with RISE, it was an opportunity for me to understand how to really work with the community.

Engaging everyone from women, men, kids, and youth gives better insight for the project. Their insights should be included in the design and construction because the final build will be very different when we ask their opinion.

“Listening to the community for their advice gives us an understanding of the local context. In Makassar, we built the same infrastructure in our first tranche of sites but tailored to each site to meet their different needs. So we needed to do the observations first. It takes a long time but it is worth it. Good observations create better designs.

“Once it is built, they will be the owners of this construction and they will be in charge of its maintenance. They need to be the first people to know and understand the infrastructure that we are going to build around them. Engaging with the community will give them a sense of ownership to make this infrastructure more sustainable after the project is finished.”

Since changing roles from managing design to being the Project Co-ordinator of the Build Team, Intan has overseen the development of a suite of constructed water-sensitive local infrastructure upgrades designed to meet each community's unique stressors, providing access to essential sanitation and water services and strengthening climate resilience to flooding and water shortages.

More than 1,400 residents across 325 households in Makassar have received RISE's unique combination of ‘green, grey and smart' solutions to improve living conditions.

Looking ahead to 2025 – Intan’s role as a co-ordinator will expand to lead community empowerment for the next phase in operation and maintenance of the new infrastructure systems across the sites. While the government will support, the community is taking responsibility, including pruning and maintaining wetlands, whose plants are treating community wastewater.

Intan’s role has required both her technical and people skills. Building in, and for, communities is not always a smooth process, and Intan has seen RISE has faced several challenges. “When the pandemic started, fortunately we had already finished our community participatory design process. But we couldn’t go to the sites to see the existing conditions and we had to do the detailed engineering designs by working from home.

After Covid, the site had changed a lot so we needed to change our designs again to respond to the new conditions. During construction, we occasionally needed to change the plans because they weren’t meeting current community expectations. Our team would get our Monash colleagues’ advice and we would come back to the community to explain what is possible.”

It is normal for plans to change across the life of long, complex and innovative projects. That’s when the RISE team’s technical knowledge and ability to build relationships gets them through the challenges. “The community knows us very well. We talk with them onsite, we come to their houses and play with their kids. So they are very open to us. But we also have to accept the boundaries around our role as designers.

“Unfortunately we can’t do everything they request – especially if it’s outside our project’s scope of work. For example, when they ask if we can connect them to electricity, we cannot provide it for them directly, but we can connect them to the government or an electricity supplier. Says Intan,

“I’ve learned that good communication is very helpful. And understanding the local language is important when talking with the community. I don’t come from Makassar, but I am learning.”

Everyone on the RISE team values collaborative relationships. But Intan has a unique partnership with one of her team members - her husband, Ilham - who has been part of the RISE team since 2017.

Intan says, “We’ve worked at RISE together since the beginning. At the moment, he is working on secondment with another Monash team under Professor Tony Wong and Professor Diego Ramírez-Lovering at the Faculty of Art Design and Architecture (MADA). But he is also still helping the RISE team with the operation and maintenance team. He is a very wise person and gives us a lot of great advice. We talk a lot about RISE – even at home. But at work, he needs to listen to me!”

In 2024, RISE reached an important milestone with construction complete at the program’s first group of settlements. “I’m proud of seeing everything we have done. We had a big ceremony in July with guests from the central government, from Monash and some of our RISE colleagues from Fiji. It was a big moment – it gave me a flashback of the whole RISE journey. And even though it was hard work – it’s all paid off,” says Intan.