Sustainable Solution Champion: IPB University Collective Movement Realizes Sustainable Campus
A total of 100 IPB University students from the General Competency Education Program (PPKU) participated in the Collective Movement action held in the courtyard of the Common Class Room (CCR) Building on Sunday (10/19).
This is part of a series of Sustainable Solution Champion actions aimed at building IPB University’s core culture as a green and sustainable campus through the daily actions of its community. This is also in line with IPB University’s tagline: Inspiring Innovation with Integrity in Agriculture, Ocean and Biosciences for a Sustainable World.
According to Dr Rina Mardiana, the program initiator, true sustainability does not come from slogans or policies alone. “The tagline ‘Sustainable Solution Champion’ cannot be achieved without concrete actions from each individual,” she emphasized.
“Big movements always start from small habits that are done consciously. If everyone takes individual moral actions, they will accumulate into collective actions,” Dr Rina continued.
Four Key Actions
The Sustainable Solution Champion program is implemented through four series of actions:
- Anti Food Waste. Educating students and cafeteria managers to reduce food waste. Two cafeterias, Sapta and Plasma, were selected as pilot projects.
- Planet X. A plastic-free campus campaign, encouraging discomfort when seeing plastic waste on campus grounds.
- EcoWalk. Encouraging walking for health, while also training awareness of enjoying the campus environment.
- Biodiscovery. Getting to know the campus flora and fauna, from mahogany trees to deer, to strengthen IPB University’s identity as a campus of biodiversity.
Furthermore, Dr Rina emphasized that building sustainable habits is not easy. “Habits are the result of daily practices that are carried out continuously until they become cultural. We want to build a culture of sustainability through simple but consistent actions,” she said.
To strengthen self-reflection, IPB University has also developed the EcoJourney app (ecojourney.ipb.ac.id) as a daily journaling platform for students. Through this app, students are encouraged to record and reflect on the sustainable actions they take each day.
According to her, mindfulness is the compass of sustainable living. “If we are fully present in every moment, we will be more sensitive, more grateful, and more caring. From there, sustainability will not only be a slogan, but a way of life for IPB residents,” she concluded.
One of the participants, Muhamad Dzikri Fadilah, expressed his enthusiasm from the start when he saw the poster for this activity. Dzikri hopes to continue the positive habits he learned from this activity. “Now I know how to walk healthily, and I want to keep walking, exploring IPB or even outside the campus, while being more mindful.”
The Director of Student Affairs at IPB University, Dr Beginner Subhan, who was also present, considered this activity an important step in developing student character. For him, this activity is one of the steps in developing student character.
“Because sustainability is a global issue, we need actions and champions, where the drivers of this global issue are young people who will become the next generation,” he said.
He hopes that these sustainability values will be instilled in all students. “So that when they enter society, they will continue to carry these values with them,” he concluded. (ANH/AS) (IAAS/NRA)
