Mahesti Okitasari holds a PhD in urban planning from the University of Tokyo with a dissertation on the institutional implication of the decentralised system on the construction and practice of collaborative metropolitan governance in providing better public infrastructure. She is interested in understanding institutional architecture in transition and how policies and multilevel governance arrangements work to synergise development and climate actions. Her current work includes assessing multilevel governance arrangements, policy processes, laws, and the politics to implement, monitor and report the SDGs and Paris Agreement, exploring the ways in which global agendas are translated into national and local development plans, researching gaps and opportunities in delivering socially inclusive decarbonisation strategies, and building knowledge on the partnerships and financing for the SDGs and climate adaptation. Her past projects covered SDG localisation, sustainable consumption and production, subnational climate finance, and renewable energy adaptation in Asia-Pacific and Africa. Before joining UNU-IAS in 2014, she spent several years in project implementation and consulting on disaster management, regional planning, and public housing in Indonesia.
