(27 April 2026) Being a finalist for the World Resources Institute (WRI) Ross Center Prize for Cities 2025–2026 award, recognised RISE as an urban changemaker for innovation and the ability to transform lives in cities. It also took our team to New York for the prestigious award ceremony and to share learnings with urban leaders.
(7 May 2026) Where do RISE PhD graduates go after their thesis? From global development to climate science, their journeys are anything but ordinary. Discover how four alumni continue to turn ideas into impact, forge diverse careers, and shape a better future.
(3 March 2026) Overflowing sanitation systems, rising tides and rapid urban growth are plaguing informal communities in Suva, Fiji. Australia’s ABC TV aired 'The Wastewater Challenge', a compelling nine-minute on the ground report about RISE’s quest to turn a complex sanitation crisis into scalable, community-driven solutions across the Pacific.
(28 January 2026) From neighbourhood wetlands and RCT to the global spotlight, the RISE program is stepping onto the world stage. Recently named a finalist for the prestigious WRI Ross Centre Prize for Cities, RISE is being recognised for its innovative, community-focussed solutions to improve every day lives.
(15 December 2025) From Suva to Makassar: RISE’s latest environmental modelling work is being shaped not just by new data, but by the transfer of local expertise in drone-mapping and image-processing,
(4 December 2025) For the first time, residents from several informal settlements - many with no wetlands of their own - joined forces with an energetic group of young people to plant out a new RISE wetland treatment system and reshape what can be achieved together.
(2 December 2025) See a snapshot of RISE alumni, current researcher, and a PhD candidate taking their learnings from informal settlements to multiple stages, presenting insights that directly influence urban health, sanitation, and community resilience.
(27 November 2025) Created under the national Inter-Agency Taskforce on Informal Settlements, the RWG is leading the coordination and implementation of a new, incremental upgrading strategy for informal settlements in FIJI
(26 November 2025) Indonesia’s Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Professor Stella Christie, saw firsthand how research and community insights are working hand-in-hand to reshape urban living conditions.
(24 November 2025) The World Health Organization has turned its spotlight to RISE, showcasing the program in its new global guide and case studies for shaping resilient, people-centred cities.
(23 November 2025) For this World Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) week, Senior Research Officer, Fiona Lynch, shares the RISE program's efforts to address this major problem.
(19 September 2025) RISE researchers are developing high-resolution flood data in Fiji. This work is shedding light on where and how floods develop, to plan better infrastructure and strengthen resilience to climate impacts.
(19 September 2025) Meet our PhD cohort, whose diverse research – from people, to pathogens and policy – can help shape healthier, more resilient communities.
(27 June 2025) Revoni Vamosi and Andi Zulkifli perform diagnostic tests, analyse human and environmental samples collected from informal settlements, and maintain our laboratory equipment. Vamosi recently travelled from Fiji to Indonesia to exchange technical skills and build the cross-country analytic capacity of RISE.
(26 June 2025) AMR is a growing global health threat — and urban informal settlements are on the frontlines of this challenge. RISE researchers and global collaborators are uncovering new insights into AMR risk factors, to develop strategies to tackle this growing problem.
(1 March 2025) In Makassar, as RISE transitions from construction to the maintenance phase, a new chapter is unfolding as local communities and authorities begin taking shared responsibility for maintaining sanitation infrastructure in informal settlements.
(25 February 2025) In a major collaborative effort, RISE has partnered with Fiji’s health authorities to deliver de-worming treatment to children living in Suva’s informal settlements.
(7 February 2025) As climate change fuels the spread of mosquito-borne diseases, RISE is tracking how rising temperatures and poor urban infrastructure impact mosquito populations in informal settlements.
(23 October 2024) In a first-of-its-kind event, a recent forum in Suva united stakeholders from government, NGOs, and community groups to discuss opportunities to work together to enhance access to critical services that can improve life in Fiji’s informal settlements.
(9 October 2024) The team in Makassar recently completed an ambitious research campaign: combining our regular human health campaign together with additional sampling to examine potential sources of pathogen transmission in informal settlements.
(15 August 2024) Surveys are essential for RISE to understand peoples’ holistic experiences of health and wellbeing, from healthcare access, to financial security and other stress factors. We spoke with some of our newest Community Fieldworkers who shared their experiences and insights.
(14 July 2024) This month we celebrated the completion of the RISE community upgrades in Makassar, Indonesia. Co-designed together with communities, our unique combination of ‘green, grey and smart’ solutions is providing essential sanitation and water services to over 1,400 residents in 325 households.
(23 June 2024) Discover how a recent transformation project in Indonesia is reshaping wetland management, aiming to create a more sustainable and enhance the wetland’s overall functionality.
(24 April 2024) At this year’s World Health Summit, RISE participated in crucial discussions on what can be done to enhance health and wellbeing in the Asia-Pacific region.
(19 April 2024) Diamond-shaped motifs and vibrant red and yellow hues grace wetlands and infrastructure in Indonesia. Meet the team who plays a pivotal role in blending culture and functionality within the infrastructure design.
(27 March 2024) Founding RISE Director, Professor Rebekah Brown who established RISE and grew the program to what it is today, is departing the program and Monash University.
(15 March 2024) Meet our colleagues who are leading important wetland monitoring in Fiji and Indonesia, and why they believe evidence on water quality is a powerful tool to advocate for nature-based solutions in the Asia-Pacific.
(14 December 2023) This year RISE made its COP debut. The program represented as an innovative international research and development model for building resilience in the face of interconnected climate and health challenges.
(4 November 2023) RISE Fiji and Indonesia teams recently ran a series of ‘Open Days’ with the informal settlement communities participating in RISE.
(4 November 2023) At the recent UNC Water and Health Conference in North Carolina, USA, RISE Masters student Thea Mink presented a compelling evaluation of RISE’s community engagement and participatory design approach.
(4 October 2023) Informal settlements, often characterised by their rapid growth and lack of formal planning, pose unique challenges for community development efforts. Accurate and up-to-date mapping is essential to comprehend the complex dynamics of these communities.
(17 September 2023) More than 250 participants from across the Pacific have committed to accelerating action for inclusive, safe and climate-resilient cities, towns and communities in Pacific Island Countries at the Sixth Pacific Urban Forum, held in Fiji in September.
(9 August 2023) Learn how RISE is amplifying the voices and perspectives of communities and stakeholders for operations and maintenance of our water-sensitive infrastructure.
(15 May 2023) RISE Indonesia Community Fieldworker Mohammad Hatta reflects on how extreme weather conditions are impacting our research work, and life in Makassar.
(17 April 2023) A new genomics analysis system is allowing RISE to assess pathogens and how they spread in the environment, in the quest to make informal settlements safer, healthier places to live.
(10 March 2023) Our research and intervention has never been more intertwined. As we continue to monitor the changing health of informal settlement environment and residents, data collection is now taking place in sites under construction with our water-sensitive infrastructure intervention.
(1 November 2022) For more than 30 years, a water-sensitive cities approach has been proven to deliver improvements in many developed contexts. Now, for the first time, RISE has completed a water-sensitive revitalisation of an informal settlement in the Pacific.
(7 October 2022) The world is heating up, and informal settlements are at the forefront of the impacts of climate change. Now, researchers are beginning to gauge the precise impacts of climate challenges on the human experience in informal settlement communities.
(1 September 2022) Today RISE broke new ground. We marked the exciting start of construction on our water and sanitation infrastructure intervention in the first group of informal settlement communities in Indonesia.
(12 August 2022) What does RISE do when an infection is found through our periodic field campaigns? We have an ethical and moral responsibility to refer affected families for clinical care. But we have found there is a need to support that process even further.
(8 July 2022) RISE has launched evidence-based resources which are set to unlock more inclusive ways to design water and sanitation infrastructure with informal settlement communities.
(14 June 2022) RISE Indonesia hosted the Honourable Penny Wong, Australia's Foreign Minister, in the village of Batua, to see how climate-adaptive and -resilient systems are addressing the community’s needs.
(13 June 2022) Better infrastructure designed by communities has already started unlocking new economic and social opportunities. The resulting upward mobility of residents represents a new model of local ownership – a model that local governments are prioritising.
(Event 24 June) Join us for the launch of a new set of evidence-based resources to implement gender and socially inclusive participatory design of WASH infrastructure in urban informal settlements.
(10 May 2022) RISE researchers are investigating the activities, surfaces, sources and mechanisms through which children are exposed to pathogens in their daily life, to understand exposure and how it can be prevented.
(30 March 2022) Aotearoa New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Hon Nanaia Mahuta visited RISE Fiji to hear about the community’s experiences co-designing essential infrastructure.
(10 March 2022) New evidence shows that as the future custodians of RISE's water and sanitation infrastructure, the younger members of our communities are best-placed to support the systems' longevity and sustainability.
(8 March 2022) Meet some of the incredible women on RISE who, on International Women’s Day, share their observations of gender inequality and potential solutions to break biases.
(7 February 2022) RISE has held training sessions on the roles that stakeholders will play to maintain a safe environment for residents during infrastructure construction.
(December 2021) A toolkit helping practitioners implement gender- and socially inclusive participatory design of WASH infrastructure in informal settlements.
(December 2021) RISE reveals a scientific method that will allow us to see whether the program’s intervention is reducing faecal contamination in the environment.
(December 2021) Our baseline findings from Indonesia have generated a new model of the connections between human health and the environment.
(14 December 2021) RISE has been awarded ISO9001 certification. Certification acknowledges that our research platforms and operations in Fiji and Indonesia, and central governance and data management systems, meet the highest quality standards.
(6 December 2021) An independent set of experts have convened, forming RISE's new International Development Advisory Board, to advise on the critical construction phase of the program.
(12 November 2021) Our Water for Women researchers, and Indonesia and Fiji teams are examining the factors that unite communities, and the implications for WASH interventions.
(11 October 2021) Construction will soon begin on the water and sanitation infrastructure intervention in RISE’s first six informal settlement communities in Makassar, Indonesia and Suva, Fiji.
(17 June 2021) The Australian Government and Monash University have partnered to implement the RISE intervention for the first six informal settlements in Indonesia.
(4 June 2021) A new training program utilising cutting-edge equipment for molecular analysis is being rolled out. And it’s seeing RISE scientists lead the way in Fiji and Indonesia to uncover links between the environment and human health.
(7 May 2021) RISE researchers have validated a way to successfully detect a diverse range of bacteria (pathogens) that cause diarrhoeal disease in informal settlements.
(30 April 2021) More than six million Indonesians have been fully vaccinated so far. And our team is cautiously stepping back into the field to progress our critical ecological research.
(31 March 2021) Universities, governments and funders came together last week to launch our new report series advocating for smart, nature-based solutions to be used for resilient and sustainable urban development.
(Event 25 March) Tune in for the launch of the first-ever RISE - Asian Development Bank book series revealing the possibilities and best practices for water-sensitive informal settlement upgrading.
(8 March 2021) This International Women’s Day, we called on some of the incredible women leading work on RISE in Indonesia, Fiji and Australia to share their reflections on the question, ‘Why is it important to have diverse research and implementation teams for community-based participatory design work?’
(2 March 2021) RISE Research Associate Allison Salinger, based at Emory University, is hopeful that evidence generated from our Water for Women sub-study can lead to more socially inclusive WASH approaches globally.
(1 March 2021) One year on since the New Zealand Prime Minister launched construction, the Fijian community of Tamavua-i-Wai is fast-becoming an example of the potential for scaling up the water-sensitive approach across the Asia-Pacific.
(18 December 2020) The spirit of gotong royong is the inner voice that says, “whatever the challenge, as long as it is done together, it will feel lighter and possible.”
(8 December 2020) Monitoring water-sensitive systems at our Indonesia demonstration site has successfully restarted. Our local team has been collecting samples following our COVID-19 procedures.
(8 December 2020) The first group of Fijian settlements have finished their participatory workshops designing infrastructure with RISE.
(3 December 2020) Indonesia has laws regarding people with disabilities, but the voices of people with different needs for water and sanitation are still limited.
(19 November 2020) Dr Michaela Prescott from Monash University's Informal Cities Lab explains why all households having access to a toilet, and connecting all toilets to a wastewater treatment system is key to ensuring safe and healthy living environments for all.
(3 November 2020) After more than six months of paused field work, Batua neighbourhood is acting as the living lab for restarting community work in a COVID-19 world.
(2 November 2020) RISE microbiologists have identified a technique that effectively detects antimicrobial resistance genes, which could lead to a better understanding of antimicrobial resistance in informal settlements.
(30 September 2020) For socially inclusive infrastructure design, training on gender, differently abled people, and discrimination is key – as is being guided by local experts.
(2 September 2020) Attention is growing into the potential implications of COVID-19 for people’s mental health and wellbeing. In August we launched a survey asking informal settlement residents about the state of their lives in these challenging times.
(5 August 2020) The shutdown of Fiji’s national borders and colossal tourism sector has had a significant impact on the lives of already vulnerable families, according to a recently released RISE report.
(3 August 2020) In a major program milestone, Detailed Engineering Drawings have been completed for the first six Indonesia communities that RISE is revitalising, bringing us a critical step closer to construction.
(6 July 2020) In a COVID-19 world, we will need to be even more creative and adaptable to ensure research continuity. We have started a process to ‘reset’ our program.
(6 July 2020) RISE is doubling down to support the program’s informal settlement residents in Makassar - the capital of South Sulawesi, which has become one of the country’s leading provinces in coronavirus cases.
(6 July 2020) A socially distanced visit and gift drop comes after a phone check-in revealed that the impacts of COVID-19 have left many Fijian families in desperate need of support.
(3 July 2020) Over the past two years researchers and communities have been working together to collect data and better understand water level fluctuations.
(3 June 2020) The recent shut-down of Makassar city has left many informal settlement residents unable to leave their homes to go to work. The RISE Indonesia team reached out to help.
(3 June 2020) With big group gatherings on hold, the next best thing we can do is check in from a distance. We are contacting the Fiji households taking part in RISE to see how they are coping, and what they need.
(5 May 2020) RISE is working in partnership with UN-Habitat and Fiji Government agencies to provide rapid response support to more than 70 informal settlements to help alleviate the impacts of COVID-19 on informal settlement households.
(5 May 2020) Around the world, workers from various sectors are being called upon to assist in the coronavirus response. RISE’s global researchers are among them.
(27 March 2020) We are adapting how we deliver RISE during this challenging time. We are committed to containing and safely managing, as best as possible, the spread of COVID-19 across our operations.
(3 March 2020) RISE PhD researcher Robyn Mansfield believes children should be part of the urban planning process. She is finding ways to make them heard.
(2 March 2020) New Asian Development Bank President Masatsugu Asakawa travelled to meet with residents of Batua - RISE's Indonesia demonstration site - to find out first-hand how the program is impacting their lives.
(26 February 2020) The NZ Prime Minister officially launched construction of RISE’s green infrastructure at the program’s demonstration site in Fiji.
(11 February 2020) Two of RISE's International Scientific Advisory Panel share their reflections of their recent trip to Suva, and the proud, tight-knit communities who live there.
(29 January 2020) Mosquitoes are at the heart of a unique partnership between RISE and the World Mosquito Program. Both programs are working towards a healthier world, and both rely on mosquitoes to get there.
(3 December 2019) On Tuesday 26 November, communities and stakeholders packed into a conference centre in Suva in vibrant kalavata, to hear about RISE’s research progress in Fiji so far, and find out which six communities will be upgraded first.
(23 October 2019) Over the weekend, Batua in Makassar City became the very first neighbourhood to be upgraded with RISE's water and sanitation infrastructure.
(9 October 2019) In September, more than 20 community representatives from Tallo, Lempangang and Bonelengga settlements toured Batua settlement to see how RISE's green infrastructure has become a reality
(9 October 2019) The New Zealand Government has awarded NZ$3 million to RISE to help improve water and sanitation in informal settlements in Fiji.
(9 October 2019) Researchers and policymakers from more than 35 countries converged at Stanford University for the 2019 Planetary Health Annual Meeting. RISE's Ruzka Taruc and Dr Amelia Turagabeci were among them.
(30 August 2019) With the finishing touches being put on the green infrastructure at RISE's demonstration site, Batua, four residents stepped forward to share their ideas for how the roads could be designed in a way that represents their identity and their community.
(30 August 2019) This month, community representatives came together with local RISE partner organisations to learn about the technical components of RISE’s infrastructure, and continue discussions about shared responsibility for its maintenance.
(5 August 2019) Science Days are bringing researchers and residents together in Makassar to make direct links between science and everyday life in informal settlements.
(12 July 2019) More than 200 participants from over 25 countries have committed to making cities in the Pacific prosperous, inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable, coming out of the fifth Pacific Urban Forum held last week in Nadi, Fiji.
(1 July 2019) With 735 households in Suva consented to take part in RISE, our community fieldworkers have begun the epic task of conducting the baseline health and wellbeing survey with residents.
(1 July 2019) The health and wellbeing survey is the biggest and broadest survey RISE is conducting across Makassar and Suva. Find out from PostDoctoral Researcher Dr Fiona Barker about how it all came together.
(20 June 2019) A memorandum of understanding has been signed between the United Nations Human Settlements Programme and Monash University to advance the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in the Asia-Pacific.
(31 May 2019) Residents in Makassar, Indonesia, have recently taken part in a series of workshops with RISE to plan and design water and sanitation upgrades for their neighbourhood.
(31 May 2019) Dr Audrie Lin joins RISE from the University of California, Berkeley’s School of Public Health. She focuses on assessing adult and child health through survey and biological specimen collection.
(31 May 2019) A crucial hypothesis of RISE is that upgrading the physical environment of informal settlements can lead to better human health. One of the key aims of the environmental assessment is to quantify mosquitoes to see if they increase, stay the same, or decrease due to the intervention.
(1 May 2019) A newly released special issue of Global Challenges advances thinking about how to operationalise interdisciplinary research, shares lessons learned, and contributes new theoretical and empirical knowledge.
(30 April 2019) In April 2019, RISE’s International Scientific Advisory Panel made a trip to Makassar to visit the program’s settlements, meet the Makassar team and hold their second meeting. ISAP Chair Ted Bianco shares his reflections of the trip – and some unexpected fun along the way.
(16 April 2019) Monash University and Emory University have announced a partnership to conduct research into gender-responsive design of water and sanitation services for the world’s most vulnerable and marginalised living in urban informal settlements.
(4 April 2019) Water is an important component in human life and the earth's environment. The availability and access of clean water for all living things on earth is the focus of sustainable development 2030.
(31 March 2019) On Sunday 31 March, more than 180 women and men, and girls and boys came together in Makassar to celebrate the completion of baseline sampling.
(8 August 2018) On 8 August, RISE Indonesia joined a number of government, NGO and community stakeholders for a Makassar Smart City Forum, held by the Makassar City Government with the United Nations International Organisation for Migration (IOM). The forum was held to increase cross-sector participation and cooperation in creating a smart, healthy city.
(9 June 2018) On Saturday 9 June, RISE Fiji hosted a workshop for Community Engagement Council (CEC) representatives from the 13 RISE settlements across Suva, Fiji. Bringing the CECs together for the first time is a key milestone in the RISE Community Mobilisation Strategy.
(22 May 2018) Today we celebrate 25 years of action for biodiversity, marking the anniversary of the entry into force of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Biodiversity is essential to the existence of present and future generations.
(4 May 2018) Last week, the RISE Makassar Lab Team undertook Kato Katz training in the Parasitologi Laboratory at Hasanuddin University (UNHAS), led by RISE UNHAS Focal Point, Professor Ancha Ansariadi and Asni, Laboran of Parasitologi Laboratory in the UNHAS Faculty of Medicine.
(3 May 2018) During April, RISE Objective 4 (Well-being) Leader, Professor David Johnston and RISE researchers, Dr Joanne O’Toole, Dr Fiona Barker, Dr Rohan Sweeney and Karinna Saxby conducted human health and well-being lab and field training, and baseline survey piloting with the RISE team in Suva.
(29 March 2018) This month RISE partner Melbourne Water delivered essential Integrated Water Management (IWM) training to the RISE team, partners and government counterparts in Fiji.
(22 March 2018) On World Water Day, RISE hosted a workshop with community representatives from the settlements participating in the program in Indonesia.
(20 March 2018) Monash University has signed partnership agreements with three of the Asia-Pacific’s most highly regarded universities - Hasanuddin University in Indonesia, Fiji National University, and The University of the South Pacific in Fiji - for RISE.
(26 February 2018) Monash University has signed a research collaboration agreement with world-leading centre in genomic discovery and understanding, the Wellcome Sanger Institute for RISE.
(27 November 2017) Monash Sustainable Development Institute is thrilled to announce its official partnership with the United Nations University's International Institute for Global Health (UNU-IIGH) as part of the RISE program.
(20 November 2017) RISE Research Fellow Dr Michaela Prescott explains how RISE's co-design workshop involved a range of participatory tools for different groups within the community, including children.
(19 Nov 2017) More than 40 per cent of the world’s population lacks access to a safe and reliable water source, according to the United Nations Development Program. That figure is projected to rise over coming decades.
(31 Oct 2017) RISE is supporting the implementation of the New Urban Agenda by pioneering a healthier and more environmentally friendly water-sensitive cities approach to urban water management.
(4 October 2017) A team from Monash Art Design and Architecture (MADA), led by Professor Diego Ramirez-Lovering, has just returned from Suva, Fiji after implementing RISE's first co-design workshop.
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