Witiya Pittungnapoo

Witiya Pittungnapoo is an Associate Professor in Architecture, and she is the Deputy Dean for academic and research affairs, Naresuan Faculty of Architecture, Art and Design. Witiya completed her Ph.D. in town and regional planning from the University of Sheffield in the UK in 2009; since then she has contributed her knowledge and planning skills across multi-disciplines to build up international research collaboration on flooding adaptation to preserve cultural heritage for achieving resilience and sustainability.

Witiya is a founder of the Climate Change Adaptation for Cultural Heritage Preservation (CCACHP) Research Unit established in July 2021 at Naresuan University which aims to push climate change policy into the cultural heritage sector in the Lower Northern Region of Thailand. Her research collaboration with grant achievement with the UK-based institutions making the Faculty become one of the 15 members of the Thai-UK World-class University Consortium (from 2022 until now).

Witiya was nominated as the Study UK Alumni Top Three Finalist on Cultural and Creativity in Thailand, 2022. Importantly, Witiya has worked on Sukhothai’s UCCN application and after the city was designated as a new member of UCCN in 2019; she has become a co-focal point of Sukhothai to support the city for achieving its sustainable development goals; particularly in pushing climate-resilient design and nature-based solutions into crafts and creative enterprises. Her learning and sharing good practices among UCCN members in Thailand and other ASEAN+ cities are evidence of her contributions to the network. Witiya was also nominated as one of the Study UK Alumni Top Three Finalist on Cultural and Creativity in Thailand, 2022.

Last but not least, her current role as a regional coordinator of ASIA and the Pacific of our C&FA subnetwork will create a wider learning opportunity to connect regional members to work closer for achieving our UCCN’s mission in more sustainable future.