Sombol Mokhles

Sombol Mokhles
Sombol Mokhles, 2021 MCDS Doctoral Academy Fellow

Research:
An evidence-based approach to climate change experimentation in international city networks

Supervisors:
Dr Kathryn Davidson
Prof Michele Acuto

School / Faculty:
School of Architecture, Building and Planning
Melbourne School of Design

PhD Details

Although cities play a key role in tackling climate change through realising mitigation and adaptation on the ground, internationally, only a few global cities are recognised. Therefore, a few cities are viewed as the leaders and sources of information to be followed by other cities, especially in the context of international climate city networks. My PhD tries to expand cities’ imagination and their networking opportunities based on the evidence of their records of mitigation actions. Using a generative comparison approach, I define two proxy measures based on their actions that refer to cities’ mitigation priorities and challenges to compare a range of diverse cities using a clustering technic. Since I focused on a public repository that is annually updated and my methodology is replicable, it can be used to track how cities’ mitigation priorities and challenges change over time.

Q & A

Why did you decide to do a PhD?
I started my PhD to learn new analytic skills and deepen my knowledge in one of my areas of interest: climate governance and policy. I enjoy questioning the limits of conventional methods and experimenting with new ways to investigate complicated questions to improve climate policies at different levels (urban, region, country) to sustain a healthy life for everyone on earth. I do enjoy applying egalitarian worldviews to various aspects of human society, institutions, and organisations.

What do you enjoy reading?
I enjoy reading books about self-development, autobiographies of successful people, and historical novels of different nations and cultures and their ontologies and epistemologies.

What do you enjoy doing when you're not working on your PhD?
I love doing different ranges of physical and mental exercises such as yoga and physical workouts to improve my physical and mental stabilities. I also enjoy cooking and testing new recipes.

One fun fact about you.
I never get tired of imagining endless sequences of food and eateries to try next!