Climate Smart Generation of Bogor Wins International Award
Indonesia is a country with the risk of hydro-meteorological disasters (climate-related disasters), such as floods, droughts, landslides, and hurricanes. A total of 12 259 disasters have occurred in Indonesia in the last ten years and more than 90 percent are hydro-meteorological disasters with material losses and casualties. In 2016, 2,154 hydro-meteorological disasters (floods, hurricanes, and landslides) displaced millions of people and most of them were children.
Responding to these issues, Climate Smart Generation (CSG) is born as a concept of adaptation and mitigation through an integrative (preventive and curative) effort in the form of early education to children to improve understanding and build the character of loving environment. The value of local knowledge combined with science and technology becomes an essential element in the implementation of CSG program.
CSG was initiated by students of the Department of Geophysics and Meteorology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (MIPA), Bogor Agricultural University (IPB). Its vision is an educational movement of adaptation and mitigation through the integration of preventive and curative efforts to increase understanding and build the character of loving environment. CSG tries to reach all areas prone to disasters in Indonesia.
Chairman of CSG, Ikrom Mustafa, said that since its inception in 2013, CSG has received several awards such as the social program selected in the International Student Summit (ISS) stigmatized, Japan in 2015; Top 5 Social Projects of Made-in-Campus version; social projects selected to represent Riau in Indonesia Youth Conference in 2014; semifinalists of Genesys Japan, 2013; finalists in Climate Smart Leaders of Emil Salim Award, 2014; and PKM-M funded Higher Education, 2013.
CSG programs have been implemented in elementary schools around IPB campus, namely SDN Balumbang Jaya 2 Bogor, home learning community ‘Hore’ of Bogor, SDN Ciampea 1 Bogor, SDN Gobang 4 Kampong Kukuk Sumpung, and several children's play groups.
"CSG adopts the concept of the community’s local wisdoms in West Java, including local or traditional wisdom of Kampong Kuta Ciamis, traditions of Ciomas community, and the traditions of Baduy tribe an effort to conserve the environment and local forest. The values ??of local wisdom are introduced through the science approach related to the disaster adaptation and mitigation in the form of CSG’s interactive cards and some other art-based games," he said.
CSG is aware that the moving alone is not possible. Therefore, CSG continues to build partnership with various stakeholders such as governments, private companies in the field of environment, and various NGOs in Indonesia. Not only that, CSG routinely makes contributions in the form of online fundraising and sales of donation packages. The dream of CSG is to produce young people who are intelligent, holds the belief in God, and have the required character in facing the demographic bonus.
Volunteers for CSG’s education program come from various campuses in Indonesia, giving community services as one of the efforts to implement the Tri Dharma (three major responsibilities) of Higher Education. Each campus has a local Committee and has at least one school / community developed under the CSG program. "We are confident and believe that educating is to inspire, improve good manners, and knit nationality," he said. (Mtd)
