Sustainable Farming and Food Security Through the Lens of Indigenous Knowledge

Why did you choose to pursue a graduate education in planning?

My family moved frequently when I was a child, and I had often compared the current city we called home with how other places we lived looked and felt—especially as some places we lived in were more developed than others. This curiosity was the source of my interest in urban planning and the specific topics that I study today, ranging from the rationale behind different types of urban form to issues of urban inequity.

My undergraduate degree in international relations introduced me to concepts of sustainable development, which helped frame the topics I had in my head when I was younger. Finding myself more and more interested in how to improve cities and tackle inequality, I decided to pursue a master’s degree in urban and regional planning.

What planning subject or area most interests you?

Urban and regional planning is such a broad field of study, but I would say my primary focus is on equity—in particular, how to facilitate development that supports equitable access to services and infrastructure. Public transportation and last- mile connectivity, sustainable food security, and participatory mapping are examples of urban planning concepts related to equity and accessibility which I hold close to my heart.

What opportunities does your program provide to engage with the community and fellow students?

Through the concept of Aloha ʻĀina, which permeates throughout the state, Hawai’i has a strong sense of connection with the land and the local and indigenous communities which reside on, love, and act as caretakers of the islands. In line with these ideals, the Master of Urban and Regional Planning (MURP) program at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa and provides many avenues for meaningful engagement and collaboration with communities.

In the practicum course, our project created a sustainable food systems plan for the community of Waimānalo, on the eastern side of O‘ahu. We heavily emphasized receiving input from relevant community members, such as prominent local farms, farm unions, and nonprofit organizations working in food security through a distinctly Hawai’ian talk-story method of chatting and reminiscing—an informal, unstructured sharing of knowledge and experiences. All of our classes gave similar attention to the importance of community participation in planning and how that related to Hawai’ian planning practices, starting from our very first planning theory course.

I want to use this space to talk about the importance of a community of students as well. Many students in our urban planning cohort felt isolated during the pandemic, and with classes fully online, very few of us saw each other outside of a computer screen. When in-person classes were beginning, a few students, including myself, helped re-establish the student committee for urban planning students that had been paused during the pandemic. We coordinated social and educational events, such as a city walking tour or a hike up Diamond Head to get a good view of Honolulu, to learn from each other about urban planning issues and urban planning in a local context.

What advice would you offer someone considering a master’s degree in planning

I have two points of advice. The first is to be passionate about improving cities, with the main goal of helping to make cities a better place for people. To support this, my second piece of advice is that it is important to choose a program that works for you. MURP at UH Mānoa was my number one choice because of the context of the work that professors and organizations have  been doing, specifically research being done in Southeast Asia. Be sure to look at projects and research being done in the urban planning programs that you are interested in. At the same time, be open to new areas of study that intrigue you.

What do you hope to do after completing your degree?

I will be taking a leap of faith and plan to start a farm! Taking lessons from classes, including environmental planning, land use planning, facilitation and collaboration, and our practicum project, I hope to implement sustainable practices and help ensure food security in a part of Indonesia that is quickly growing and developing. Many of the concepts I would like to include echo those of indigenous Hawai’ian farming and development practices, which can still be seen implemented across the state today. Ideally, through the farm we can encourage collaboration between farmers and establish environmentally friendly farming and food consumption practices throughout the region to support the needs of the local population.