Abdullah Al Mamun, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Folklore and Social Development Studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh. He is a multidisciplinary academic and researcher whose work integrates urban planning, economics, folkloristics, social development, and applied social sciences to address complex societal, environmental, and policy challenges. He has held academic and research positions at several Australian universities, including Western Sydney University, the University of Wollongong, and the University of Technology, Sydney.

Prof Al Mamun holds a PhD in Social Science, specializing in Human Geography, Climate Economics, and Urban Planning, from Western Sydney University, Australia (2025). His doctoral research, titled Ecosystem-based Adaptation: Alleviating Climate Change Impacts on Folkloric Heritage-based Livelihoods in the Global South, examines the complex interplay between economic geography, climate economics, and adaptation, and urban planning and sustainability. Adopting a life-course and community welfare perspective, his research investigates how rapid urbanization and climate-induced stresses—particularly extreme heatwaves and drought—degrade ecosystems and intensify vulnerabilities in heritage-based economies and livelihoods, thereby exacerbating inequalities in climate action across disadvantaged communities in Global South cities. Using a mixed-methods approach that integrates textual, geospatial, quantitative, and qualitative analyses, his study underscores the importance of community-led, nature-positive planning to restore ecosystems, promote sustainable climate adaptation, foster inclusive community welfare, and advance climate-resilient urban development. By synthesizing natural systems, local knowledge, community welfare, and social equity frameworks, his work develops innovative socio-ecological economy models and ecocentric ecosystem-based adaptation approaches to regenerate ecosystems, enhance resilience, and reduce climate vulnerabilities.

He also holds a Master of Economics by Research in Economic Development and Policy from Kobe University, Japan (2016), where he applied advanced econometric techniques—including instrumental variables (IV) and system generalized method of moments (GMM)—to examine the impact of foreign aid on economic growth. This research proposed innovative models, including investment frameworks for community-driven heritage economies and social business. In addition, he earned a Master of Arts in Folkloristics (and Social Development Studies) from the University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh (2003), where his research examined the role of craftsmanship and local entrepreneurship in building sustainable community economies using qualitative and semi-quantitative methods.

As a multidisciplinary researcher, Prof Al Mamun has developed extensive expertise in both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. His technical skills include econometric modelling; cross-sectional and longitudinal data analysis using STATA and R; advanced qualitative analysis using NVivo; geospatial analysis using ArcGIS; survey design using Qualtrics; and life-cycle and environmental impact assessment using OpenLCA. This methodological expertise is complemented by substantial field experience employing household surveys, knowledge–attitude–practice (KAP) surveys, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and storytelling methods. He is also highly proficient in participatory research approaches, including Participatory Rural Appraisal, Participatory Urban Appraisal, Participatory Action Research, and Participatory Reflection and Action, ensuring culturally grounded and community-driven research processes.

Prof Al Mamun has published extensively in leading international journals and has made significant contributions to scholarly debates on climate change, inequality, heritage, environment, and sustainability. His notable publications include Sustainable Futures in Agricultural Heritage: Geospatial Exploration and Predicting Groundwater-Level Variations in the Barind Tract of Bangladesh (Science of the Total Environment, 2023) and Towards Green and Climate-Resilient Urbanization in Rajshahi City (Chinese Journal of Urban and Environmental Studies, 2025). His book chapter Local Heritage “Dhopkols”: Building Back Better Water Access to Reduce Gender-Based Vulnerabilities in Bangladesh (Routledge, 2022) has been widely recognized for its innovative integration of Indigenous knowledge into the climate adaptation discourse. Other influential works include: Floating Gardening as a Climate Adaptation Strategy in Bangladesh (International Journal of Environmental Studies, 2014); Loneliness Among Displaced Myanmar Nationals (Cogent Gerontology, 2024); and Tobacco-Related Health Hazards in Rural Bangladesh (International Journal of Research in Humanities, Arts and Literature, 2013). He has also contributed book chapters, including A Quantitative Cross-Cultural Analysis of Folk Crafts and Foreign Aid in Developing Countries (Peter Lang, 2019).

He serves as Associate Editor of the International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management (Emerald Publishing) and co-edited the special issue Circular Economy and Climate Change: Valuing Indigeneity and Sustainability (2024). He is also involved in major editorial projects with Springer, including the Handbook of Climate Change Management and Nature-based Solutions to Mitigation and Adaptation to Climate Change (2025).

In addition to his research leadership, Prof Al Mamun has over 20 years of teaching experience across face-to-face, hybrid, and online modalities. He has made sustained contributions to higher education through curriculum design, pedagogical innovation, and academic mentorship. His teaching philosophy emphasizes critical thinking, inclusivity, evidence-based inquiry, and professional engagement.

At the University of Rajshahi, he has designed and delivered interdisciplinary courses including Economic Folkloristics, Policy and SDGs, Folkloristics for Sustainable Urban and Rural Planning, Environmental Folkloristics and Sustainability, Medical Folkloristics and Public Health, Social Research Methodology, and Bangladesh Studies. At the University of Technology, Sydney, he taught Economics for Business and Business and Social Impact at the UTS School of Business for over three years. At the University of Wollongong, he taught for more than four years across the School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, the School of Business, and the School of Social Sciences, delivering courses such as Global Political Economy and Human Security, Global Capitalism and the Environment, Economic Essentials for Business, Economics and Society, and Health Economics, Policy and Promotion.

At Western Sydney University, he taught for over five years in the School of Social Sciences, including units such as People, Places and Social Differences, Cultural and Social Geographies, Working with Communities, Community Management and Organizations, Investigating and Communicating Social Problems, and Issues in World Development: Rich World, Poor World. However, the Issues in World Development: Rich World, Poor World course draws on institutional and development economics, particularly the work Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson, whose contributions culminated in the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2024 to Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James Robinson.

His teaching and research encompass a broad and interconnected range of fields, including social design and innovation, social equity and inclusion, social impact assessment and evaluation, social and community planning, urban planning and sustainability, human and urban geography, economic and urban geography, climate change and climate economics, heritage economics, health and urban economics, community welfare and resilience, political economy, planetary health, the circular economy, and net-zero futures. He brings particular expertise in design thinking and participatory approaches to community development, with a strong emphasis on context-sensitive, socially inclusive, and evidence-informed solutions.

A central focus of his scholarship lies in examining power, marginalization, and social justice within development processes, alongside the evaluation of social programs using qualitative and quantitative methods to inform evidence-based decision-making. His work also explores the cultural dimensions of development, with particular attention to folklore, cultural intelligence, and Indigenous and local knowledge systems as drivers of social identity, cohesion, and transformation.

Drawing on human geography, he engages deeply with questions of place, heritage, and spatial inequality, examining how power relations and socio-economic disparities are shaped by location and environment. His research highlights the role of cultural and natural heritage in place-based development, local economic vitality, and long-term community resilience.

In the fields of urban planning and economics, Prof Al Mamun focuses on sustainable urban governance, housing, infrastructure, and public service provision, as well as the economic dimensions of climate change, urban resilience, and adaptation and mitigation strategies. His research connects climate economics with broader concerns about planetary health, circular-economy models, and pathways toward net-zero futures. He also contributes extensively to health-related scholarship, examining the intersections of culture, community knowledge, and social and environmental determinants of health, particularly in relation to climate-related health risks. His work in health economics and health policy emphasizes equity, access, efficient resource allocation, and evidence-informed public health decision-making to support inclusive and sustainable social development.

Beyond academia, Prof Al Mamun has contributed to applied research at the University of Technology, Sydney, including projects on sustainable fashion through peer-to-peer clothing rental systems, the commercialization of lower-carbon concrete to reduce emissions, and the optimization of distributed energy resources and renewable energy microgrids. He has coordinated multinational research collaborations with Western Sydney University, the University of Technology, Sydney, the University of Sydney, and the University of Florida, focusing on climate change, community resilience, the circular economy, and sustainability.

Diverse theoretical traditions, including Ecological Systems Theory, the Social Ecological Model, the Health Belief Model, Circular Economy Theory, Access Theory, Cultural Ecology, Human Ecology, and Structuration Theory, inform his work. He also serves as an elected leader within the American Association of Geographers, holding board and advisory roles across multiple specialty groups. He regularly presents his work at major international conferences, including the AAG Annual Meetings, the Beyond SDG11 Symposium of the Australian Academy of Science, and the University of Oxford’s Nature-based Solutions Conference.

As a scholar, educator, mentor, and practitioner, Prof Al Mamun advances innovative, evidence-based planning and policy approaches that address urgent challenges in urban development, sustainability, climate action, planetary health, and social equity. Through interdisciplinary research and cross-sector collaboration, he is committed to fostering inclusive, nature-positive, and net-zero futures that enhance community welfare, strengthen heritage economies, reduce environmental impacts, and improve wellbeing across cities in the Global South and beyond.